bicycle tools

[tpolley]

any bicycle mechanics out there?

what are some basic and advanced tools one would need to start working on his/her bikes? allen wrenches, wrenches, chain tools, freewheel tool sets, cone wrenches? maybe crimpers to crimp the little thingys on the ends of the cables?

 

[reptilezs]

basics are metric allens and some tire levers, floor pump. then probably chain tool, cassette tool and chain whip. cable cutters. you dont need cone wrenchs much unless you are overhauling or adjusting hubs. i am a bike mechanic by trade. crimp the ends with diagonal cutters that are kind of worn out

 

[thammel]

Chain whip, Chain pin press, metric allen wrenches, Bottom bracket removal tool, cassette removal tool....all depends on how deeply you want to get into things and what you intend to do.

Definitely need tire removal/ install tire levers and a tire pump.

Tom

 

[holt2ton]

Spoke wrench...

 

[tpolley]

i intend to get pretty deep. my brother-in-law is a part time bicycle mechanic. he just did a ton of work to my mountain bike. he cleaned and replaced a few parts on the rear hub, all new brake cables and shifter cables, and a bunch of other stuff that went clear over my head. all i had to pay was his cost on the parts. i'm deeply indebted to him for that. i'd like to be able to do this stuff on my own. i'll be scouring the internets learning what i can. i just need to make sure i have the necessary tools.

 

[NastyNate]

Crimpers I like the channellock 909. Handles a lot of use at my work.

http://www.channellock.com/crimper.aspx

 

[MoToys]

As for brands, I like park tool. Some of their stuff is us made but some is also tiawan. Pedro's also makes good tools.

 

[SMKS]

Long story short - start with a good set of hex wrenches, tire levers and your normal metric tools. Buy the specialized tools as you need them.

Here are the specialized tools I have, off the top of my head. These have been purchased over the last couple years as I needed them:
-Park Tool chain cleaner
-Cone wrenches
-Square taper crank puller
-Chain whip
-Cassette removing tool
-Chain breaker
-Bottom bracket socket


I'm not a pro, but I've done a lot of bike work. That includes assembling/tuning two new mail-order bikes and fixing up six or seven older bikes.

Start with a good quality set of metric hex (Allen) wrenches and hex wrench sockets. The other basic tools (small metric sockets and wrenches) I assume you already have

I've used my cone wrenches a lot. The new bikes I've bought have had hubs that were way too tight and didn't have much grease. Hubs also need periodic adjustment and re-lubing, which requires cone wrenches. I've also used them on other things. I bought a set of made-in-taiwan Cyclepro cone wrenches and they've worked great. If memory serves, they were under $20 shipped.

I like Superlube for a general bike grease for bearings and other stuff. I use Tri-Flow for parts than need light oil

I also wouldn't buy a chain whip and cassette tool until you need them. I've been back into riding for a couple years, and I didn't need them until recently.

I would recommend Park Tools for most of the specialized bike tools. Their tools are good quality, affordable and are often made in the USA or at least assembled in the USA.

For hex wrenches, skip the Allen brand. They aren't too good anymore, from my experience. I like my USA made Bondhus drivers. They're combo drivers with one normal end an one ball end. They're cheap on Amazon and way better than my USA made Craftsmans, which were made by Danaher (Allen's parent company). Also, I don't think Allen brand hex wrenches are USA made anymore. All the ones I've seen recently are imported, mostly from China.

You don't need a special crimper for the ferrules on the ends of cables. You can just use pliers. I use a set of 10" Channellocks.

 

[reptilezs]

also get tools that work with your bike. dont need a crank puller if you have a newer style outbourd bb crank or press in bb crank, most are self extracting these days. cheapo bikes have freewheels. good bikes have cassettes. bondhus is good stuff. just snapped the tip off a eklind t handle torx yesterday. most sealed bearing hubs dont use cone wrenchs. again really depends on the components.

 

[pfctblu]

any bicycle mechanics out there?

what are some basic and advanced tools one would need to start working on his/her bikes? allen wrenches, wrenches, chain tools, freewheel tool sets, cone wrenches? maybe crimpers to crimp the little thingys on the ends of the cables?

Very timely question as I am currently setting up and fitting out a mini bike shop in my basement for my little fleet of two-wheelers. To answer your question on tools needed, Im going to recommend you take a trip over to good old USA Minnesota based PARK TOOL on the web.

Park Tools is a very well respected tool company that you will find in just about every serious bike shop in America. For example, they sell hex keys in T handle form that are basically rebranded BONDHUS. Take a look at their kits and you should start to get an idea of what you need. You can also buy stuff from them on Amazon as well as a pretty solid (in my experience) ebay seller called "buildyourbike."

Couple things you will likely need but not realize of are a torque beam that reads newton-meter and inch-pounds, a cassette remover, pedal wrench, cable stretcher, chain whip and spoke wrenches / truing stand. I also recommend a workable vise of decent quality. You may be surpised at how often this gets used in bike shops. Don't forget a bike stand ..actually start with that if you haven't already got one...and don't go cheap on it as you will use this tool pretty much all the time. I use a Park PCS-10 and highly recommend it.

For me, this is some of the most rewarding wrenching. This is my roadie that I custom built:

 

[Hetman]

i intend to get pretty deep. my brother-in-law is a part time bicycle mechanic. he just did a ton of work to my mountain bike. he cleaned and replaced a few parts on the rear hub, all new brake cables and shifter cables, and a bunch of other stuff that went clear over my head. all i had to pay was his cost on the parts. i'm deeply indebted to him for that. i'd like to be able to do this stuff on my own. i'll be scouring the internets learning what i can. i just need to make sure i have the necessary tools.

You don't even know what you will be doing and when. Just buy specialty tools before every job.

 

[decaf]

Great tool for cables,crimping etc...

 

[SantaAna12]

I find I use the Bondhus set frequently on bikes in the long length:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000E80G7A/?tag=atomicindus08-20
A set of hex sockets 4-10mm and a decent inch-lb torque wrench I use alot too. Tri flow lubricant is good, perhaps Boeshield is better for bikes depending on preference. Park lube Polylube 1000 in the big can with this applicator: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0025UGOVW/?tag=atomicindus08-20.
I find I use the cone wrenches myself....but you could start by buying the ones you need. Amazon has been my best source for value.
Good luck!

 

[V70R]

20'' street rider to road cyclist here... Stick with US made Park and Pedro's branded tools if possible, high quality all the way around. I've owned my Park wrenches since the late 1990's and are still holding strong, after basic maintenance and building wheels for myself and close friends. Not sure what type of riding you do, but having a quality pipe cutter available helps for handlebar cutting.

Edit: Pedro's hardline is offshore production from Taiwan, great value and quality items.

 

[markitsnappy]

+1 on the vise and truing stand. You will have tremendous pride and cred when you can ride around on a set of wheels you built yourself. For grease Phil wood all the way. I also recommend glen's bicycle repair book. It's from the 70's but is well written and will definitely help give you a good foundation of knowledge and you can buy it cheap.

 

[DWise]

I also recommend Park tools, they are great. You can also gain a great deal of knowledge from this site: http://sheldonbrown.com/harris/index.html#articles
I also recommend a "Silca Super Pista" tire pump, it handles shrader and presta valves and goes to 200 psi.

 

[Jim Johnstone]

I'm no longer an active shop mechanic, but I spent 10 years in a shop, the last 2 as the lead mechanic in charge of everything to do with the repair bay ie. scheduling, ordering stock, handling warranty etc. I would say that our GJ friends have covered everything rather well, I would just add that you should pick up one or two of these babies:

http://www.parktool.com/product/3-way-hex-wrench-aws-1

In 10 years in a bike shop, this is the single most used tool I have. There are places that a conventional hex key works better, but this 4-5-6mm tri wrench is a godsend.

I certainly encourage DIYers, to learn to wrench on their bikes themselves, but I will just note the areas that I have found tend to get screwed up more often than not when I have had a customer bring a bike in for me to repair after wrenching on it themselves. The first would be hydraulic brakes. They aren't rocket science, and with some practice bleeding brakes is not that hard, although some brands are much easier than others. But I have had several people bring me a bike after they tried to do a brake bleed and ended up with worse brakes than they started with.

The single biggest area of screw up I have seen, is usually wheels. Not just guys trying to do wheel builds but even guys just trying to do a simple wheel truing. I think most experienced mechanics would agree with me that wheels are one of those things that you need a reasonable amount of experience working on, before you get good at it. I would suggest to anyone that wants to true or build wheels that you not "learn" on your primary set of wheels, and use an old set or buy a cheap used set to screw around with until you get a feel for it. I've seen too many guys true their wheels and end up over tensioning spokes and having spokes snap and end up tacoing their wheels.

 

[fflintstone]

Get a GOOD bike stand first. Most everything else you have.
A truing stand is nice but not necessary, I bought a bunch of stuff back in the day including a dishing tool, and I think I used it once. If you do cantilever brakes a lot I would look into the 3rd hand and 4th hand tools. I always wanted one.
Park used to make a comprehensive kit that was around $300 and some copy kits were around $125.

Out of everything I ever do in my shop working on bikes was my least favorite. Maybe because I was never great at adjusting derailleur’s.

 

[reptilezs]

i would say before touching wheels is to get some books on wheel building and understand the theory. then you will know what the heck you are doing. properly built and selected wheels do not need truing. proper component selection is key for wheels. riding race day wheels everyday will crack them. some riders understand this but many don't and wonder why their wheels crack at the spoke holes. low spoke count wheels especially troublesome if you are a strong rider or hard rider. usually these are compensated with high tension or heavier rims. the trend is higher tension so the rims crack. anyways i could talk for a long time about wheels. love em

 

[Jim Johnstone]

i would say before touching wheels is to get some books on wheel building and understand the theory. then you will know what the heck you are doing. properly built and selected wheels do not need truing. proper component selection is key for wheels. riding race day wheels everyday will crack them. some riders understand this but many don't and wonder why their wheels crack at the spoke holes. low spoke count wheels especially troublesome if you are a strong rider or hard rider. usually these are compensated with high tension or heavier rims. the trend is higher tension so the rims crack. anyways i could talk for a long time about wheels. love em

Couldn't agree more, I have two sets of wheels for my road and mountain bike. There is almost a pound difference between the weight of my daily use road wheels and my ultra light race day wheels.

 

[carterbeauford]

Park Tools are the best but expensive, I have a basic kit from Nashbar that's done everything I've needed thus far, including upgrading every ****** component that came on a cheap Schwinn.

http://www.nashbar.com/bikes/Product_10053_10052_524452_-1___202586

 

[twincam00]

Park tools is the way too go for bike specific tools

Tools that I find useful for bike repairs:
-high quality metric hex (allen) wrenches (these are used for EVERYTHING)

-Park tools plastic tire irons/levers (they dont ruin rims)

-best Park tools chain breaker you can buy (I bought one of their cheaper ones and wish I would have spent more and gotten a heavier duty one)

-cone wrenches (for adjusting bearings)

-bottom bracket wrench (you can use an adjustable but why not use the right tool for the job)

-chain whip

-special sockets to remove cassettes

-cable stretcher (like a third hand when adjusting brakes)

-metric wrenches (I have never used a standard wrench on a bike)

-HIGH QUALITY REPAIR STAND IS A MUST

I have never done any wheel truing, if you plan on doing it spoke wrenches are a must and a stand if very nice to have (although not necessary, you can do basic wheel truing with a cut off zip tie on the fork)

 

[reptilezs]

pedros tire levers are the best in my opinion

 

[franzdom]

Park tools is the way too go for bike specific tools

Tools that I find useful for bike repairs:
-high quality metric hex (allen) wrenches (these are used for EVERYTHING)

-Park tools plastic tire irons/levers (they dont ruin rims)

-best Park tools chain breaker you can buy (I bought one of their cheaper ones and wish I would have spent more and gotten a heavier duty one)

-cone wrenches (for adjusting bearings)

-bottom bracket wrench (you can use an adjustable but why not use the right tool for the job)

-chain whip

-special sockets to remove cassettes

-cable stretcher (like a third hand when adjusting brakes)

-metric wrenches (I have never used a standard wrench on a bike)

-HIGH QUALITY REPAIR STAND IS A MUST

I have never done any wheel truing, if you plan on doing it spoke wrenches are a must and a stand if very nice to have (although not necessary, you can do basic wheel truing with a cut off zip tie on the fork)

I prefer this style of chain breaker

 

[fireguy]

Bicycling Magazine has a good starter service manual and Barnett's has a series of good service manuals.

 

[ekuhn]

I picked up the kit below within the last year. Park stuff is nice, but pricey. The kit in the link has worked well on my Trek road bike and my Specialized mountain bike. Ive had to add some items like, an additional bottom bracket tool, cog brush, and chain wear indicator. I agree on getting a stand - it makes all the difference in the world when servicing your bike. I also leave re-spoking and major wheel maintenance to my LBS.

Here's the kit i bought. I got it for $100 and free shipping

http://www.performancebike.com/bikes/Product_10052_10551_1095891_-1_1103764__400154

This also helped a lot when i got back into riding and wrenching.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B001B6NAW2/?tag=atomicindus08-20

 

[Displaced Hokie]

I think one of those kits would be the way to go.

 

[Revere Cycles]

Wrenching on your own bike is awesome and definitely something you will get a lot of satisfaction out of. Here's my advice:

Like the others have mentioned, buying a kit and a stand are essential. For the average home mechanic, a cheap kit like the one from Performance Bike or Nashbar wouldn't be a bad place to start. For frame tools like taps and reamers, Ice Toolz makes a decent set for the price.

Nashbar actually makes an exceptional budget headset press, a little ugly, but works just as good as Park IMHO. One tool that I especially love is the Pedro's Vice Whip, it's a chain whip built into a pair of vice grips. Expensive, sure, but it works awesome and is worth every penny. My portable tool of choice is the Crank Brothers M19.

Also, keep an eye out for Wrench Force tools; they were made by Snap On for Trek's brief venture into shop tools. Sometimes Trek dealers will have a stash of them hiding somewhere, or they will pop up on that auction site. Last month, I landed on a bunch of NOS WF combination wrenches in all sizes for $1.25 each... again, these were made by Snap On...

As for stands, I especially like the Park PRS-4OS bench mounted stand, although it is pricey, it gets a ton of use in my home shop.

Cheers!

 

[acer66]

Good tip with the Wrench Force tools.

I personally do not like these sets since they most of the time contain tools you do not need.

What I did when I got into wrenching was I bought a good tool, Park Tool mostly, for the job I was about to do
and kept on adding the more advanced I got.

While that is certainly more expensive you end up with some nice quality tools.

BTW, Park Tool has tons of how to do tutorials on there website.

 

[maddawg308]

I have a Reese bicycle tool in the classifieds. It's the bottom tool in this pic. It's a multi-size socket wrench, useful for when you need to work on smaller metric sized nuts, but you don't want to bring a bunch of tools or a toolbox with you.

 

[signcrafter]

BTW, Park Tool has tons of how to do tutorials on there website.

Thank you for this info!

 

[acer66]

Might have to learn how to true a wheel since I was charged $20 for a slight wobble.

 

[kc-steve]

I can't really add much here, except, yes Park Tools are good yet expensive so I checked out "generic" tools that can still do the job. And as a beginner, I pick tools specific to the task and bike I am working on.

Since most of my bikes are vintage road bikes, the tools needed are often different.

Steve

 

[lilredex]

.................maybe crimpers to crimp the little thingys on the ends of the cables?

Have always had problems finding those "little thingys" so, I dug out my 1/8" copper tubing (lines for plumbing oil pressure gauges, etc.) and crimped a short length on to the cable end with the crimper used for electrical terminals.

Problem solved.

 

[george4]

Have always had problems finding those "little thingys" so, I dug out my 1/8" copper tubing (lines for plumbing oil pressure gauges, etc.) and crimped a short length on to the cable end with the crimper used for electrical terminals.

Problem solved.

A short length of adhesive lined shrink tubing also works well for that purpose.

 

[lilredex]

To true a wheel with a slight "WOW", I first measure and mark the "WOW", then loosen the two spokes pulling left (1/2 turn) and then tighten the one in the center to pull it right by 1/2 turn. Nothing much gets changed and the wheel moves over, slowly to center.

If you have no truing stand, this is an easy DIY project. It can be vise mounted or clamped down as shown.

 

[signcrafter]

To true a wheel with a slight "WOW", I first measure and mark the "WOW", then loosen the two spokes pulling left (1/2 turn) and then tighten the one in the center to pull it right by 1/2 turn. Nothing much gets changed and the wheel moves over, slowly to center.

If you have no truing stand, this is an easy DIY project. It can be vise mounted or clamped down as shown.

Thanks for the picture!

 

[otis66]

This would be a good start.http://www.parktool.com/product/advanced-mechanic-tool-kit-ak-37
This would be better.http://www.parktool.com/product/master-tool-kit-MK-128
It depends on what you want to repair yourself.
A bike stand is a must.

 

[Harvey Melvin Richards]

This isn't a bike tool, but it's the best tool for cable end crimps. Much better than my Park cable cutters.

 

[acer66]

To true a wheel with a slight "WOW", I first measure and mark the "WOW", then loosen the two spokes pulling left (1/2 turn) and then tighten the one in the center to pull it right by 1/2 turn. Nothing much gets changed and the wheel moves over, slowly to center.

If you have no truing stand, this is an easy DIY project. It can be vise mounted or clamped down as shown.

Cool and thank you.