spinning bottled cage bolt within frame...

hamfisted idiot alert:

on the underside of my frame the lower of the two bolts.

I cross threaded the bolt (with a bottle cage attached) and couldn't get the bolt out, so I drilled the head off (to get the cage out of the way)... then I used some mole grips to try and twist, what's left, out. Now the the whole thing spins freely within the frame...

Please offer advice/abuse as required 👍🏻

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New bike time

feared that'd be the case... this'll take a lot of explaining to my wife

Nah, you can probably get another cage thing put in - have a search for "rivnut" or ask in the framebuilder AMA thread.

But still... buy a new bike.

I've never used one but have read about a 'rivnut' as being useful in such a situation.
https://www.rivetwise.co.uk/rivets/rivet-nuts.asp
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FJ4gF2tXRBE

what is the frame? is this in the '3rd cage' location? carbon frame?
Superglue the outer of the boss to the frame - WD40 the threads of the bolt in the boss... try with the grips again? then buy a new frame...

it's a santa cruz tallboy 4 frame, on the underside of the downtube... and yes carbon...

yeah... i've gone down the youtube rabbit hole in the last few hours... my concern is removing the existing bits without damaging the frame...

Suggest you cross-post to the Home DIY thread, there are some knowledgeable people lurking there.

https://www.lfgss.com/conversations/178667/newest/

ta

Araldite a nut to it then get a spanner on it tomorrow .
Thursday is new frame .

Try the superglue trick first, it might work. If you can’t get hold of it, it might also just buy you enough grip to file it flush, then either drill a small hole down the middle to use an Easy Out (use a Dormer one with a long fluted taper, don’t use a cheap one) or maybe try a left handed drill bit which might spin it out.