Papa Tom

I'm sorry for starting a new thread about a topic that has surely been discussed here before, but I want to make sure I have the most up-to-date info before I make a decision.

I'd like to add an emergency cassette removal tool (like the Unior or the Next Best Thing) to my trunk bag, but I'd like to know which one cyclists are using (and liking) as of January, 2017. I commute and do overnights on a 1996 GT Outpost that is covered almost completely in tourist decals, so I am not concerned about scratching my paint, which seems to be the first thing people warn you about when discussing these thingies.

Also, I do NOT want to carry my chain whip and cassette ring removal tool with me, so please do not try to convince me that doing so has its advantages. I already know that these portable versions are inferior, but I do not travel far enough from home or from civilization to warrant dragging all that extra weight. I would like to be able to get myself out of a jam with an $11 piece of metal, but if the tool fails and I have to walk a little, it's not the end of the world.

Thoughts?

Spoonrobot 

Has anyone tried to convince you to carry a fiberfix or two instead? Cost $11 as well

HillRider

Pamir Engineering used to make the "Hyper-Cr**ker"" which was a small portable tool that you clamped over the lockring and then reinstalled the wheel in the bike. It had a tab that pushed against the drive side chainstay and when you pedaled backwards it unthreaded the lockring.

Unfortunately they have been out of production for many years so you would have to find one NOS squirreled away in some older bike shop's drawer of obsolete parts or post a WTB ad on Craig's List or the classified section of a bike forum.

However, all is not lost. J. A. Stein makes a small portable lockring remover and Amazon, Harris Cyclery and Velo Orange all sell it but none of these have it for $11:

https://www.amazon.com/Stein-Mini-Ca.../dp/B001GSSCAU
J. A. Stein Stein Mini Cassette Lockring Tool - Harris Cyclery bicycle shop - West Newton, Massachusetts
Stein Mini Cassette Lockring Driver

Edit: what's the problem with the censor now? What could possibly be offensive about a Saltine or Ritz?

Spaghetti Legs 

I have one still somewhere that I used way back when on my Exage MTB cassette. I think it was called cassette ******* and looked kind of like this:

https://harriscyclery.net/product/uni...-tool-2456.htm

except the tab was bigger and had a plastic guard over the tab to keep from dinging the chain stay. I still have it somewhere.

Andrew R Stewart 

I have used a Hyper Cra..cker a few times with no issues although it is a bit more fussing then a shop tool. I no longer have one but I did get a Stein but have not used it yet. Andy

HillRider

Oh sure, the Hyper-Whatever is certainly not intended for routine use, only as an emergency road-side repair tool. Rather like those small flimsy chain tools that won't tolerate daily use but will get you out of that occasional emergency.

dsbrantjr

[QUOTE=HillRider;19339049] J. A. Stein makes a small portable lockring remover and Amazon, Harris Cyclery and Velo Orange all sell it but none of these have it for $11:

https://www.amazon.com/Stein-Mini-Ca.../dp/B001GSSCAU
J. A. Stein Stein Mini Cassette Lockring Tool - Harris Cyclery bicycle shop - West Newton, Massachusetts
Stein Mini Cassette Lockring Driver

QUOTE]


I do not have that particular item but I have other Stein products and that are of very high quality and fine workmanship. Highly recommended.

Dyskolos

I have the Stein lockring tool and can vouch for its high quality and fine workmanship. Also highly recommended.

Crankycrank

I found a website several months ago listing a few currently available lockring removers. Can't remember the name but some creative googling may find it. According to my shaky memory there were at least 4 still being made. Here's another site that shows some that may still be available . https://pardo.net/bike/pic/fail-029/#nbt2

davidad

Ditto!

Papa Tom

Thanks for the replies. I actually FORGOT that I do carry a Fiberfix kit, though I have never had the misfortune to need it. Having never used the Fiberfix, I am not confident I can make it work, but I know I can replace a spoke if I can get the cassette off.

From the responses above, the Stein tool seems to be the most popular. I will go check it out now.

EDIT: Just Googled the Stein tool and it's priced anywhere from $35 to $50. Having something like this is not worth a whole lot more than $11 to me. If the less expensive ones don't work, I'm just going to have to take my chances on the Fiberfix kit.

HillRider

Uhh, I gave you links to three on-line dealers that offer the Stein tool and they list their prices. I also mentioned it was well over $11, although I don't know why you picked that cost as your limit.

Papa Tom

Yeah, that's where I saw the prices. By "well over," I thought you may have meant $18-20, which I might have been able to talk myself into.

This is a tool that I really don't NEED. It's just something that, if it cost a few bucks and took up nominal space, I would carry it for the next time I break a spoke on the drive side. That has only happened to me twice in almost fifty years of riding.

A problem with these forums is that it is tough to indicate just how pressing an issue is. Sometimes I post questions here just because a thought entered my head during one of the rare occasions that I am bored. This was one of those occasions.

AlexCyclistRoch

I'm just DYING to find out what 'obscenity' is in the name of this tool! Could somebody spell it out in an alternative way? I've tried every combination of every major profanity, and still can't figure it out.

BTW, the 'net nanny' even removed the 'obscenity' from the URL, so unless you can enlighten us as to just what this 'dirty word' was, nobody can use your link......

Papa Tom

The deleted term, which is a type of snack food that often sells under the brand name "Saltine" or can be preceded by the words "Graham" or "Cheese and" is supposedly sometimes used by African Americans as derogatory slang for white people. I've never heard it used by anyone other than 1970's comedians like Richard Pryor, who also threw the "N" word around quite a bit.

My guess is that the moderators are not so tight-a--ed to delete it manually. It's probably some censoring software that took it out.

AlexCyclistRoch

OK, so the tool is a cassette cr@ck3r? Schist, I can't figure what their f@rking problem is......

At work, I was once trying to find a replacement for a broken joystick on a machine, and our company's 'net nanny' wouldn't let me search that term online........

BikeLite

c r a c k

Papa Tom

Hey, that's a dangerous drug. Don't be saying that word here.

HillRider

I think they've now accepted this one but there was a time when the forum nanny would ****** out the word G U N even when used as staple gun or grease gun.

Spaghetti Legs 

Well since you went through all this trouble with the net nanny, the least I could do is dig the thing out. And here it is!

Turns out it's a Hyper (you know what). Even has a built in spoke wrench.

Papa Tom

Interesting. When I started this thread a couple of days ago, there was at least one Unior cassette removal tool available on Amazon for $11. Now it's gone and I can't find one for sale anywhere. Did I inspire a whole bunch of you to go out and buy these things up?

HillRider

No, I've had my Pamir for decades. I've never used it but it seemed like a good idea at the time.

Papa Tom

I am seeing some of the Pamirs on eBay having sold for as little as $1.99. I guess I'll keep my eyes open for another listing. Meanwhile, I suddenly have a craving for a *******.