Originally Posted by
carleton
FYI, you can find metric Allen screws at local hardware stores:
https://www.lowes.com/pl/Machine-scr...ent=4294710182
The type of screws that are used in stems, seat post clamps, and other odds and ends on the bike.
So, if your screws are stripped or simply looking shabby after lots of use, you may be able to find what you need at the local hardware store. Take one of the ones you intend to replace into the store with you to make sure you get the right size and thread pitch. Look for what you need in the Metric area (most bike screws, nuts, and bolts are Metric).
I'd go one step further, as someone that worked in a True Value and spent time organizing and stocking those little drawers of nuts and bolts. The little drawers of nuts and bolts should be much higher quality stuff than the stuff you find in the big box stores (unless the store owner is filling them with the wrong stuff). It's super high quality, US made, very good stuff. I buy pretty much all my regular nuts and bolts (water bottle bolts, turbo bolts for the car, etc) from the bins. You can get stainless (I do), most bolts come in various lengths, and the quality is excellent.
Some of the mass packed stuff, and a lot of the stuff in big box stores, is much lower quality. Sometimes that's okay - I use mass packed stainless sheet metal screws for downspouts, various projects around the house, etc). But for quality, machine threads, you can screw up something really expensive or really difficult to fix (a frame, a shifter, a derailleur) with bad threads and it's not worth saving 30 cents or whatever. I've literally tossed a new box of bolts into metal recycling because they were so bad.