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BUYER'S GUIDE

Beginner's guide to bike tools - get all the vital gear for basic bike maintenance

Save money and keep your bike running better by doing your own maintenance

You don’t need a vast array of specialist bike tools. Most essential jobs can be done with a few good quality standard tools and just a handful of bike-specific ones. Here's our guide to basic bike maintenance equipment.

If there’s an area where the adage ‘buy quality, buy once’ applies, it’s bike tools. Good tools work better, last longer and are less likely to damage the parts you’re working on. Think of them as an investment, not a cost.

Each bike’s different, but there are many tools common to almost all bikes. Here’s what you need for straightforward jobs such as changing cables, adjusting brakes and gears, tweaking saddle position and angle, setting up handlebars, changing and inflating tyres and changing your chain and sprockets.

Bonhus allen keys.jpg

Ball-end Allen keys. Don’t skimp on these; you’ll be using them a lot. Ball-end keys allow you to turn a bolt from an angle, which speeds up many jobs. As well as being harder and more accurately made, and therefore less likely to mash the bolts you tighten with them, high-quality keys have a narrower neck for the ball, and therefore work at steeper angles, making them more versatile.

Recommended: Bondhus 1.5 - 10mm Hex Key Set — £10.90 | Park Tool PH1.2 P Handled Hex Wrench Set — £68.13

Stanley screwdriver set.jpg

Screwdrivers. You want a couple of flat-blade screwdrivers and Phillips (cross-head) No 1 and 2, and possibly a size 0 too. A more extensive set will include sizes that are useful round the house too.

Recommended: Stanley Cushion Grip 8-piece Screwdriver Set — £24.07 | Draper 43571 16-Piece Screwdriver Set — £37.98

Combination spanners.jpg

Combination spanners. I almost hesitate to include these because bolts with spanner flats are now rare on good quality bikes. You will almost certainly never need more than 8, 9 and 10mm, plus a 13mm if you have bolt-up hubs. If you need spanners for other jobs, then the sets we've suggested have everything you need for the bike too, but if bike fettling is your only need, then it'll be cheaper to buy individual spanners.

Recommended: Draper 11-Piece Metric Combination Spanner Set — £28.67 | Bahco 12-piece Metric Combination Spanner Set of 12 — £88.38

Pliers set.jpg

Pliers. A set of combination pliers has lots of uses, from generally holding and pulling parts to crimping cable ends.You'll also find lots of uses for long-nose pliers, so a set of three with side cutters is good value.

Recommended: Draper Redline Plier Set — £9.99 | Stanley Tools FatMax Compound Action Plier Set of 3 — £44.50

Wera Torx keys

Torx keys. Torx fittings are becoming increasingly common. Like Allen keys, you can get them with plain or ball ends.

Recommended: AmTech Torx Star Key Set — £8.99 | Wera Multicolour Tamper-proof/Ballend Torx Key Set — £27.50

Specific bike tools

Lezyne Power Lever XL - open

Tyre levers. You need a couple of sets, one for your home toolbox and one for your on-bike toolbag.

Recommended: Lezyne Power XL Tyre Lever — £4.99/pr | Park Tool TL-5 Heavy Duty Steel Tyre Levers — £21.59

Joe Blow Sport III.jpg

Floor pump. It’s much easier to keep your tyre pressures up to snuff with a floor pump (aka a track pump) than any portable pump.

Recommended: Topeak Joe Blow Sport III — £39.90 | Beto Surge — £54.00

For more options see our Buyer's Guide to track pumps

Lezyne Classic Pedal Spanner

Pedal spanner. If your pedals have 15mm flats, then you'll need a 15mm spanner to take them on and off. A standard 15mm spanner will fit some pedals, but others need the thinner jaws of a specific pedal spanner.

Recommended: Lezyne Classic Pedal Spanner — £219.49 | Halfords Bikehut Pedal Spanner — £8.99

Park Tool cable puller.jpg

Cable puller. Owners of hydraulic-braked bikes with electronic shifting can ignore this. The rest of us will find fitting and adjusting brake and gear cables a lot easier with a tool that pulls the cable snug and holds it in place while you tighten the clamp bolt.

Recommended: Draper 31043 Cable Tensioner — £14.99 | Park Tool BT-2 cable puller — £37.99

20416_shimano_sis_cable_cutters.jpg

Cable cutter. Do not try and cut cables with pliers, sidecutters, tin snips or any other vaguely sharp snippity-chop tool you have kicking around; you’ll just make a mess of them. Get yourself a proper set of cable cutters with blades shaped to keep the cable strands together. Also useful for sending defective iPhone cables back to the Great Apple Shop in the Sky.

Recommended: Draper Expert 57768 Cutters — £14.53 | Shimano TL-CT12 — £43.49

Pedros Chain Checker Plus II

Chain wear gauge. You can keep an eye on the wear of your chain by measuring its length over 12 full links with a good quality ruler. If it’s 12 1/16in long, then it’s time to replace it and if it’s reached 12 1/8in you will probably have to replace the sprockets too. A wear gauge makes this easier by telling you when your chain needs ditching.

Recommended: Pedros Chain Checker Plus II — £15.59

Park CT-4.3_003.jpg

Chain tool. Essential if you want to replace your own chain. If you've a Campagnolo 11-speed transmission you'll need a tool with a peening anvil like Campagnolo's, which has a wallet-clenching £153 RRP. Fortunately, Park Tool and Lezyne, among others, have cheaper alternatives that will tackle other chains too.

Recommended: Lezyne Chain Drive Tool - 11 Speed — £30.00 | Park Tool Master Chain Tool — £60.62

shimano tl-cn10 quick-link pliers

Chain joining link pliers. Almost all chains now come with a joining link. SRAM calls it a Powerlink, KMC a Missing Link and Shimano a Quick-Link, but they're all basically the same thing: a pair of outer link plates with a permanently mounted pin in each that fits into a slot in the other. Once upon a time, joining links like this could be opened by hand, but for 10-speed and 11-speed chains there's just not enough room to leave slack for hand operation, and they have to connect tightly enough that you need these pliers to separate them. Shimano's 11-speed master links are an extremely tight fit and need force to join them too, which is why these pliers have an extra set of jaws.

Recommended: Shimano TL-CN10 Master Link Pliers — £46.99 | SuperB_ToBe 2 in 1 Master Link Pliers — £9.59

Feedback Ultralight.jpg

Workstand. On the one hand, this is a bit of a luxury; on the other being able to hold your bike steady and well clear of the floor makes any job easier. Your back will thank you for not leaning over a bike for hours on end too.

Recommended: B'Twin 500 Bike Workstand — £69.99 | Feedback Sports Pro Ultralight — £172.00

Effetto Mariposa Giustaforza II

Torque wrench. Expensive, but essential to prevent damage if you're wrenching carbon fibre or other super-light components.

Recommended: Effetto Mariposa Giustaforza II — £118.99

chain whip and lockring spanner

Sprocket tools. Two very specific bike tools here. To change your sprockets you’ll need a chain whip — to hold the sprockets in place — and a lockring tool to undo the nut that holds them in place.

Lifeline Chain Whip — £6.16 | BBB Cassette Lockring Remover — £11.95

Find stockists

Lezyne
Park Tool
Birzman
Shimano
BBB

Explore the complete archive of reviews of tools and workshop equipment on road.cc

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The aim of road.cc buyer's guides is to give you the most, authoritative, objective and up-to-date buying advice. We continuously update and republish our guides, checking prices, availability and looking for the best deals.

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John has been writing about bikes and cycling for over 30 years since discovering that people were mug enough to pay him for it rather than expecting him to do an honest day's work.

He was heavily involved in the mountain bike boom of the late 1980s as a racer, team manager and race promoter, and that led to writing for Mountain Biking UK magazine shortly after its inception. He got the gig by phoning up the editor and telling him the magazine was rubbish and he could do better. Rather than telling him to get lost, MBUK editor Tym Manley called John’s bluff and the rest is history.

Since then he has worked on MTB Pro magazine and was editor of Maximum Mountain Bike and Australian Mountain Bike magazines, before switching to the web in 2000 to work for CyclingNews.com. Along with road.cc founder Tony Farrelly, John was on the launch team for BikeRadar.com and subsequently became editor in chief of Future Publishing’s group of cycling magazines and websites, including Cycling Plus, MBUK, What Mountain Bike and Procycling.

John has also written for Cyclist magazine, edited the BikeMagic website and was founding editor of TotalWomensCycling.com before handing over to someone far more representative of the site's main audience.

He joined road.cc in 2013. He lives in Cambridge where the lack of hills is more than made up for by the headwinds.

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73 comments

Avatar
Secret_squirrel | 3 years ago
2 likes

For anyone reading this in March 2021, it appears Decathlon have their "magic" chain whip that doesn't need  the whippy bit back in stock for the first time in ages....

https://www.decathlon.co.uk/p/chain-whip-cassette-remover/_/R-p-200
Looking forward to trying the one I have just ordered....

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Chris Hayes | 2 years ago
0 likes

The Feedback stand is a beautifully engineered piece of equipment that I don't use enough....my bikes clearly don't break down enough...

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dave_t | 2 years ago
1 like

Do I read that correctly, nearly £220 for the Lezyne pedal spanner? What's it made from, Onobtanium?

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Sredlums replied to Secret_squirrel | 3 years ago
0 likes

You'll love it I'm sure.

I used to work at Decathlon, at the bicycle department, and we used them all the time. There great, so much less fiddly then the whips. Of course I have one at home too now.

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Rendel Harris replied to dave_t | 2 years ago
2 likes
dave_t wrote:

Do I read that correctly, nearly £220 for the Lezyne pedal spanner? What's it made from, Onobtanium?

But it's classic, can't put a price on that! But clicking on the link reveals someone's fat fingered their keyboard and it's £19.49 not £219.49. The thing is though, given the really absurd prices of bike-related items nowadays, I did have to click the link to check!

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ktache replied to Secret_squirrel | 3 years ago
0 likes

Id be tempted to get the Pedro's mole grip version if I hadn't gone down the Rohloff route.

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Secret_squirrel | 3 years ago
2 likes

The recommended brand on the torque wrench seems slightly insane.  You can get a Lifeline or similar for about £30.  Choose the right tool and get an aftermarket set of sockets to go with it so it does double duty as an ordinary socket spanner.

I've never needed a cable puller, just use a pair of long nose pliers and make sure you have enough length to snip off the flattened end afterwards.

The other thing I would recommend is a good quality set of hex & screwdriver bits with a ratcheting screwdriver handle.

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David9694 | 3 years ago
0 likes

spot on re cable cutters - stump up for at least the Draper ones, rather than waste £££ on cheap rubbish that doesn't do the job.  
My most used bike tool is an multi fold-out Allen key jobby from b and q. 
the cable tensioner is a fourth hand - the third clamps the caliper in the "on" position. 
didn't see a spoke key? 

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Secret_squirrel replied to David9694 | 3 years ago
0 likes

Unlike some of their tools the Park one is well priced too.

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hawkinspeter | 3 years ago
2 likes

I'm a fan of the Wolf Tooth Pliers. They're a bit expensive, but such a nice design (looks like there's some companies copying them, so you can get something similar a bit cheaper). They've got space to hold two pairs of quick links and the strange y-shaped hole is for removing valve cores.

 

Image: 
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brooksby | 3 years ago
0 likes

If modern quick links need a special tool to open and close them, it does beg the question of how that's an improvement on not having quick links at all and just using a chain tool?  A chain tool is a lot smaller, after all.  Or am I missing something?

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jollygoodvelo replied to brooksby | 3 years ago
3 likes

I'd much rather carry a quicklink and the simple pliers to fit it, than use a chain tool and have the faff of trying to find the pin that's pinged off into a neighbouring county and a tool that's bent the chain because my hand slipped...

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fukawitribe replied to jollygoodvelo | 3 years ago
1 like

Not all quick links need a tool, just buy a Wipperman Connex - no tools, re-usable, not that expensive given the quality, longevity and ease-of-use, especially when you look around, e.g.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Connex-Chain-Link-10-Speed-Tool-Less-Re-Usabl...

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OnYerBike replied to brooksby | 3 years ago
0 likes

I think the idea is that a quicklink is much less faff:

If you're the sort of person that regularly takes your chain off for cleaning etc, then it saves a lot of effort and should not require any parts to be consumed (I know a new connector pin is not that big of a deal in the grand scheme of things, but why would you use one when re-useable quick links exist?)

If a chain breaks on a ride, you can easily fix it using a chain tool and a quick link, without making it too much shorter. Obviously you can fix a chain without a quick link, but it's going to be much more faff.

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Dao | 3 years ago
0 likes

beto surge floor pump link is dead, advised to replace with a valid alternative.

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caw35ride | 3 years ago
1 like

One thing I have discovered since I last read this old article: #toolboxwars on Instagram. It features endless photos of pro mechanics' tool collections. Over time you will see the same tools cropping up again and again. Knipex plier wrenches, Abbey Crombies, etc. If you're ready to move to the next sub-basement of the home mechanic rabbit hole, then it is a great place to go to buid your wish list! Wera also does several bicycle-specific starter kits which are worth a look.

The first expensive single item I bought was a torque wrench, which changed things for me! While I would love to own the Effeto Mariposa wrench featured here, my Halfords Pro wrench is about 15 years old and still going strong. The click that announces a correctly tightened fastener is very satisfying.

Finally, workshop geeks will enjoy Rohan Dubash's book, Bike Mechanic. Rohan is also known as Doctor D.

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ktache replied to caw35ride | 3 years ago
0 likes

I wish I had known about the Abbey crombie many years ago.

The same for the Pedros Vise Whip.

But I have gone down the Rohloff route for my Ultimate Commuter (so now main bike, it's even more capable off road then my Ti XTRed XC bike...) so removal of cassette is a much rarer thing, and my preexisting Park tools will have to do.

Though I also wished I had gone for the Park cassette lockring tool with the little noodle, to go down the QR hole, would have saved my knuckles a few times, a few lockrings and then the (very mild) hastle of putting a QR shaft though (When I finally found this out).

Going by the KMC advice to not use a solvent filled chain scrubbber also meant my then Getting to Work Bike never needed to get the full strip down monthlyish deep clean, so I was (just) whipping off the cassete for cleaning far, far less, only with a new chain.  No need if the chain was keeping a bit of filth.

I think I need a small screwdriver to change the splined sprocket on the Rohloff, and they are not particularly delicate.

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slappop | 4 years ago
4 likes

Workstand. On the one hand, this is a bit of a luxury...

Over the past couple of years, I've gone down the rabbit hole of bike maintenance and found the workstand to be the single most important tool; it really makes working on the bike a joy.

I use the Elite Race Pro stand (where the bike sits on its bottom bracket and the front forks rather than being gripped by the seat post). I've got two bikes which have pretty much the same components (except the bottom bracket) and one always seems to be sitting on the stand while I ride the other (swapover happens regularly).

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kil0ran | 4 years ago
3 likes

Chain hook/clip is essential, particularly when using master link pliers. Voice of experience from taking a chunk out of the clear coat on my seat stay when clipping a chain together by hand.

And a pick/awl/bradawl for tidying up gear outers after cutting. Depending on how good your cutters and cutting technique are a dremel or similar to tidy up brake housing too.

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bigbiker101 | 5 years ago
2 likes

Over the years I have accumulated many many many tools, last year I decided to buy a Cable Puller (Third hand or whatever you call it), to start with it is a little fiddily to get used to, but now I wouldn't work without one, it is one of the best tools I have, especially getting the tension right on the front mech, I didn't buy the stupidly expensive Park version, I got an unbranded one from eBay for just a few pounds.

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cougie replied to bigbiker101 | 4 years ago
1 like
bigbiker101 wrote:

Over the years I have accumulated many many many tools, last year I decided to buy a Cable Puller (Third hand or whatever you call it), to start with it is a little fiddily to get used to, but now I wouldn't work without one, it is one of the best tools I have, especially getting the tension right on the front mech, I didn't buy the stupidly expensive Park version, I got an unbranded one from eBay for just a few pounds.

Never even seen these before - I've spent years faffing around and doing the job manually - but I will look for these now. Cheers !

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RMurphy195 | 5 years ago
1 like

Pad alignment tool - Free -I just get a strip of the cardboard the pads are attached to, make a fold in it and hook it over the rear end of the pads.

Ball end allen keys - I use the halfords Bikehut set, good quality and comes in a handy round holder.

Low-end torque wrench - I can recommend the Topeak Combo wrench, comes with bits in the handle, very handy to use.

High-end torque wrench - Free (well, not quite, I have a pair for the car so I use one of those!)

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CXR94Di2 | 5 years ago
2 likes

I have all the tools I need to do everything on a push bike.  I have made or used simple parts to make items like bearing press or pullers.  A good set of Allen keys, Torque wrench, and a few basic chain/cassette tools will see you sort most jobs

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Cugel | 5 years ago
3 likes

If you have Shimano, you want JIS screwdrivers not Philips. They look similar but aren't. Philips tend to cam-out of wee bolts like those used to adjust derailleur throw. The JIS screwdrivers (of the right size) fit perfectly. (JIS = Japanese Industrial Standard).

You don't need a standard set of spanners of all sizes for a bike. You need one or three very specific spanners for limited tasks. For example, very thin ones of the right sizes to apply to hub locknuts and cones; a 7mm open/ring spanner for disc brake caliper bleed nuts; a two-pronged thingy to hold the back-side nuts of chainring bolts; and so forth. Ordinary spanners are rarely of any use. You'r often better off with a socket set anyway, for those odd bike things with standard nuts, such as mudguards or nuts on cantilever brakes.

There are some special tools for some kinds of bikes. For example: BB tighteners and removers of various kinds, depending on the BB. Various presses for putting in things like wheel bearings, headset bearings and BB bearings of the press-fit kind. (And perhaps a special tool for knocking the old bearings out).

Bikes with internal cables may need a special kit to help thread the things if they ever need removing and replacing. A lot of current bikes have the dreaded internal cables.

Hydraulic disk brakes will need to be bled at some point so a special kit and fluid for the brake types will be necessary.

And so on. It's no longer as simple as it used to be. On the other hand, you may not need a BB facing tool or various other major items once needed for the bikes of yesteryear (unless you still have a bike of yesteryear).

Cugel

Avatar
Woldsman replied to Cugel | 5 years ago
1 like
Cugel wrote:

If you have Shimano, you want JIS screwdrivers not Philips ... (JIS = Japanese Industrial Standard).

Agreed.  I have no Phillips fasteners on any of my bikes, so there isn't a Phillips screwdriver in my bicycle toolbox. 

Cugel wrote:

You don't need a standard set of spanners of all sizes for a bike...You're often better off with a socket set anyway, for those odd bike things with standard nuts, such as mudguards or nuts on cantilever brakes.

I have a full set of 12 Halfords ratcheting spanners, partly because it wasn't much more expensive than picking out individual ones; I hate finding that I could do with a specific tool when I'm part way through any job. From memory I needed three separate ring spanners when working on the cantilever brakes of my old touring bike last summer.  I've never found the need for a fourth hand tool (such as the Park Tool one above) on my more modern bikes, but the third hand tool below got a rare outing on those cantis so it still earns its place in the toolbox. 

To the list above I might add a pair of flush cutters (those pictured below can be bought from Hobby Craft), fairly cheap and much more effective than side cutters that leave a sharp end to a cut zip tie; a pick to remove splinters of metal and other crud from rim brake blocks; and after all that expense a simple DIY chain hook (mine is made from a dry cleaner's wire coat hanger) that takes out some of the faff when cutting or reconnecting a chain...

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EK Spinner | 5 years ago
0 likes

I admit to using both the cable puller and the pad alignment tools.

The cable puller is also known as a third hand, I find it useful not so much for pulling the cable but more for locking it in place while I then fasten the cable in place

I lick the pad adjuster mostly because I am really bad at getting the brakes setup consistant but using this I have similar brake feel across all my bikes

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hawkinspeter replied to EK Spinner | 5 years ago
2 likes
EK Spinner wrote:

I admit to using both the cable puller and the pad alignment tools.

The cable puller is also known as a third hand, I find it useful not so much for pulling the cable but more for locking it in place while I then fasten the cable in place

I lick the pad adjuster mostly because I am really bad at getting the brakes setup consistant but using this I have similar brake feel across all my bikes

I've tried using both the third hand tool and a pad alignment tool (I didn't try licking it though) and found them both more fiddly than just working directly with the cable and/or pads.

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srchar | 5 years ago
0 likes

Those of you who toe in your brake pads - what do you do when they've worn a bit and their faces are once more parallel to the rim?  Toe them in again?  And again, and again, until you've got no meat on the front of the pad, while the rear is pristine?

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janusz0 replied to srchar | 5 years ago
1 like
srchar wrote:

Those of you who toe in your brake pads - what do you do when they've worn a bit and their faces are once more parallel to the rim?  Toe them in again?  And again, and again, until you've got no meat on the front of the pad, while the rear is pristine?

It doesn't really work like that.  You only need to toe them in a little and although they may wear more at the front, they wear nearly as much along the whole length, so you won't need to adjust them many times before the whole block is ready for replacement.  The real worry is people who toe in their brakes by bending the caliper ends instead of using brake shoes with adjusters!

* technical term, sorry.

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StraelGuy | 5 years ago
0 likes

I really wish you hadn't said that, I now have a cable tie death-gripped around my finger yes...

 

Edit: ouch, thank you Pedro's cable cutters.

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