Gear adjustment screws - What screwdriver?

[MartinC]

Yes, real men don't adjust their gears anyway and even if they did they'd use a 7lb lump hammer.

[keyboardmonkey]

When my Vessel screwdriver finally arrived from Japan it didn't seem so different - apart from the 'JAWSFIT' tip - from my Stanley Phillips No. 2.

However, when I dropped the tip of the Stanley screwdriver in to a limit screw on an unused Shimano 105 front derailleur it pirouetted uselessly about on the head as I tried to turn it without applying any downward force.

I then put the Vessel in to the head of the screw with the only downward force being the weight of the screwdriver. When I turned the driver the limit screw moved effortlessly with no extra downward pressure. Remarkable.

Vessel Megadora +2 100 screwdriver

Currently £5.88 online - with free delivery.

Go on. You know you want to...

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Vessel-Megador ... me&sr=8-11

[Mick F]

Go on. You know you want to...

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Vessel-Megador ... me&sr=8-11

There's a bit of me that will never say no to a new tool.

However, in all my years of adjusting front and rear mechs both Shimano and Campag, a flat blade screwdriver works. The screw heads are designed for it.

[Spinners]

When my Vessel screwdriver finally arrived from Japan it didn't seem so different - apart from the 'JAWSFIT' tip - from my Stanley Phillips No. 2.

However, when I dropped the tip of the Stanley screwdriver in to a limit screw on an unused Shimano 105 front derailleur it pirouetted uselessly about on the head as I tried to turn it without applying any downward force.

I then put the Vessel in to the head of the screw with the only downward force being the weight of the screwdriver. When I turned the driver the limit screw moved effortlessly with no extra downward pressure. Remarkable.

FE3EA381-8A5C-449C-8811-B199C5E21068.jpeg
Currently £5.88 online - with free delivery.

Go on. You know you want to...

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Vessel-Megador ... me&sr=8-11

Yes, I do. Thank you.

[nigelnightmare]

now that's just crazy talk; call yourself an engineer. It would, and has,really bugged me using the wrong tool on a fastener.

Remember the 3 rules of engineeering:

1 use the right tool for the job
2 the right tool for any job is a hammer
3 any tool can be used as a hammer

You forgot the most important one.

If it don't fit...Force it!

[Brucey]

rule 4)

when all you have is a hammer, everything starts to look like a nail.

[nigelnightmare]

so.... flat blade it is, then....

cheers

Unless you have a nice mech like this Mavic which only needs a 2.5mm Allen key. This is how they all should have been.
image.jpg

That's what I could never understand.
Why, if every other fixing on a bike are "Allen bolt". Why are the derailleur adjustment screws F&R "JIS"?
Surely it makes more sense to have them all the same.

P.S.
Toyota used/uses JIS and the tool kit in the boot has a JIS/Flat screwdriver.

[Samuel D]

Why, if every other fixing on a bike are "Allen bolt". Why are the derailleur adjustment screws F&R "JIS"?
Surely it makes more sense to have them all the same.

Shimano, at least, agrees and now makes derailleurs that use Allen keys to adjust the limit screws. See the FD-9100, for example.

[profpointy]

so.... flat blade it is, then....

cheers

Unless you have a nice mech like this Mavic which only needs a 2.5mm Allen key. This is how they all should have been.
image.jpg

That's what I could never understand.
Why, if every other fixing on a bike are "Allen bolt". Why are the derailleur adjustment screws F&R "JIS"?
Surely it makes more sense to have them all the same.

P.S.
Toyota used/uses JIS and the tool kit in the boot has a JIS/Flat screwdriver.

I simply swapped all the screws for stainless allen screws. I do have a set of JIS screwdrivers, but it's still worth swopping. In any case OE deraileur adjusters are made of a metalic
looking type of cheese rather than good quality steel

[fastpedaller]

Today I bought a qty 50 pack of m4 x 16 stainless (A2) socket head (allen) screws from screwfix £3.04
As I'd anticipated the diameter of the head is bigger than the original Shimano screws. As the socket head screws are longer I could have just used them, but they would have protruded and looked bad, so I set to with the bench grinder. They needed reducing from 6.9mm diameter to 5.3mm, so took a few minutes (if only I had a lathe ), with the reduction it fitted in place (I only tried one) and to do it justice a smoothing with wet/dry and polishing is needed. They do indeed turn with a 3mm allen key. i'm not sure whether I'll go to the bother of replacing the originals as they are rarely moved (maybe If I have a spare hour), but the B adjustment screw gets all the crud on it, so I may replace it, especially as it doesn't fit in a recess so requires no modification (apart from maybe the length). A drip of Loctite would also be worth using on the B adjustment screw.

[Brucey]

re lack of lathe for such jobs;

all you need is an electric drill and a grinder; a Dremel tool for tiny jobs and/or an angle grinder for bigger jobs than that. The method is to mount the electric drill in a bench vice, and then mount the screw in the drill chuck, preferably screwing it into something (a fitting or a whole bunch of nuts) so that it is secure and runs concentrically. With the drill latched (i.e. set to run all the time) at about 1000rpm or more the head can be reshaped using the grinding tool and then polished. Because it is being done in the drill the parts will run concentric to the screw thread. No lumpy corners!

cheers