Can I Drill A Hole In My Bike Frame? |

[@andyamos8594]

With aluminium and steel, I drill holes all over the place, never had a frame fail! Also, looks like we could seriously do with setting up a GMBN charity head shave x2! 😄

[@NonLegitNation2]

good to know. I'm actually just going to use the bike as a winter commuter bike, built with all my spare parts from my parts bins. I finished the build last week and I'm pretty happy with it.

[@jonaskreiner4864]

Hi Andy, I am looking to add the classic bottle screw mounts with blind nuts on the upper side of the downtube, since my bike has none. It would need 7mm holes on an enduro bike. Ever did anything in that regard?

[@andyamos8594]

@@jonaskreiner4864 yep, been there.. the only considerations are that water bottles don't clash if placed too low and the seatpost tube clearance if mounted too high.

[@drbobjohnson812]

A while back I drilled a hole in 1999 TREK Carbon Fiber MTB back of seat tube down near BB for dropper post cable. Warranty was not an issue. Have not had any issues. About to do the same on 2010 Aluminum Stumpjumper

[@floydblandston108]

As the saying goes, "you won't until you do".

[@philipcaldwell3187]

Excellent, I appreciate an informed discussion by SME’s.

[@moonte7933]

As a bike mechanic i already converted 2 of my frames to run a dropper and that needed a hole in the side of the downtube and removing a bit of material from the bb.Never had an issue,but put the hole in the middle area of the tube (least stress and most uniform deformation area)As long as you don't drill near welds or in the area of the bends it should be fine...also make the edges smooth so it can't develop cracks....all the internally routed frames have massive holes compared to what i did so it should be fine.No more warranty and resell devaluation are potential side effects ,but hey,depends on your sutuation.

[@NonLegitNation2]

thanks for the info. I ended up drilling two holes in the center of the BB making sure not to hit my BB or the plastic shell of the threaded BB. I just riveted one cable guide to it. In terms of other locations, I kept away from welds and as mentioned in the video the holes i drilled were very small at 1/8 of an inch.

[@willamisilva2340]

1:34 I've drilled a hole in my alloy frame in the seat tube to install a dropper seatpost

[@madduckuk]

I will probably do that at some point, I would risk a single hole on the seat tube.

[@john_ridesbikes]

@@madduckuk my old 26" Azonic hard tail, I used one of them old V-Brake 90° bendy tubes, slipped up into the BB void, cable ran up through that taped to the ends, so no bending of cable outer, then drilled a single 6.5mm hole at the right side of the top tube with a cable grommet (cro-moly frame though).

[@raff5604]

Great show guys!!!!! Thank you

[@IVAN_ENT]

did this to my old alu diomandback dirt jumper hard tail to add rivnuts in the triangle for a custom ebike battery build, 3 like 8mm holes ,going on 2 years no issues with 1500w mid drive

[@EduardoNakiri]

Well... I can say that I already did it in my SPZ Stumpy to fit a dropper post cable... And it's working fine. Hit some medium jumps, and it's fine...

[@Forte_FX]

For adding a pair of Drink Bottle Holder mounts....After the hole is drilled, a quality Self Tapping Threaded Insert would maintain frame integrity, barring installing them near the head and ass areas.😂

[@NonLegitNation2]

Thanks for giving your thoughts on my question I really appreciate it. And to answer your question the bike I'm working on is a winter commuter bike, so I'm not going to be using it on any trails or anything rough, It's strictly going to be used for commuting on the road during winter.

[@YTOnlineReviews]

🤔🤔🤔

[@TheSpaceBrosShow]

Ive been drilling holes for bottle cage mounts on downtubes of track bikes for a while. Its fine as long as you don't go completely off the rails w/ the holes

[@bod3000]

Thanks for answering my question. Very interesting

[@juliuscesarclaro9512]

I just have our bike shop drill 2 5mm holes in my Seat Tube as it was alloy road bike frame as well. But I'm using it as a Gravel/Cyclocross that's why I needed more bottle cages. We used Rivet Nuts on it. Is it okay? Any points I need to know? Too late to back out now as it is already installed. The mechanic said it was actually okay as they have already installed a lot of holes and rivet nuts on other customer frames alloy and aluminum as well and no one ever complained of cracks.

[@noke1785]

i drilled a hole in my seatstay for the dropper cable...perfect angle, 4mm hole, no regrets or worries jet. specialized pitch 2019 hardtail (all custom except frame...oh, i drilled a hole so its technically "customized^^)

[@mariopejovic]

thank you for your answer guys. much appreciated

[@GSNorrie]

There's a budget brake upgrade that is rarely suggested, starting with replacing just your levers instead. My last bike had an entry level Shimano MT200 brake set. I decided to try just upgrading the levers to MT4100s and the difference was incredible. You don't just get way more power you're also upgrading the lever feel, both ergonomics and modulation. You don't get that by just getting bigger rotors. The difference was so big that I never had to upgrade the calipers, rotors or pads. Though the option is always there if you still need some more power when your budget allows. I'm not sure this works for other brands but you certainly can with Shimano.

[@rottieshepcalibre9156]

Thanks guys ❤

[@stevenconnor4221]

Keep it in the centriod (centre) away from the ends and 50mm apart you will be fine. You could insert a clinchnut is your mounting stuff to it. Think castelated beams aka big I beams with holes in the middle. Being in the middle there is no bending forces compressive or by extension.

[@floydblandston108]

Butted tubing is already designed to take advantage of that sort of basic physics. Drilling of any sort violates the original design criteria. Most will get away with it because of use factors and the inherent 'safety margin' most companies use.

[@stevenconnor4221]

@@floydblandston108 Thanks, but I know my requirements better than anyone and obviously warranty is void if doing it, you and those presenters are stating the obvious. Not everyone is buying brand new bikes btw. Physics is extreemly basic, its a youtube forum. Yes were probably into thier factor of safety in the design calculations if they ever use one, how many bikes have you seen break how did thier FOS hold up, did they recal a batch ..nope.

[@floydblandston108]

Hydroformed Al is completely different from butted tubes- computerized design allows the multiple calculations to determine whether things like 'kinked' bottom tubes will function, and at what shapes/thicknesses/sizes. Trust the Pros here....

[@AK-oz4ew]

You can sure drill holes that do not exceed 1/3 of the tube diameter, however a lot depends on the frame and the bike use. Super light weight racing thin walled frames are already pushing the limit, the same applies to MTB bikes if you big jumps. You regular low/midlevel weight frame is massively overbuild. Unless you are 90 kg rider hauling 50 kg bags on rocky road you will be fine.

[@d6minik]

#AskGMBNTech Hi, I'm considering buying a new coil shock for my Canyon Torque 5 AL Mullet (2023). It has 250x70 air shock. Can I buy 250x75 or I have to stick to 250x70? Thank you in advance for your answer!

[@martintobycorker4562]

Rather drilling holes on aluminium frame use full length cable outers and zipp trys holding on to frame,keeps everything mud proof and no frame damage like drilling frame 😅

[@sethlira]

Drilled 16 holes in 16 different aluminum gravel frames for the seat droppers …just don’t drill on the vertices (the 90 deg corners) ..drill on

[@witchshady]

#AskGMBNTech I am 5 ft 6 riding on 170 mm cranks and looking to get 145mm cranks but I can't seem to find any viable options out that would fit a SRAM DUB BB. I know SX should have the 155mm option but can't seem to find any. Does changing cranksets mean you have to change bottom brackets too? Would appreciate your advice, thanks

[@Alex-gk5py]

5dev has a dub option,

[@grahamallshorn1056]

#askgmbntech. Following on from your crank length experiment, is it ok to put cranks that are meant for e-bikes on normal MTB’s? I.e I want to put FCM8150 XT 160mm cranks on my Giant trance X that has M7100 SLX 170mm cranks on it currently.

[@ThePeter123a]

I drilled holes in my front door key and filed it a bit to save 7 grams. I also ground down Allen keys to save weight. On the frame, I swapped steel rivet nuts for bottle cages for aluminum nuts.

[@mattfarrar5472]

#AskGMBNTech For an Enduro bike that spends equal time going up fire roads , tech climbs and down gnarly trails and some flow - Would a Float X2/Vivid or Float X/Super deluxe ultimate be a better option for complete all round? (I have a super deluxe select+ on my Megatower and I cannot get it feeling good on climbs and downhill it's one or the other or compromised on both - tossing up between Float X and X2. Fox 38 performance elite running great up front!)

[@mikec8815]

Its not that hard to figure out if drilling holes is an issue. Just draw the tube in CAD, add the holes and run finite analysis

[@stahusstu9721]

#askgmbntech if the recomended fork travel for frame is 160 but frame has flip chip can i put 170 with flip chip in high position (makes HT nagle steeper by 0.5) and it is safe for frame or it will add stress (to make it simpler HT angle is same as with 160 and low positioned flip chip)

[@floydblandston108]

Are you riding it to the pub on the local bike lanes, or taking 12 foot drops to flat?

[@stahusstu9721]

@@floydblandston108 For now I ride local natural trail with 150/140mm. I would like to try bike parks and maybe some jumps, enduro line. I want to make new bike project for that. I thought about spec status with over travel rear end to 174mm, With 170 at front should be very fun bike. Or maybe left 160 rear but change for 29x2.3 with 170mm. My girlfriend have status frame and I love that bike so i want to make project with that.

[@stahusstu9721]

@@floydblandston108 to sum up, my question is if additional stress on the frame from over forking is only couse by change of HT angle or not. And if not what else.

[@justsayin3600]

Jeff Kendall-Weed does this all the time. 10mm (approximately 3/8 inch) 12mm almost 1/2 inch is really no big deal. The only consideration might be pedal strikes. Even if you want you can but a Wolf Tooth head angle kit. I have one on my tral bike to slack it out. If you love it really slack, just get shorter cranks. Or you can also go to a wider rear tire that will raise it up a tad. People will argue that longer cranks are better leverage, but I will say there is actually a measurement you can do to find your correct range in cranks. Go to 5Dev and they have a measurement tool. Or go to GMBN, they just did a recent vid on this. NOT ALL CRANKS ARE SUPPOSED TO BE 175/170 for every rider. It's about fit, preference and what trail, enduro, downhill you are on. Cranks are an easy swap. I have a Specialized Stumpjumper Evo Pro, which is highly adjustable front and rear it's meant to have 6 DIFFRENT SETTINGS. It's really about fit, comfort and riding style. Even in the rear for my bike, if I run it in 29er and put my Cascade link the rear goes from 150mm to 158mm and it goes from a linear compression to progressive compression. If I run my bike in mixed wheel I put my WRP yoke and it puts my mixed wheel into a 29er geo. If I run mixed wheel with my WRP yoke, and my Cascade link I'm running a 27.5 tire in the rear, but setting it up in a 29er geo with the WRP then add 8mm of progressive travel with the Cascade link. Just go for it dude! If you don't like it tweak it till you get the right feel. There is nothing worse than riding a bike that you hate to ride.

[@GSNorrie]

There's a budget brake upgrade that is rarely suggested, starting with replacing just your levers instead. My last bike had an entry level Shimano MT200 brake set. I decided to try just upgrading the levers to MT4100s and the difference was incredible. You don't just get way more power you're also upgrading the lever feel, both ergonomics and modulation. You don't get that by just getting bigger rotors. The difference was so big that I never had to upgrade the calipers, rotors or pads. Though the option is always there if you still need some more power when your budget allows. I'm not sure this works for other brands but you certainly can with Shimano.

[@Velo1010]

The holes in a frame are drilled in the factory anyways. Of course it’s planned by the engineers. Sixteen holes seems like too many

[@Petrolhead912]

Drill away to your hearts content, the more holes you have the lighter your bike will be 😂

[@kevinburke1325]

The fact that he's able to drill holes easily in aluminum frames shows just how weak aluminum is.

[@Lukas-iq3cv]

@@kevinburke1325 hope your joking m8

[@kevinburke1325]

@@Lukas-iq3cv uuuhhh, nope. You shouldn't be able to drill through metal. Drilling through metal is an instant fail dumb dumb.

[@busslayer4790]

Speed holes!

[@kevinburke1325]

@@Lukas-iq3cv metals always go through the drilling test. If you can drill through it, it is not meant to be used.

[@YTOnlineReviews]

No buddy. don't hole in your bike frame.😮‍💨

[@kevinbourke4038]

To drill is to destroy.

[@Devlin-b8x]

1

[@gmbntech]

🏆

[@gmbntech]

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[@sgtgotten]

Just drill on

[@djmccrea2438]

SO how are bottle mounts mudguards mounts and all other holes drilled in aluminum done without damage there should not ever be a crack in your metal from drilling unless there's underlying problems with the actual manufacturing of the aluminum tubes like my PITBIKE swingarm with stress FRACTURED from manufacturing no drills just cracked in the aluminum but it's poorly manufactured that's nothing to do with DRILL every SINGLE piece of metal on your bike is designed with holes i.e your headset your bars your peddles peddle arms your wheels your seat seat post seat clamp your brakes. Your frame tubing is a hole either side so how can adding holes make it weaker when all the products HAVE had holes put in them anyway

[@74_Green]

Hi, 1990 Matt Stephens ( @realstephens ) here, can I have my hair back... :D