Stubborn Blur Bushings

As I worked on the old Blur frame yesterday, I started to come to the conclusion that it might be beyond repair...not such a bad thing considering it has lasted a good 10 yrs at this point.  My original plan was to build up the Lynskey and then band aid my Blur until some point later in time.

The reason it might be beyond repair is that the bushings seemed to be stubborn and unwilling to come out:

In the above picture, you can see the bearings, and in the middle, you can see the bushings that are not playing nice.  I tried the recommended approach of threading the bolt partially and then tapping out the bushing, but all that did was start to mess up the threads.  I tried using a socket to fit into the inside of the bushing to hammer it out...no go...The alternative is to really put a little UMMFF into the hammering but then I might compromise the integrity of the frame by hammering sideways on the bushings/bearings.

It might just be time to salvage what I can for parts and move on - say it ain't so!

I realized that I am currently in the precarious situation of not having a mountain bike to ride...the old singlespeed is being parted for the new....the Lynskey is not yet built...and the Blur is a goner.  The quiver/stable took a big hit this week!  Ouchie MaMa!