How Much Do Shimano Derailleur Pulley Bolts Weigh?

Marcus had his R8170 derailleur cage apart — two seasons of grit, pulleys worn smooth. New ceramic jockey wheels went in. The old steel pulley bolts sat on the bench. He weighed them on impulse: 4g for the pair. Two bolts smaller than a pinky nail, and they weighed as much as a latex tube. He started wondering what else was hiding inside his groupset.

Shimano Pulley Bolt Weights by Groupset

Shimano doesn't list pulley bolt weight in any spec sheet — they're buried inside the total derailleur number. Actual weights across the three 12-speed groupsets:

Dura-Ace gets slightly lighter stock bolts (2.6g vs 4.0g) — expected for tighter weight targets. Titanium replacements weigh 1.0g across all three because dimensions are identical. On R8170 and R7170, that's a 75% reduction.

The Install Detail That Matters

Pulley bolts thread into the aluminum inner cage plate. Steel-on-aluminum is forgiving — titanium-on-aluminum can gall if run in dry, because the metals share enough hardness to friction-weld contact points. The fix: a thin film of grease on the threads, then torque to Shimano spec (2.5–3 Nm). Marcus did exactly that — spun the greased pulleys by thumb, felt no drag, just sealed bearings rolling on Grade 5 Ti-6Al-4V spindles. Three grams lighter. Total cost: roughly two inner tubes.

When It Makes Sense

This isn't a headline upgrade — 1.6–3.0g on a pivot that handles every shift. But if you're pulling the pulleys anyway (bearings wear, it's routine maintenance), swapping the bolts costs zero extra labor. The old steel bolts go in the bin, titanium threads in, and the grams add up — not in one weigh-in, but across dozens of small decisions that separate a 7.2kg bike from a 6.8kg one.

TiNE titanium Shimano pulley bolts at tinetech.com