Originally Posted by
zacster
You are all mostly missing the point. Why design something that needs a special tool if you’re not going to include it? Even IKEA includes them. Why even design it so it needs a tool at all? You could make it so you can turn it with your fingers, just knurl the edge and have it protrude. The one in the pic looks about right, except leave off the hex slot if you don’t want it torqued.
And before you make assumptions about someone’s misunderstanding of written instructions, how about you try to read what was written in the first place.
I did find something that fits it that won’t be able to torque it. Just hand tight.
This is a truly dumb design of what should be a simple piece of plastic.
If one were to redesign the draw/preload bolt (that plastic threaded thing we are talking about) please don't have it stick out past the crankarm's surface. There's a reason why crank arm dust caps have been flush (or very nearly so) with the arm's surface, for many decades. But the best way to figure out what works better is to make a version and then pass it around to others to get their feedback. I am sure many here would look forward to being part of the testing phase
I'll add just because I understand and have learned to deal with Shimano's designs and business/product philosophy doesn't mean I like it better than other companies way of design or marketing. I do respect what the big S has done though. Andy