johnlink

Is there a better tool to tighten or loosen lock rings than the Park Tool HCW-5 lock ring spanner? I have a hard time preventing the lock ring spanner from slipping off and damaging the splines.

I'd like to have tool that would go around the lockring and securely engage all six splines at the same time.

sch

Nature of the beast. Lock rings can be tapped with screwdriver and mallet, which is the way I did it
in the '70s. Can't recall if someone makes a cylindrical tool for this or not. Spline buggering has
as much to do with soft metal of the lockring as it does the tool. Once splined BB axles came out
~18-20 yrs ago I have not had to deal with this kind of lock ring.

Tickled at the back of my head: there is a cylindrical tool, several in fact: https://www.ribblecycles.co.uk/park-..._BwE#pid=26208

$6, pretty cheap, if it fits your lockring, which it probably doesn't as yours is 6 splines and tool is 8. Further googling on
splined lockring tools might help.

TimothyH

Lockring pliers.

Hozan and Park make them. Probably others.



HCW-5 and similar are horrible knuckle busters and round out the notches. I hate them.


-Tim-

johnlink

That's the way I used to do it, too.

fietsbob

VAR also makes lock ring pliers..

johnlink

That's more like it! And it should work on my six-spline lockrings.

johnlink

The VAR lock ring pliers look great.
https://www.vartools.com/en/bottom-b...ers-var-p8.php

johnlink

I haven't been able to find any by Park Tool.

TimothyH

I could have been mistaken. There are almost always better tools than Park. The VAR pliers look nice.

JohnDThompson 

You can make a fumctional equivalent to the Hozan lockring pliers from a standard set of slip-jaw pliers:

https://www.instructables.com/id/DIY-Lockring-Pliers/

dsbrantjr

I love making/modifying tools for special tasks. Harbor Freight stuff is cheap enough that I don't hesitate taking a grinder or file to them.

HillRider

Those modified pliers apparently were intended for track cog lock rings based on the warning; "Remember that the lock ring will be reverse threaded, don't rip the threads off of your hub." However, bottom bracket lock rings use the same tools and are right-hand threaded.

Andrew R Stewart 

The Hozan tool with two single hook ends have two different radius of curvatures. One fits BB lockrings well and the other fits fixed gear ones well. The two different rings have different diameters. I suspect the OP is looking for the fixed hub lockring hook spanner. But since this has not actually been stated we don't really know. Andy

johnlink

My lock ring is for a Dura Ace BB-7400 bottom bracket.

79pmooney

For hub lockrings I really like the Pedros Trixie tool, a fix gear spanner and wrench. It is wider than the Park tools which really helps when you are dealing with the bell shaped 12 tooth lockrings and don't have the adjacent cog as a guide to prevent slipping off. Never tried it on a BB lockring. Probably too small a diameter.

Ben

Andrew R Stewart 

At one time Shimano made a very nice BB tool set. The lockring tool was best sized for their current (1980+) BBs. It engaged 3 or 4 (forget which) of the ring's notches quite snugly. These do come up on EBay every so often.


The plier types are great if there's an even number of notches. However some can make scratching the paint easier to happen. I've used a few sets of the old Var pliers, still have one. It takes some focus to align everything and also apply some force.


One trick to make a single hook spanner fit smaller rings is to place a shim/screwdriver blade between the spanner's curve and the ring's OD partway around the tool/ring. If you do it right the tool contact the ring's notch and the shim only.


I've also ground some small amount of relief on the tool's hook to better seat the tip in a ring's notch. Andy

wschruba

The pliers version is nice, but I've seldom had to reach for a different tool than the legendary Hozan "rock ring" wrench--it is a very secure fit on better than 90% of stuff I've worked on.

The finish on the current production is not as nice as the old tools (the surface is quite rough), but it is just as functional.

johnlink

Is the Hozan lock ring wrench any better than the Park Tool HCW-5 lock ring spanner?

Andrew R Stewart 

What tool is best is more a preference then result of some rating system. So my preference is the HKZ "rock ring" (a miss spelled name actually forged onto the tool many years ago. My first was of this generation.) but I've very comfy with others that might be quicker to get to. (When a shop is busy reducing the walk around everyone else time is good, much can happen when you leave your work bench) A single hook tool will fit any square notched ring as long as the tool's curve and the ring's diameter come close to matching up. As the HKZ has two differing curvatures this goal, matching ring/tool is more likely. After this, it is all about focus/technique. Andy

Hoopdriver

I've had a pair of VAR #16 lock ring pliers for decades. Perfect for the task. Way too much on ebay now I'm afraid. The new style looks nice but doesn't seem to be much of an improvement. I also have the hook type spanner but it does not seem as secure as the plier type.

wschruba

Andy said it before I could. I have no qualms about using the Park tool, but my preference is the Hozan--thicker, with rounded edges.

JohnDThompson 

The Hozan tool has two different radii; one for bottom bracket ring, the other for smaller-radius rings like some older headsets and track lockrings.

johnlink

I bought a Hozan lock ring wrench and look forward to using it.

Andrew R Stewart 

Wise choice. Andy

johnlink

Thank you, Tim, for telling me about Hozan's C-203 lockring pliers. I used them last night to install a new bottom bracket and had a secure connection to the lockring.