yokotas13

Ok, so i have two track bikes, and a road bike now. two are from the 80s and one is new, so at least two need decent amount of upkeep with lubrications and such

So, now that i broke half the tools from my ****ty 30.00 kit, its time to spend some monies

I priced it individually, and to get the allen keys, wrenches, bracket tools, cassette tools, cable cutters, decent chain breaker, its lke 200 from park tools

so the question is, should i spring for a full kit from somewhere (pedro, park, or wherever) or what?
I have a few tools (headset spanner, crank puller, chain whip) that i can still use, but the BB spanner wrench and lock nut wrench are toast (bent with almost no pressure on it). I ordered the pedro Trixie fixed gear tool, so thats one tool on the way.


any suggestions. Under 250.00ish

preston811

Have you seen the Park AK-37? $220

I dunno, do you need all that though? I was looking at a Park SK-1 for $70 and just buying more tools as I need them. I might not even do that, but it's not a bad deal.

the_don

The SK1 doesn't even have a 15mm wrench. or lockring tool, or chainwhip.

pretty useless for a FG bike.

yokotas13

yeppers.
and all my tools are crappy, except the chain whip, but its not a 1/8th. so it wont work anyways for fixed gear, only road

preston811

Like I said I would add tools as I need them, of course this basic kit is missing stuff. But it still seems a decent value for what's there, I need almost all of it lol except the screwdrivers and I'm not sure how necessary or nice a chain cleaner is.

mander

If you can get a good deal on a nice set of tools, and you can afford the initial outlay, it makes sense to go for a full set. No matter what, sooner or later you'll need a crank puller, cone wrenches, bb tool, allen keys, etc.

Most people buy tools as they need them and do fine that way. It hurts a little less in the short term, even though you probably wind up paying more in the long term.

Edit: That Park tool set looks good. You will need those screwdrivers to set the derailer limit and B tension screws on your road bike, to adjust canti spring return tension, and a bunch of other little jobs. I have a chain cleaner and it's nice every once in a while for the road bike.

riot2003

I'm still buying tools one at a time... Thinking about a kit at some point though. Have had some issue with buying cheap allens that ended up just rounding out without much use.

urapanes88

to use the same chain whip on my fixed and geared bikes i just keep two lengths of chains and switch them on the tool as i need then with a reusable master link works great and its half the price.

preston811

Because I'm geeky like that, I decided to do a full blown comparison of the 2 kits I linked above since I do needs me some tools. (Park Tools SK-1, and AK-37). I decided to share here in case anyone else would find this useful.

Here are the 2 kits side by side, with the redundancies of the sk1 greyed out in the ak37 pic to highlight the differences.



Then I did a cost rundown according to some quick lookups of amazon prices because it was easy and I assume they are probably as cheap as anywhere else. There may be slight errors because I did this fast but it should be mostly accurate..

included in AK-37 and SK-1:
1) AWS-1, 4,5,6MM Hex Wrench Set $9
9) CCW-5, 8/14mm Crank Bolt Wrench $11
11) CM-5, Cyclone Chain Scrubber $22
14) CT-3, Screw-type Chain Tool $30 (sk1 has cheaper mini version CT-5 which is $13)
17) GP2, Super Patch Kit $3
18) GSC-1, GearClean Brush $5
26) SW-0, Spoke Wrench /.127 27) SW-1, Spoke Wrench /.130 28) SW-2, Spoke Wrench/.136 ~$10 (sk-1 has a 3in1 version SW-7 $8)
30) TL-1, Tire Levers, Set of 3 $4 (sk1 only comes with 2?)
23) SD-2, Screwdriver, #2 Phillips $8
20) PW-3, Pedal Wrench $21 (SK1 has cheaper version PW-5 (no 9/16") $11)

total (sk1): $94
total (ak37 versions): $123


parts unique to AK-37:
2) AWS-3, 2,2.5,3mm Hex Wrench Set $9
3) BBT-22, BB tool for Shimano and ISIS $15
4) BBT-5, BB/Lock Ring Tool for Campagnolo(12t) $8
5) BBT-9, BB Tool for Shimano Hollowtech II 16 notch external bearing cups $16
6) CBW-1, 8/10mm Open End Wrench $8
7) CBW-4, 9/11mm Open End Wrench $9
8) CC-3, Chain Wear Indicator $7
10) CL-1, Synthetic Chain Lube, (4 oz.) $7
12) CN-10, Cable and Housing Cutter $30
13) CNW-2, Chainring Nut Wrench $4
15) CWP-6, Universal Crank Puller and 8mm Wrench $15
16) FR-5, Cassette Lock Ring Tool for Shimano and SRAM $8
19) PPL-1, Polylube 1000 Lubricant, 4 oz $7
21) SCW-SET, Shop Cone Wrench Set 13-19mm $38
22) SD-0, Screwdriver, #0 Phillips $6
24) SD-6, Screwdriver, 6mm Flat Blade $8
25) SR-1, Chainwhip/Freewheel Lock Ring Tool $18
29) TB-2, Tire Boot-Set of 3 $7

total of parts unique to AK-37: $220


total of all parts in ak-37: $343


Savings for sk-1 from buying them individually: $94-70 = $24 (plus u get free case)

Savings for ak-37 from buying them individually: $343 - 221 = $123 (plus free case)


Summary: the ak-37 has a few (semi-unnecessary?) upgrades to three parts of the sk-1 (chain tool, spoke wrenches, and pedal wrench), and it may contain a few things a person may never need, but it looks like a solid deal if one doesn't mind the initial outlay and wants to get serious about wrenching with some quality kit. It will likely pay for itself over the years versus having a shop do your work. The kit savings are probably even better than they look because most people if buying them piecemeal will probably not be ordering them online and waiting, but will probably buy them inflated in a store and pay tax too.

Or I guess a person could get this cheapo kit for $33+ship and suffer with cheap parts and plan to replace stuff as it breaks.

preston811

the Park SR-1 chain whip is 3/32" only, but I found a thread about how to convert it to support 1/8" too. shame about the busted pics.
https://www.bikeforums.net/singlespeed-fixed-gear/212385-tech-tip-convert-3-32-chain-whip-fit-1-8-3-32-cogs.html

yokotas13

that 33.00 kit is the one i have. it sucks, only good thing is the pedal/14/15 socket tool that was with my variation

preston811

you gonna go for ak-37 yokotas13? I think i convinced myself i need it. funny thing is I don't even own a bike right now LOL.
(I just sold my mtb but I wanna be ready for when I likely order me a BD fixie very soon and then get some sweet roadie in the future)

are you looking at any others? let us know what you get

evotion

just for the record, you don't need a chainwhip. Just learn to rotafix.

preston811

^^good point. I'm still a noob but I've definitely heard of it and bookmarked it.

yokotas13

that is what im most liekly going to get

Brian

I've got the 37, plus a couple hundred bucks worth of other tools, and have found that it's a good deal. There's things I wouldn't ever need for my bikes, but they come in handy for working on friends and neighbor's bikes.

Whatever you do, don't buy cheap tools. It's just a waste of money.

spikedfro10

not so much a kit recommendation, but I love bringing this tool with me on rides.

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Avenir...id=50174072769

ottothecow

I was thinking about making my own chain tool (my dad has had one for years...drill a few holes, put in some chain..done)

Now I have it in my head that I could drill those holes in the back side of a lock ring tool!

Retro Grouch 

I'm not a big fan of tool kits for 2 reasons:

1. A tool kit is likely to include a number of tools (multiple cone wrench sizes) that you'll never use and omit a few tools (lockring tool, bottom bracket tools) that you do need.

2. Nobody makes the best of everything. I like my Park tools, but I've hated the Park cable cutters that I've used. I think that the Shimano bottom bracket tool is far superior to the Park equivlent - at least for removing a stuck bottom bracket.

ottothecow

get the $30 junk kit and replace stuff as it breaks.

I would never recommend a crappy tool kit on the merits of the tools but some generic kit with half (or even quarter) decent tools will get you through a few repairs and let you start buying new tools as you need them. Over time the total $$ might be a little higher since you had to buy some tools twice, but unless you have a really messed up discount rate, having most of what you need for $30 beats spending big on every tool right away even if the total outlay is a little greater over a few years.

Just tell yourself that whenever a tool gets worn (or didnt come with the kit), you will replace it with a higher quality unit.

paulwwalters

AK-37. The very best there is. When you absolutely, positively have to have every motherf**king tool in the box, accept no substitutes.

preston811

The OP already did that and said he's now looking for a quality set..



1. Good point about unneeded tools, but the ak37 does pretty much have close to everything needed, including various lockring and bb tools.

2. I've only heard good things about Park cable cutters, and the 4 amazon reviews for them are 5stars.

preston811

LOL awesome. That same idea actually popped into my head too. LOVE jackie brown

paulwwalters

Yeah I was reading through the thread and was amazed that no one had jumped on it.

Brian

I gotta check Netflix for instant viewing.