Socket Head Screw Assortment
#1
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Socket Head Screw Assortment
I am looking to get an assortment of socket head screws set for my bikes to have on hand. Can anyone recommend a place to purchase? Thanks in advance!
#2
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Check eBay and filter on US sellers.
And also check harborfreight.com.
And also check harborfreight.com.
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Belmetric: https://belmetric.com/socket-products/
I wouldn't trust the quality from an eBay seller. Especially for a critical component that has safety consequences, don't take a chance.
Belmetric is the go-to place for us car guys.
Mark
I wouldn't trust the quality from an eBay seller. Especially for a critical component that has safety consequences, don't take a chance.
Belmetric is the go-to place for us car guys.
Mark
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The local Ace Hardware has drawers of all kinds of nuts, bolts, etc. And yes, they do have metric. With so much going pre-packaged, if you have an Ace nearby, might want to check.
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McMaster-Carr and Grainger are large industrial supply houses and both will sell to individual purchasers in person and on-line. If they don't have it it probably isn't made.
Bolt Depot and Fastenal are specialty fastener shops that also sell on-line and are good sources.
Bolt Depot and Fastenal are specialty fastener shops that also sell on-line and are good sources.
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#6
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Do you break or otherwise trash a lot of screws for your bikes? Seat post clamp bolts are probably the only screw on a bike I've had to ever replace and not more than I have fingers on one hand.
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#7
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As others mentioned, ACE Hardware has a very good selection of fasteners in stainless metric.
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I buy mine in bulk from Fastenal, they are a large screw and bolt distributor. I buy in 100 piece packages and get stainless steel for the bikes. HTH, MH
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Yet another vote for Ace, aka A-Boy Electrical and Plumbing. Boxes of 100 sound nice and cost effective but I want a variety of different lengths. I like several different head styles depending on application.
Here in the PNW, we have Tacoma Screw, another very good fastener source. (I forget what I started going to the Seattle one for but I quickly discovered they had #2 round heads and nuts that made perfect replacements for the beautiful SS screws my favorite harmonicas are assembled with. Yes, a step down in class, but now, if I had to disassemble one to remove a bit of food clogging a reed, I could use a standard dinner knife and my thumb and not need a special tiny Phillips no one had. One of the trials of playing the blues. Low light, late at night and around food. Food particles are the curse! The founder of the harmonica company and designer of the ground breaking harmonicas 40 years ago chuckles when I tell him I routinely remove his works of art and replace them with those cheap screws but he doesn't scold me.)
Here in the PNW, we have Tacoma Screw, another very good fastener source. (I forget what I started going to the Seattle one for but I quickly discovered they had #2 round heads and nuts that made perfect replacements for the beautiful SS screws my favorite harmonicas are assembled with. Yes, a step down in class, but now, if I had to disassemble one to remove a bit of food clogging a reed, I could use a standard dinner knife and my thumb and not need a special tiny Phillips no one had. One of the trials of playing the blues. Low light, late at night and around food. Food particles are the curse! The founder of the harmonica company and designer of the ground breaking harmonicas 40 years ago chuckles when I tell him I routinely remove his works of art and replace them with those cheap screws but he doesn't scold me.)
#10
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My local “The Hardware Store” used to be an Ace franchise and I believe a Hardware Hank before that . More of an independent store now. What used to be a good selection of fasteners is now a GREAT selection! Metric as well as SAE, socket head, Phillips, Torx etc. They are always my first stop. I found Fastenal to be a bit spendy but the selection is, as one might expect, very good.
#12
Senior Member
Box stores aell small quantity fasteners in poly packs at inflated prices. Thats OK if you need something quick to finish a job, but expensive on the long haul.
Check and see if you have a local fastener supply house. You'll get good process there AND they might have an assortment like you asked for.
Failing that parts houses like the before mentioned McMaster, Fastenal and (new to me) Balmetrics are your best bet.
Check and see if you have a local fastener supply house. You'll get good process there AND they might have an assortment like you asked for.
Failing that parts houses like the before mentioned McMaster, Fastenal and (new to me) Balmetrics are your best bet.
#13
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Before you go too far and buy a huge assortment, keep in mind the great majority of the bolts used on bikes are M5x0.8mm in a rather limited range of lengths, certainly nothing longer than 25mm, and an occasional M6x1.0mm for seatpost clamps and similar. The only other threading I'm familiar with is M8x1.0 (not the more common M8x1.25) used for square taper crank bolts and M10x1.0 for rear derailleur mounting bolts but neither of these are routinely replaced.
#14
elcraft
Marine hardware sources like West Marine, regularly stock metric stainless fasteners. Some of the fasteners are available with Hex Socket/Allen Key drives or Phillips style drives.
One caveat, though, Stainless screws fastened directly into aluminum cab be subject to Electrolytic corrosion, especially near coastal areas and salted roads and Winter bikes. A good quality dielectric grease should be used as it is both anti rust/ corrosion resistor and electrically insulates (or at least improves insulation) to ward off the electrolysis process.
Fastenal and Grainger both sell assortment kits of metric bolts and nuts. Fastenal also sells sets in hardness ratings. Although not really as critical on a bike, I do use the same assortment for auto applications.
One caveat, though, Stainless screws fastened directly into aluminum cab be subject to Electrolytic corrosion, especially near coastal areas and salted roads and Winter bikes. A good quality dielectric grease should be used as it is both anti rust/ corrosion resistor and electrically insulates (or at least improves insulation) to ward off the electrolysis process.
Fastenal and Grainger both sell assortment kits of metric bolts and nuts. Fastenal also sells sets in hardness ratings. Although not really as critical on a bike, I do use the same assortment for auto applications.
#15
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There is also the choice of stainless, anodized, or chrome. Hardly anyone uses chrome. Stainless looks better but it galls with over tightening. Anodized is stronger but will rust out eventually. An assortment is overkill but I know the feeling. Most of what you need is for racks and bottle cages. Some racks take longer bolts. And as noted above, anti seize paste, dielectric grease, and Loctite are your friends.
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I've never heard of anyone needing an assortment of generic screws in order to work on bikes. Most of the screws used on a bike are specialized screws and not generic off-the-shelf items. And most of the time when you strip something on a bike, it's not the screw but the threaded hole in the aluminum part that gets stripped out.
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I've never bought an assortment of bolts (not screws... my bikes don't have any screws, only bolts) for a bike, but for some reason I have dozens of them in a little box I keep in my bike-shop-area. (garage). On the rare occasions I need something I don't have in that little box of sh.., I mean stuff, I go to my local Tru Value hardware store where they have every imaginable fastener and lots of other neat little things.
#19
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Probably the best choice. No need to keep too many on hand.
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I've never heard of anyone needing an assortment of generic screws in order to work on bikes. Most of the screws used on a bike are specialized screws and not generic off-the-shelf items. And most of the time when you strip something on a bike, it's not the screw but the threaded hole in the aluminum part that gets stripped out.
Probably anyone that builds, restores, or flips bikes wants/needs a assortment. some will make do with droppings from other bikes others just want a bin. Most of the hardware is pretty standard stuff...
for the OP if you want bulk mcmaster, or fastenall. if you want a little kit amazon or ebay. if its just one or two stray things hardware store.
#21
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I've never heard of anyone needing an assortment of generic screws in order to work on bikes. Most of the screws used on a bike are specialized screws and not generic off-the-shelf items. And most of the time when you strip something on a bike, it's not the screw but the threaded hole in the aluminum part that gets stripped out.
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Google cable end crimps for sources, same on amazon as well. Note different sizes for derailler versus brake cables.
Or any bike shop .....
I bought 100 stainless SHCS in 5Mx0.8 20 yrs ago from Mcmaster and haven't use 10 of them since. I second those
that note a lot of the bolts on bikes are special heads or odd lengths. The 5Mx0.8 or 6Mx1.0 are common in bottle
cage, some derailler bolts and fender or rack mounts, but a lot of the other fasteners are bicycle only use.
Or any bike shop .....
I bought 100 stainless SHCS in 5Mx0.8 20 yrs ago from Mcmaster and haven't use 10 of them since. I second those
that note a lot of the bolts on bikes are special heads or odd lengths. The 5Mx0.8 or 6Mx1.0 are common in bottle
cage, some derailler bolts and fender or rack mounts, but a lot of the other fasteners are bicycle only use.
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#24
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ebay is another source. You can get them in lots of different colors or even with skulls if you like.
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Pokin' around the Poconos A cold ride around Lake Erie
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Picking the Scablands. Washington and Oregon, 2005. Pie and spiders on the Columbia River!
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I bought 100 stainless SHCS in 5Mx0.8 20 yrs ago from Mcmaster and haven't use 10 of them since. I second those
that note a lot of the bolts on bikes are special heads or odd lengths. The 5Mx0.8 or 6Mx1.0 are common in bottle
cage, some derailler bolts and fender or rack mounts, but a lot of the other fasteners are bicycle only use.
that note a lot of the bolts on bikes are special heads or odd lengths. The 5Mx0.8 or 6Mx1.0 are common in bottle
cage, some derailler bolts and fender or rack mounts, but a lot of the other fasteners are bicycle only use.
About the only “bicycle use” only fasteners that I can think of are ones on the derailer that need a stop. Most everything else are 5M and 6M. Older bikes might use something less standardized but modern bikes (post 1995), there’s very few bolts that you can’t find replacements at you local hardware store.
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Stuart Black
Plan Epsilon Around Lake Michigan in the era of Covid
Old School…When It Wasn’t Ancient bikepacking
Gold Fever Three days of dirt in Colorado
Pokin' around the Poconos A cold ride around Lake Erie
Dinosaurs in Colorado A mountain bike guide to the Purgatory Canyon dinosaur trackway
Solo Without Pie. The search for pie in the Midwest.
Picking the Scablands. Washington and Oregon, 2005. Pie and spiders on the Columbia River!
Stuart Black
Plan Epsilon Around Lake Michigan in the era of Covid
Old School…When It Wasn’t Ancient bikepacking
Gold Fever Three days of dirt in Colorado
Pokin' around the Poconos A cold ride around Lake Erie
Dinosaurs in Colorado A mountain bike guide to the Purgatory Canyon dinosaur trackway
Solo Without Pie. The search for pie in the Midwest.
Picking the Scablands. Washington and Oregon, 2005. Pie and spiders on the Columbia River!