[KDee]

It’s my birthday soon and I’ve been asked what I’d like. I’m sure there are a few tools I could probably use (but haven’t yet), so let’s spend someone elses money! I have quite a few bits and pieces already:

• Workstand
• Floorpump
• Decent allen keys / screwdrivers / wrenches / cable cutters
• Split link tool
• Mini ratchet
• Torque wrench
• Chain whip
• Chain measuring tool
• Brake bleed kit
• Spoke keys
• Tubeless stuff (inc. Airshot, hose cutters, hose insert press, bleed kit)
• Shimano cassette and BB adapters
• Digital caliper
• Digital pressure gauge
• Ultrasonic bath

Anything obvious missing? Good bike has a press-fit BB so possibly a tool-set to switch that out soon (and maybe the headset too)? Perhaps a nice toolbox as most of the above is rattling about in a couple of small plastic boxes? I don’t think an air compressor is necessary…I haven’t been defeated by the floorpump and Airshot yet (plus, the office has a compressor in the bike garage!).

Are there any little handy things you swear by? Something like a chain-keeper for when the rear wheel is out of the bike? Internal cable/hose routing kit?

Or maybe just a voucher as I think I will need new pads and rotors for the race bike at the end of summer.

Topic

[mark1a]

ktache wrote:

I’d already got a good Park chain whip and now I’ve gone Rohloff for my main bike so cassette removal is much rarer, but if I hadn’t or was starting fresh I would want a Pedros vise whip or the decathlon simpler version and a Crombie, abbeytools if I was feeling flush or something cheaper if I could find it.

Having a handle on the cassette locking tool would have made my life so much easier, and abbeytools make some lovely stuff.

Agree ref Decathlon chain whip (the one with no whip). It’s by far the easiest and least messy I’m my opinion. I’m never going back to the whip type. 

https://www.decathlon.co.uk/p/chain-whip-cassette-remover/_/R-p-200

 

[ktache]

I’d already got a good Park

I’d already got a good Park chain whip and now I’ve gone Rohloff for my main bike so cassette removal is much rarer, but if I hadn’t or was starting fresh I would want a Pedros vise whip or the decathlon simpler version and a Crombie, abbeytools if I was feeling flush or something cheaper if I could find it.

Having a handle on the cassette locking tool would have made my life so much easier, and abbeytools make some lovely stuff.

[Cugel]

hawkinspeter wrote:

I wouldn’t consider a torque wrench “necessary” for things like cassettes that specify 40-50Nm – just do it up about as hard as you can manage easily. Though I do own a large beam style torque wrench for larger torques, I can rarely be bothered to use it. For things like headset and seatpost bolts, I always use a torque wrench as I wouldn’t want to damage a CF frame.

Well, like you, I did used to do the “hard as you can” method for various bike bits …. but these days stuff is more delicate although more precisely made. The cassette lockring has but a few threads into the body the cassette is mounted on and cassette bodies now come in a very large variety, some of which are less resilient than others, being light alloy rather than a chunky steel item.

Suffice it to say that I’ve managed to strip one by doing the tight-as-I-can thing.  I yam a big strong lad, see? Both the lock ring and the body had to be replaced as the threads on both got mangled.

Incidentally, this is a problem now recognised by that Hambini chap, who is selling over-engineered lock rings with a greater thread penetration. He offers an additional reason for this greater thread penetration: a tightening of greater than 40 Nm will do more to keep all the individual cogs of the cassette locked as one block so that the notches act together on the freehub splines, reducing the pressure points producing single-cog notching often seen on the alloy versions of a freehub body.

***********

Cassette freeehubs can be relatively easily replaced if damaged and aren’t ridiculously expensive unless they’re a proprietary design used by a-one o’ them £3000-a-set wheel purveyors. But imagine that you strip the threads on a centre-lock disc wheel hub ……

[ktache]

I’d worn out my Petzl, so

I’d worn out my Petzl, so much that the better 1/2 got me a newer one, for which I then got the shockingly expensive Petzl rechargeable triple battery. Invaluable, even more as my long sightedness gets worse.

[mark1a]

KDee wrote:

Dummy pedal? What’s that??!! I have a pair of cheap plastic pedals (came with a my nice race bike!)

It’s a handle with a 9/16″ thread on it that can be hand tightened into a driveside crank. Must admit I never thought I’d need one, but built a couple of bikes recently and it’s fantastic for indexing gears without having pedals, either mid-build or if they’ve come off while removing cranks. Photo of mine attached, it’s a Park Tool DP-2. 

KDee wrote:

Hanger alignment tool. Maybe a little too niche. I did drop my bike and bend the hanger…but got it back OK with the big adjustables. 

I wouldn’t rule this out as niche. Sometimes a hanger is bent without you even knowing it, let alone knowing you’ve dropped the bike. Once you know how to use it, its genuinely useful and saves loads of time wondering why your gears are skipping. 

[KDee]

Shiny stuff…sounds like my

Shiny stuff…sounds like my son and his new obsession with purple anodising ? (back to the old skool!) 

[KDee]

Cleaning kit is sorted (hence

Cleaning kit is sorted (hence the extravagance of an ultrasonic cleaner).

Mentioned a chain thingummy in my post. For a few euros/pounds I think that will come in handy for cleaning and transport.

Dummy pedal? What’s that??!! I have a pair of cheap plastic pedals (came with a my nice race bike!)

Internal routing kit I think is a good idea. I replaced the gear cables on my Addict by using cable liner to create a guide. But when I need to replace the brake hoses…less easy.

Hanger alignment tool. Maybe a little too niche. I did drop my bike and bend the hanger…but got it back OK with the big adjustables. 

Side cutters I have.

Magnetic torch I have (somewhere).

Rubber mallet I have.

I’ll take a look at the link though because this have given me some proper ideas!

Thanks!

 

[hawkinspeter]

KDee wrote:

But haven’t found I’ve needed them so far. The new Vittoria Corsa NEXT tubeless tyres I have went on with my thumbs (I know…hero). 
 

Come on HP…help me spend some money!! ?

I’ve very rarely managed to put on a tyre using just my thumbs, but those tyre pliers just make it so easy to push and pull around tyres.

[morgyporg]

For my press-fit BB I got a
For my press-fit BB I got a blind bearing puller, much less stressful than the normal tool you have to hit with a hammer

[KDee]

Yep. It’s the same as the

Yep. It’s the same as the Shimano cassette tool. 

[KDee]

Got one of those too. Never

Got one of those too. Never thought of using it while trying to fish a cable around the BB though. Great idea! 

[KDee]

But haven’t found I’ve needed

But haven’t found I’ve needed them so far. The new Vittoria Corsa NEXT tubeless tyres I have went on with my thumbs (I know…hero). 
 

Come on HP…help me spend some money!! ?

[KDee]

Like HP says below, I’ve

Like HP says below, I’ve found my 2-14 Nm torque wrench is sufficient. Over that I go by feel (nothing on the race bike is over 6Nm except the bolt through axles [12Nm]) for pedals etc.

Did mention press fit BB…but keep thinking easier to leave to a professional (says a CEng FIMechE).

I’ve had a bent rotor on a couple of mountain bikes after flights, but always sorted those with a big set of adjustables. But maybe some proper proper piston pushers are a good idea!

Wire strippers, crimpers I have too.  

[hawkinspeter]

Cugel wrote:

One torque wrench is no longer sufficient – unless you’ve found one that goes from 0.5Nm to 50Nm. Teeny bolts such as the bleed bolt on the hydraulic brake levers or the front mech push-plate bolt now come with recommended torques settings; the biggest torque needed on a bike is generally 40-50Nm for things like the chainset retension bolt, cassette retainer and disc lockrings.

Do you have any press-fit bearings (e.g. in the BB, headset or wheel hubs)? If so, various pullers and presses are essential if you’re going to replace the press fit bearings yourself. Bolt & cup pullers, by the way, are far better than those drifts you hit with a hammer to free press fit bearings.

A slot tool for straightening bent discs could be useful. I have one  – but haven’t yet bent a disk, mind.

A wire stripper and electrical connector-squisher tool is good for putting on and taking off the caps used on the ends of bare cables, to stop them unravelling.

I wouldn’t consider a torque wrench “necessary” for things like cassettes that specify 40-50Nm – just do it up about as hard as you can manage easily. Though I do own a large beam style torque wrench for larger torques, I can rarely be bothered to use it. For things like headset and seatpost bolts, I always use a torque wrench as I wouldn’t want to damage a CF frame.

[Cugel]

One torque wrench is no

One torque wrench is no longer sufficient – unless you’ve found one that goes from 0.5Nm to 50Nm. Teeny bolts such as the bleed bolt on the hydraulic brake levers or the front mech push-plate bolt now come with recommended torques settings; the biggest torque needed on a bike is generally 40-50Nm for things like the chainset retension bolt, cassette retainer and disc lockrings.

Do you have any press-fit bearings (e.g. in the BB, headset or wheel hubs)? If so, various pullers and presses are essential if you’re going to replace the press fit bearings yourself. Bolt & cup pullers, by the way, are far better than those drifts you hit with a hammer to free press fit bearings.

A slot tool for straightening bent discs could be useful. I have one  – but haven’t yet bent a disk, mind.

A wire stripper and electrical connector-squisher tool is good for putting on and taking off the caps used on the ends of bare cables, to stop them unravelling.

[Author]

Replies