zacster

Ok, I get everyone's point. But look at these instructions from the garden sprinkler I bought yesterday, in particular at the bottom:




This was a $20 item, not a $200 one. They saw fit to include the tool.

Iride01 

What tools did they give you with your $40,000 car?

Iride01 

I know. I realized that after it was too late and the button pushed!

But none of those are useful. At least not to me. I haven't changed a fuse or a tire in many years.

I guess my only other argument would be how many of the "pre-load adjustment" tools would just be trash in the land fill because most cranks are installed by shops and very few by those of us that DIY our bikes.

Perhaps if the OP just went to one of the local shops they might just give him one of the extras they probably have laying around. That's how I've obtained several of the special Shimano tools in my tool box.

wheelreason

Most tire levers, and like 50 things around the house will work. I just like that mine matches my Abbey HAG...

zacster

This is what I built. I started with a Specialized Dolce Vita in a 44 size that was too small for my daughter, bought the frame, crank, BB, cables, tape and front derailleur and built it up with the rest of the parts from the Specialized. It is for my daughter so the saddle stays even though I find it uncomfortable for fast riding, I took it for a spin and it rides far better than my own carbon fiber bike. It makes me want a new one for myself, but my knee is telling me not to bother.

You may be asking why after spending that money I made a big deal about the $6 tool, well it was just the principle of needing a special tool that only fits one thing. Even my 16 point BB cup tool has been used on multiple bikes and BBs.



The yellow bottle is my TdF bottle from my own bike. I'll get her a nicer cage and bottle. There is also a plastic spoke protector on the rear that needs to go, but it isn't that important. She wants to ride it.

cxwrench

First world problem. And the shift housing from the levers to the frame is too long.

SoSmellyAir

The TL-FC16 is $6.03 + tax from Amazon.com; I just ordered one. It is a no win situation. If one was included with every HTII crankset, the environmental impact is too large. If one was not included, people who have not previously had an HTII crankset would complain. Apple went through the same thing with the little 5W USB power brick. Your principles maybe further disappointed to learn that 16 point BB cup sockets are available in at least 3 sizes (of which I am aware): 44 mm, 41 mm, and 39 mm, and it took me forever to figure out that the BB-R9100 I recently bought requires the 39 mm version.

zacster

I thought it was too when I finally took it out. It is still much shorter than the factory housing on the bike it came from. I cut it down twice but it is still too long. It didn't affect the shifting though, it was crisp and precise. I never liked the shift cable coming out the side of the lever. After hiding brake cables for so many years why did they design it this way for 9sp?

I have one more thing to do on it and I'll take care of the housing too. The only problem is I'm out of green cable ends. The horror!

Andrew R Stewart 

I think the answer is because a few reasons. 1- It works, 2- very few complained, 3- it costs a lot to change over the manufacturing tooling and assembly lines to a new spec.

BTW there are many images of TdF pro bikes with longer than fashionable casing lengths for a good reason. Those guys crash and need to keep going or their sponsor complains about lost views. Too long casings fair better than too short ones... Andy

cxwrench

The brake housing is hidden. You're confused.

zacster

No I'm not. The brake housing is hidden in my 1982 Italian steel bike. The brake housing stayed hidden but then they stuck the derailleur housing out in front, but still hid the brake cables. It was a big deal back in the 80s that they could make the bikes more aero by hiding the cables. Apparently Shimano didn't get the memo with the shifter cables.

dedhed

Try being an auto mechanic, except it's a $50 tool and it changes every model year.

jccaclimber

I’m waiting for the day when working on our bikes requires a scan tool plus several thousand dollar per year software license. I’d say that would usher in decent pay for bike mechanics, but it isn’t in line yet for auto mechanics, so I don’t see much hope there.

cxwrench

Ok, I see what you're saying. Who knows...? Ask Shimano. Apparently in 1990 they didn't think running the shift housing under the bar tape with the brake housing possible or even preferred. If you'd have been head of product development we would have been saved from this hugely imported mistake.

danielwump

I've been wondering precisely the same f***ing thing. In the end, I improvised with some pliers: I opened them in the plastic thing and then kind of tried to turn it a bit. It didn't work great but it got the job done. As you said, it doesn't need to be particularly tight.

choddo

As per 2 ot the earlier replies.

Personally, I had one included in the £70 30+ piece toolkit I bought when I first tried to wrangle something on a bike. It’s had a lot of use. It also has a hex protrusion that lets you use a wrench on it but the knurled circular grip is a far better way to not knacker the component. I don’t want these included with cranks. More pointless plastic for the ocean.

Camilo

Ah, so you read the old thread and used one of the suggested work arounds.

cyccommute 

You are assuming that Shimano is a smart company. It’s really quite stupid as an organization. They make good stuff but often can be dumb about the way they do it. Yes, a tool should be included with each crank…and, if I recall correctly, used to be included… but someone in the organization decided that they could save a few pennies or that there were more then enough of the tools floating around in the world and they can leave it out.

One of my pet peeves about the preload bolt is that they get lost in co-ops. People either don’t understand what the piece does and just throw it into the ocean of trash that co-ops generate. If they do happen to keep them, they keep the wrong sized one. That’s another great Shimano idea…make the preload bolt different sizes for different cranksets.

You can find after market preload bolts that use 8mm allen wrenches which I have done in a number of cases. Just make sure you get the right size.

zacster

This thread is getting old already and I've moved on from any issue with it.

rm -rf

That stopper plate is plastic, with a tiny metal pin inserted into it's edge. The two pinch bolts are torqued to 12-14 Nm, which is what really holds the crank arm onto the splines. The stopper plate is pretty useless as a security feature.

Are you saying that a mechanic or home mechanic wouldn't notice that there's a lot of play in the crank unless they had the stopper plate to indicate it? I tighten the preload until the crank starts dragging a little, then loosen it a bit.

jccaclimber

I’ve personally seen bikes come in to our local co-op with nothing but the safety pin holding the crank on. It’s usually a “something feels funny, I think my bearings are loose.” If nothing else it got them home.

wschruba

It's called a "stopper plate" in their literature, but it's really an always-installed installation gauge.

If you cannot place it through the hole in the crank, there is not enough spindle engaged to safely use it.

As a "retention feature", it won't stop the crank from coming off.

Kontact 

Shimano didn't include a tool because they were using every spare dollar to insure that the drive side crank would never delaminate.

Ryan_M

Maybe I'm giving Shimano too much credit but I imagine it's designed not to use an Allen key on purpose so people don't crank it down way to hard. You just need to take out the slack. I printed one for a few pennies.