You know those plastic cable guides that bolt to the underside of your bottom bracket shell? Anyone know what size bolt those things take, and if I can find it at Home Depot?

I've got a 2005 Specialized Allez and it's missing this bolt. The little cable guide is sliding around without it. I contacted Specialized but they're not certain what the size of the bolt is, so I thought I'd take a try here.

Usually M5, sometimes M6. I can't speak for HD, but my local hardware store has them in galvanized, black oxided, and stainless. Try to get the shortest one, and put a wee touch of Loctite on it when you put it back together.

Grease or anti-seize will suffice.

The bolts both Shimano and Campy provide with their cable guides are M5 x .8 x 10mm. You should be able to find one at any well equipped hardware or home center store. Also, drop into any LBS as they probably have dozens of them laying around.

And that's what I'd use myself, but this guy has already lost one. I'm figuring the threads got a bit beat before the bolt fell off.

:take one off the water bottle cage--- or if there are extra shot bolts for a rack--- it must be short--- don't strip the thread don't overtighten--- your bb might be obstructing the hole--- or maybe that's too much info

If you use one that is too long, it can bugger with your bottom bracket.

U must be living in a dorm 'coz in every household, there's a jar of screws.....

Excellent point! Been there, done that. The bolt should only be JUST long enough to secure the plastic thingy. That being said, once the cables are run and tensioned, they will hold the thingy in place without the bolt (plenty of tension between those two cables).

That's assuming the bb guide fits the bb shell curvature exactly, or very close. Which is not always the case.

A drop of Superglue on the plastic piece will hold it in place without the bolt or cable tension.

Really, the bolt is a very common size and there is no reason not to use one. The 10mm length should not project through the bb shell far enough to interferr with the bb.

I just realized that most of those guides hold the cable captive so it would be unlikely that you'd lose it unless you had a really freak mishap, but I agree it's nice to have relatively important components firmly attached to the frame.

By the way, that bolt on one of my bikes sticks through enough so that you have to loosen it to remove the BB. But it doesn't interfere because the (Phil) BB shell is narrower in the middle and flares out a bit at the ends where the cartridge bearings sit. Also, the screws that are typically included with the guides are cheap and rust out anyway, so IMHO it's probably a good idea to replace them with stainless steel if you can find it.

try cleat bolts the shorter the better