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Old 10-14-16 | 12:52 PM
  #17  
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Drew Eckhardt
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Joined: Apr 2010
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From: Mountain View, CA USA and Golden, CO USA

Bikes: 97 Litespeed, 50-39-30x13-26 10 cogs, Campagnolo Ultrashift, retroreflective rims on SON28/PowerTap hubs

Originally Posted by zze86
I am a tool fanatic and have quite a collection of hand tools already but I'm thinking of adding some bicycle specific tools to my tool chest since I'm hoping to work on my own bikes. I am wondering what special tools do I need to work on bikes?
It depends on what bikes you own. Cone wrenches aren't needed for most contemporary cartridge bearing hubs. Most new bikes have threadless headsets which use a hex key not two 32mm open-ended wrenches for adjustment. Many new bikes have switched to press-fit bottom brackets which don't need a big socket or special wrenches for classic cup-and-cone. Some pedals have flats for an open ended wrench where only a thin bicycle wrench fits, some take an 8mm hex key (get a nice socket which positively retains the bit - they tend to stick on crank arms bolts, especially alloy ones. I have a Snapon with a roll pin holding the parts together). Many crank arms (most these days) have self-extracting bolts, although older ones require a puller with a larger pusher required for ISIS/Octalink and odd thread for some (TA?) cranks.

Specifically, I know I want to be able to remove and clean the bottom bracket and quite possibly switch cassettes around on different wheelsets.
If you have threaded bottom bracket shells you'll want a socket like Park's BBT-19 (for 16 spline cups used by most external bearing cranks) and torque wrench which works going counter-clockwise (I really like Stahlwille's 730 series split-beam wrenches - instant torque setting with two thumbs, accurate over the full-scale, interchangeable heads, no need to store at zero)..

Icetoolz makes cassette tools which have a 1/2" socket drive, including a Shimano flavor with a guide pin. Campagnolo cassettes take a different tool.

I use my cable cutters a lot more often than either (rear shift cable every 2000 miles which can be 10 weeks, housing twice that). I have Park's which are OK, although Felco makes better ones.

My tire levers get some use too. While not needed with thin (two wraps of 1 mil Kapton totaling .005" not .020" for Velox) rim tape, they're more pleasant especially in cold wet weather which puts more flat causing crap on the road.

The chain breaker and master link tool are next every ~4500 miles for shortening replacement chains and removing old master links which are a bit stubborn.

You'll eventually (I got 12,000 miles out of my last bottom bracket before it got gritty, and could have gone longer if it didn't install with excessive preload) want a pin spanner which is missing from everyone's list. Without left-handed threads, the cap on self-extracting crank bolts can loosen so it eventually comes loose and falls out while you're riding. The pin spanner insures it's tight after you reinstall a crank arm.

A chain ring wrench is useful to keep traditional slotted nuts from spinning, although some of those take 6mm hex keys or T27 Torx so that's not a given.

Wheel building and rim replacement are rare activities which work best with spoke wrench (there are different sizes, Park's SW0-4 are nice enough), truing stand (Minour'as is OK), and dishing tool (Park portable). Properly built wheels don't go out of true unless crashed or beak spokes, although that's usually not what you get buying a bike.

For a bike repair stand I am actually looking at re-purposing an engine stand (these thing are not only great for holding engines but make great portable bases for all sorts of things)
You want a Park PCS-10 with a quick release clamp (less work when you're holding your bike), clamp which rotates with a bike mounted, and adjustable height (higher for drive-train work, lower for bar tape replacement, etc). We have one at my office.

Other stands are superficially similar but don't work as well - the clamp on the Spin Doctor G3 sags doesn't adjust nicely with a bike mounted. It's not bad enough to spend money replacing with a Park, although I wouldn't buy one again or recommend it.

Last edited by Drew Eckhardt; 10-14-16 at 01:38 PM.
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