A customer brought in a bike with a crank held on by wood glue

This guy from Tacoma said his bottom bracket felt stiff, so he took it apart. He couldn't get the crank bolt back tight, so he used Gorilla Wood Glue to stick the crank arm on. It worked for about a mile before it failed spectacularly. I spent two hours cleaning hardened glue out of the square taper. The lesson is that people will try anything before bringing it to a shop. Has anyone else seen a 'repair' that used a product from a completely different hobby?

3 comments

3 Comments

felix_henderson5417d ago

Used to think people just needed the right tool for the job. Then I saw a guy fix a cracked carbon fork with a hose clamp and a strip of inner tube. It held for his whole weekend trip! Stuff like that, or using super glue on a torn saddle, made me realize some folks just see a problem and use whatever is in their garage to fight it. The wood glue crank is just the next step in that wild, make-it-work mindset.

the_drew14d ago

Remember my buddy who fixed a stripped seatpost clamp with a zip tie and chewing gum?

the_stella17d ago

Wood glue. On a crank arm. I'm stuck on the fact that he had the tools to take the bottom bracket apart but then reached for a bottle of glue instead of just bringing it in. That's a special kind of creative problem solving. I've seen epoxy used as a threadlocker before, but at least that stuff holds for a while. Wood glue is meant for porous surfaces, not metal. It's amazing it even held for that one mile.