Blue Order

I could post this in the Mechanics forum, but that wouldn't feel like home, so I'm posting here instead. On the way home tonight, I decided that I need to learn how to wrench my own bikes. Well, I've got a couple how-to manuals, a combination pedal wrench/headset wrench, and TWO (2) hex wrench sets.

Plus a can of framesaver, a tube of grease, and of course, some degreaser.

And that's about it.

What would the more experienced C&V wrenches here suggest in the way of equipment? I know I'll want a work stand, but what kind? And what about other equipment, and other tools? What should I be looking for, and what should I be looking to avoid?

Advice gratefully accepted.

BlankCrows

I'm far from a more experienced C&V wrench, but this little 3-sided 8/9/10mm socket job is handy with older brake calipers, etc.

McDave

One of the best things I bought when I began stocking up on tools was one of these $99 tool kits from Nashbar. Note: I see they list for $149 now, but on sale for $79. I've needed just about every tool that came in the kit and actually need very few others, mostly just regular hand tools, screwdrivers, wrenches, ect. And the tools are actually better quality than expected and have held up very well.

Do make sure you get two sets of cone wrenches as you'll need two of the same size for actually adjusting cones.

As far as stands go, Park is widely considered the best. I bought one of these Minoura stands mostly because my LBS had one in stock cheaper than online, plus I didn't have to pay shipping...
https://www.bikeparts.com/search_resu...p?id=BPC120279
Works just fine for my needs.

lotek 

I concur that a tool kit such as Nashbar sells is perfect for starters.
I'd also recommend you read the Park Tool web site as it has some very good
pointers.
I'd recommend you add a set of socket wrenches, adjustable wrench (8 and 10 inch size)
and a set of box wrenches ( all can be had a sears for decent quality at a reasonable price).

Marty

jebensch

+1 on Nashbar kits. The quality isn't so high but it's a good intro - it'll get you far enough to say 'hmm...I think I'll treat myself to a *better* cone wrench!'

I used a combo of the Zinn Art of Road Bike Maintenance manual and a friend with lots of know-how to get myself off the ground. Now I can find myself in over my head MUCH deeper than I could a couple years ago. It's fun.

My one recommendation would be for the tri-hex tool or whatever it's called. Shaped like the Mercedes logo without the outer circle - 3 different sized hex-heads. [like Blankcrows' reference up the page]. My favorite thus far.

McDave

Yes sockets, you can never have too many sockets. Shallow, deep, metric, and SAE. For wrenches I really like the Gear Wrench brand ratcheting wrenches. I think Sears sells them too, but most hardware stores do now too. Get the angled, reversible style for best usefulness. Even better may be (I haven't tried them yet) one of their newest style wrenches that contains four hex sizes on one double ended box, called the Quad Box.

nlerner

I'd say the tools I use most are

--Park stand (PCS-9?)
--a 8, 9, 10mm Y wrench as Blank Crows showed (I also have an 11, 13, 14mm one but it's not essential)
--a set of box wrenches: 9-15mm
--a good wire cutter
--a pedal wrench
--a headset wrench
--a large (14") adjustable wrench
--a small (6") adjustable wrench
--a set of Park cone wrenches (though for years I made do with a couple of double-ended ones in the most common sizes)
--various size screwdrivers
--various size hex wrenches
--a hammer and a punch

There are lots of other specialized tools I use when I need them (e.g., various freewheel removers, bottom bracket tools, some specialized brake tools, some specific Raleigh or Sturmey Archer wrenches), but the list above is what's laying out on my workbench and used the most.

Neal

jgedwa

One mistake that most all of us have made (including myself) is making wrong choices about tools when we were first starting out. Not a huge deal, I suppose, but those mistakes represent money not well spent.

In my tool kit are tools that are:

-too cheap and had to be replaced too soon with a nicer one
-too expensive considering I use them once a blue moon
-too obscure and never really used

Ultimately, the only way to determine what tools to buy is through experience. So, I offer the standard advice: buy them as you need them. For a while, this is inefficient, since you might have to stop a job while you go off in search of the right tool. But, you also reduce the odds of buying something that you really don't need.

I guess what I am saying is don't be afraid to wade into wrenching underequiped. You will start to figure out what jobs you can and want to do, and how you want to do them. The tools follow from that.

jim

tolfan

That nashbar set looks like a good start and the sale price aint bad. You are going to be surprise how quickly your skill level increases. With bike mechanics it all makes sence

lotek 

one thing I haven't seen mentioned that has been a godsend to me is
a good chain tool. I had an inexpensive chain breaker tool ( workforce? ) and
it broke. I ponied up for the Park CT3 chain tool and have been a happy camper since.

bikemore 

I have a fairly full tool bag, but one thing I would avoid from the cheap tool
kits are the cone wrenches. If you happen to get a hub that has been sitting
too long or just over tightened the short cone wrenches don't provide the leverage
needed to get the cones loose. Once you have serviced your hubs once you
can more or less control how tight they are, but the first time can be a pain.

Saintly Loser

I've always found that adjustable wrenches (at least the Crescent kind) are really just inexpensive devices perfectly designed for rounding off nuts and bolts. A set of combination wrenches (box and open) can be bought at Sears for a decent price, as lotek says. You don't need that wide a range to work on a bicycle.

cyclotoine

The park roll up tool kit is a good starter, good quality too, though park's BB lockring tool sucks for high end (campy, shimano 600/dura-ace etc..) vintage BBs where the notches are much shallower... for this Filzer from MEC in Canada or the Park dura-ace/XTR 6 notch BB tool are better.

Gary Fountain

I often use a hook that I made out of a short length of wire to hold the 2 ends of the chain together when I rivet the link back together. (an essential tool).

slowerplease

I didn't check out the Nashbar kit yet (do they ship to Canada? any problems?) but items I looove in my kit include several of the aforementioned items as well as a good pedal wrench and a good crank removal tool, allen keys, and metal tire levers, I find that whenever the plastic ones will suffice, so will my fingers. Have also had one of those little round spoke wrenches with all the sizes cut into it. That's been a good tool for like 15 years and very cheap.

nlerner

Ah, yes! That's the first bike-related tool I ever bought. I had a Cyclo version that lasted decades until it broke last year. Now I have the Park CT3.

Neal

Blue Order

Yep, I've got two of those-- I misplaced the first one, needed it very urgently, so I made a quick trip to the bike shop and bought a second one. Then I found the first one. Of course I did, that's how these things work.

Thanks for all the great tips everybody, and keep them coming!

raverson

As you start to get deeper into vintage repair, a few tools I would suggest adding are:

freewheel remover tools for Shimano and Suntour and any others you might be running.

a quality pair of cable/housing cutters.

a crank puller for a threaded spindle.

a notched bottom bracket lock ring tool.

a chain wear indicator.

evictionsurplus

Re:Lotek
If anything don't skimp on the chain tool. Only buy Park for that consideration. Cheap ones will always self destruct when you want to go for a ride, always. You totally get what you pay for on chain breakers.

BengeBoy 

Aaron's Bicycle Repair in West Seattle, Wa. (www.rideyourbike.com), lists this set of recommended tools for the home mechanic. I think it's a good list -- obviously if you are putting this together for the bike/bikes you own you can be selective about the bottom bracket/crankset tools you buy. My own kit is not nearly this complete, but I would personally move a workstand up higher on the list (makes a bike much easier to work on) and perhaps a chain cleaning kit if you don't like taking your chain off.

The rest of this post is all copied from Aaron's Website:


Home Bicycle Mechanic's Tool Kit

(Listed in order of frequency of use)

This Kit was designed by ABR for value, price and most bicycles built since 1985.
Some older bikes or unique bikes may require more special tools.

Start with:

Bondhus Ball Hex Key Set (1.5 - 10mm)
8 through 17mm Combination Wrench Set
#2 Phillips and 1/8" & 1/4" Regular Screwdrivers
12" Adjustable Wrench (make sure it opens to 36mm)
Needle Nose Pliers
Channel Lock Pliers
an Awl
Diagonal Cutters (a.k.a. dikes, nippers or side cutters)


Then add:
Park TL-1 Tire Levers (3) (Break one and we will give you a new one!)
Cyclo Rivoli Universal Chain Tool
Park SW-7 Multi-Size Spoke Wrench
Park DCW-1 13-14mm Cone Wrench (2)
Park DCW-2 15-16mm Cone Wrench (2)
Park DCW-3 17-18mm Cone Wrench (2)
Park HCW-16 15mm Pedal Wrench / Chain Whip (Sprocket Tool)
Park FR-5G Hyperglide Cassette Lockring Tool
Dualco Grease Gun
Park CN-10 Cable / Housing Cutter
Park CWP-6 Cotterless Crank Puller
Park HCW-4 36mm Bottom Bracket Fixed Cup Wrench / Adjustable Cup Pin Spanner
Park BBT-2 Tool For Shimano Bottom Brackets
Park BBT-18 Tool For ISIS Bottom Brackets
Park BBT-5 Bottom Bracket and Cassette Lockring Tool for Campagnolo
Park BBT-19 Bottom Bracket Tool for X-Type (outboard bearing) BBs
Park HCW-15 32/36mm Headset Wrench
Park CNW-1 Chainring Bushnut Wrench


Other tools to add as you advance:

Park TNS-1 Star Nut Setter
Park Black, Green & Red Color Coded Spoke Wrenches
Vernier Calipers
Truing Stand
Dishing Tool
Park AV-4 Hub Axle / Pedal Spindle Vise
Effecient Velo True Arc Derailleur Alignment Tool
Park FFG-1 Drop-Out Alignment Tools
Pedros Rockstand Workstand

Charles Wahl

I don't know the Park tool, but I recently bought an old Suntour chain tool on eBay, and the difference between it and the one I used for 20 years before that is night and day, for sure.

Did anyone recommend a bottom bracket lockring wrench, and whatever you need for the adjustable and fixed cups too (sometimes lockring and fixed come on opposite ends of the same tool. Park's five-tab lockring tool is way more positive than those single-tooth ones; I've burred up lockrings with those.

Poguemahone

Plus one on ponying the money up for the Park chain tool. Worth the dollars. Much of the basic tool advice here is pretty good.

Hozan makes a lockring wrench which also works well on the lockrings sometimes found on old headsets. In practice, I've found this tool (and the VAR lockring pliers) so far superior to the Park tool it's not funny. Plus, when you run into those headsets, it's indispensible. The Park pin spanner for the adjustable cup are okay, but the shop tool made by Park is better, and the old Var shop tool better still.

I'd also toss the money down on an appropriate headset wrench for the top nut (usually a 32 size, eight sided nut). Park makes a nicer one than the standard ones; it'll grip the nut and not slip. Better still is the Var wrench I use. Not sure if it is still made. However, given the occasional odd sizing of the nuts on some Vintage headsets I've run into, I also wouldn't want to be without the giant adjustable wrench I've got, a cheap Taiwan model I bought almost thirty years ago, wonderfully named "Whale". (Not kidding)

A good pedal wrench is also a good purchase. I like the Hozan personally.

If you work much on old frenchies, you may need a couple of French specific crank pullers.

On truing stands, I've found the so-called "shop standard" Park ones to be only so-so. Both the Var Atomic and Hozan are much better; if these are out of your price range, just get a basic one, don't bother with the Park.

If you work on bikes a lot, especially older ones, I've found some odd tools to be very good to have. The Park tools cotter pin remover is best of the lot, and a godsend if you're dealing with cottered cranks. Alas, it is no longer made. I've done a lot of work switching out and installing bottom bracket cups over the years; I wouldn't trade my Var 30 tool for anything short of a Cinelli or Alex Singer.

Obviously, I have far too many tools. Often, there are ways around most any specialized tool; I used to install crown races on headsets with a length of PVC pipe, and install the cups with a hammer and a block of wood, then a long threaded bolt with washers on both ends. Now I use a Park headset press and the Cyclus crown race setter. Once you start down this path, you're in trouble. I think the "Whale" was the first tool I bought and look at me now.

lotek 

One can Never have too many tools.

YoKev

I got the Park Roll-Up toolkit as a starter set. I had a starter Craftsman tool set as well that helps a bunch.

I since added (mostly as needed):

-Ultimate Work Stand
-Ultimate wheel truing stand (still not real comfortable with it)
-Hozan lock ring pliers (awesome...I even used them on my sink!)
-Shimano freewheel remover
-Suntour freewheel remover
-Stronglight crank remover
-Minora aluminum tire levers
-extra cone wrenches
-Nashbar torque wrench

WNG

FYI
The Nashbar Pro tool kit w/tool box is on sale today for $69.