Uh Oh. Snapped Off A Hex Key In A Bolt Head.

[fossyant]

Definitely NEW BIKE time.

 

[Lovacott]

just google inline gear adjusters or barrel adjusters. assuming you are running 4mm outer gear cable then you need the 4mm models (5mm is for Brake cables) quite simply the gear cable just inserts at either end (no ferule needed, but a good clean straight cut is advisable). you twist it and it lengthens / shortens your effective outer cable length and thus adjusts the cable tension.
very easy to fit. Fit them in the run between the bars and where the cable enters the frame:
Remove inner cable (you can just retract enough so it isn't in the bit your snipping, but still in the run beneath the bar tape) snip and tidy ends of your outer, insert and re thread the inner cable - there is normally some sort sort of bung you can remove to find the inner where it exits the frame, and reattach inner to the mech in question.

Looks and sounds pretty straightforward to me (just watched a Tube video as well).

I'll do it just because it will be much easier to adjust on the fly rather than faffing around with a piddly 2m hex key.

 

[rockyroller]

time to buy a new bike! :-)

 

[rockyroller]

Definitely NEW BIKE time.

omg

 

[CXRAndy]

Cheap hex key will be soft metal. Drill and put in screw and pull. Or if you can get depth correct, use compressor air line to use pneumatic force. Can be very powerful

 

[fossyant]

TBH, you could ride the bike the rest of your life without changing the cable on a front mech.

I am still running original Dura Ace 7400 gear cables on my 30 year old bike.... they have many more fine threads than the new stuff...

 

[Tom B]

Can you get behind it?

 

[DRM]

Cheap hex key will be soft metal. Drill and put in screw and pull. Or if you can get depth correct, use compressor air line to use pneumatic force. Can be very powerful

Nobody on earth will successfully drill out a 2.5 mm ball end from an allen key, that size is easily snapped off regardless of the quality of the key, even the larger sizes will be nigh on impossible to drill through due to the hardness of the metal

 

[Pale Rider]

The snapped bit appears recessed into the bolt head a tiny bit.

Have you tried undoing the bolt with the other end of the allen key or a flat bladed screwdriver?

 

[Illaveago]

Nobody's suggested a laser!

 

[Lovacott]

The snapped bit appears recessed into the bolt head a tiny bit.
Have you tried undoing the bolt with the other end of the allen key or a flat bladed screwdriver?

It's recessed by the width of a gnats cock.

Problem solved anyway because I'm going to fit an inline barrel adjuster which makes the mech mounted adjustment bolt redundant.

 

[Ajax Bay]

If you just 'leave it' @Lovacott this 8 page thread will have an unsatisfactory, unresolved ending/atrophy (I guess some will still come along and, without reading the previous pages, suggest things which have been masticated to death already ^^ )
You owe it to this sheared end of a 2mm allen key to sort it out, sharing the gory detail with your wise, non-judgemental audience. If giving it a tweak to get the white lines lined up mattered to you all those days ago, an in-line adjuster will just not be sufficent, and this will niggle you every time you ride the bike.

 

[Randomnerd]

No. I want to see this thread gain more traction. A few more failed attempts; more ideas proffered; tales of psychotherapy sessions; fist fights in the street with helpers offering TIG welders; and the eventual collapse of civilisation. @Lovacott nows owes us this. The thread must not end.

 

[Ming the Merciless]

This thread means I’ll definitely be sticking with a simple barrel adjuster on my gears. Easy to adjust to bring the tension to just the right amount after clamping a new cable.

 

[T4tomo]

This thread means I’ll definitely be sticking with a simple barrel adjuster on my gears. Easy to adjust to bring the tension to just the right amount after clamping a new cable.

me too, I think I inserted double barrel adjusters on my partners CX bike on one cable when I re-plumbed it