Bicycle Tutor

Hi there,
I'm after some advice from someone a little wiser than me. I have a Specialized mountain bike frame that I'm fitting a rear rack to. A screw broke off in the rear seat stay where you screw the rack to the frame. I have drilled out the screw but in doing so I have loosened the eyelet surrounding the hole. Does anyone know if these can be replaced? Or how they are held in there? Not only because it's loose, but also I may have ruined the thread drilling out the broken screw. I need to attach a rack for some heavy touring, and don't really want to buy a new frame.
Many thanks

Would it be possible for you to post a picture to see what you have there? Also, another place you can attach the rack mounts may be your clamp at your seat post.

The eyelets can be brazed back on, but you'll need to re-paint the area afterwards. A good bike shop will have someone who can do it. I've done it once (with guidance) but I found it was very tricky and took a lot of patience.

These are photos of the eyelet in question on the rear seat stay. How are they held in there? Are they pressed in at manufacturer or inserted after?

   
   

Those look like they are welded in place. Aluminum welding is more difficult... if you don't do it yourself I'd recommend getting someone who can to help you replace them. I'm not sure, but either way I think the re-heating might weaken the frame.

Instead of trying to repair the frame, you can jsut mount the rack using small clamps that wrap around the seat stay instead of bolting directly to it. Technically not as strong as a direct bolt, but I think your experience shows that relying on one small bolt isn't that great either. Most standard racks have two supports that run to the seat stays. I've seen mods where you drill a few extra holes and run extra brackets to the seat post clamp as well for extra support. Note that most of the weight is supported but the connection at the rear drop out, not up on top anyway.