Buying a nut - iameven.com
The hardware fastener with a threaded hole kind, not the edible allergen type.
The bike trailer
I bring Mats to daycare using a kids bike trailer. It is attached to the bike with a nut on a bolt sticking out from the rear wheel axle. There is also a security strap to thread around the frame of the bike. On Thursday the nut disappeared after I picked him up at daycare. Not sure what happened, but I probably didn’t tighten it properly. The trailer was still attached with the strap and Mats didn’t seem to notice anything. I went home with the bike and trailer and went on to search for the nut but it was nowhere to be found.
Maxbo
There is a building supplies store right next to the road I take to work so I decided to stop by the next morning. For some reason these always open really early. So I went up to the counter and asked if they sold singular nuts. The guy just looked weirdly at me and asked “what?”. “You know, nuts and bolt, that sort of thing?”, I said. “How do you spell it?”, he asked. And then proceeded to search their system for it. I was a bit flabbergasted by this. He then took me to where they had these in the store. I was about to ask him about the right sizes and what I might need, but he seemed so confused about all this. They also only sold these in packs of 50, so I abandoned at this point
Ahlsell
When arriving at work I spent a couple of minutes searching for where I could buy singular nuts, because I just assumed that had to be a thing somewhere. It is. I found Ahlsell which I’ve never heard about before.. They are located about 7km from where I work and I decided to leave a bit earlier from work to go there. It turns out I really needed that extra time. After a 20-something minutes bike ride I got there. And the woman behind the counter knew what a nut was and pointed out where I could find them. I should have brought my bike into this store, but I foolishly assumed that a nut is a nut and that they only differ in size. They don’t. I bought a 10mm and a 12mm one for 16,- NOK and headed out to my bike. Neither fit, so I went back in again and asked about if they had an 11mm one, and apparently there is no such thing.
Spinn
I thought that maybe since this is a bike thing and not really building material it might be a special item. There is a Spinn bicycle shop not far from Ahlsell so I went there. The guy behind the counter was really helpful. He went out and looked at the bike, had some measuring equipment and found out that this bolt has a 1 graded rise as if that was supposed to mean something to me. Unfortunately they didn’t have a nut in stock for this size and grade. As I said I just came from Ahlsell he suggested I should bring my bike inside and show them the bolt so they could help me get a nut and directed me to …
Würth
Another store I’ve never heard about. And located right next to Ahlsell. So back I went. Brought my bike inside and explained my problem. The woman working there was also really helpful. She measured the bolt and ran away somewhere in the shop and came back with a couple of boxes. She tried the bolts she had but none of them would fit. I mentioned the 1 grade thing, and she said that their nuts were probably too coarse then. I asked if she had a suggestion on other shops I might check at. Luckily she did.
Skruegården Industrisalg
That translates to something like “Screw farm Industrial sales”. Another store I’ve never heard about. Guess I’m revealing just how hopeless I am when it comes to handyman stuff. This was 9km away, but I was on a mission and figured I would try that or order a new axle with the bolt from the internet if they didn’t have it. So off I went. Half an hour later I arrived there and they were still open. I brought my bike inside and showed the bolt and explained my problem. This is very much a professional shop, so there was only a small room with a counter and a huge warehouse visible in the background. The guy behind the counter came out with the same type of measuring tool the guy at spinn had. “10mm, 1 grade. Do you want stainless steel or corrosion resistant?”, he said. “Ehm, err, what do you think is best?”, I asked, and then he ran off while conferring with another guy in the background. He jumped into some sort of cart where he could adjust his height to the shelves and came back from another side just a few seconds later. “This should do”, he said, handed me the nut and wrote something on a form. “Just bring this to the office and you can pay there”, and then pointed to a door. So I did, went into a corridor, then another, saw some empty offices, proceeded further, and finally found someone. He grabbed the sheet from me, and said “ah, this is a rare type, so it is a bit expensive”. He grabbed a bank terminal and handed it to me. The price was 75,- NOK. That was more than I expected. “Well, it beats buying a new axle for 800,-”, I said, and paid.
Home
Close to 2 hours after leaving work I was home with my brand new nut. The price really was more than I expected, both in time and money. But this was something I needed and if I had tried to order this online I would have gotten the incorrect type just with a couple of days added to the time. I’m fascinated that we have special shops like Skruegården in the area and if I had known about them, or they had turned up in my initial search, I would have just gone there immediately.