"bicycle specific" marketing?
 

OK. It is obvious the right tool for the job is the best tool for the job, and many bike tools and products may be unique to biking. Also, many bike specific tools have cheaper substitutes for the creative. The roles of truing stands, calipers, dishing tools, spoke drivers (this is all wheel stuff I know, but that is the only other major DIY projects I have done on my bike). All these things can be substituted for with the bike itself, string wire and electric ties, rulers, screwdrivers, tape, and other stuff. In this case, the cheap stuff can work just as good as the expensive stuff, it just takes a little more time, rudimentary math skills, and maybe creativity. However the expensive stuff just makes life easier. This isn't what I'm talking about though. I've begun to notice that often somthing is marketed as bike specific, but has an exact counterpart elsewhere, usually in the automotive world, that is much cheaper.

Recently had to repair a suspension fork. It is a semi-bath and the stock oil is some produced by Motorex called semi-bath oil. A quick google of "motorex semi-bath" pulls up a few bike stores selling the stuff for around $10 for 3.5oz. A little more googling reveals that motorex semi-bath oil is actually just Motorex Power Synt 4T 5w40. Some serious high quality stuff to be sure, and $10 a liter. That is expensive for motor oil. So when you look at how much the same stuff costs when marketed for a bicycle, it seems absurd. Bike specific = 3.5oz/$10 Non-bike specific=33oz/$10! 10 times more expensive?

Next, I need a special slotted socket to remove a large bolt on the fork, despite the large cable and housing coming from it, to get into the air piston; a 22mm slotted socket. I google for a bit trying to find it, I can't remeber exactly what key words I had to use now, but I found a store selling somthing probably rebranded by the fork's manufacturer. Price was around $30. Now, I also discovered during this time that virtually every car for at least the past decade has been built with an oxygen sensor that requires a 22mm slotted socket to remove and install. Maybe then the fork manufacturer intentionally chose this size for that reason, maybe it was just a coincidence. Either way, they are still selling a "bike specific" tool for it. So anyway all I do is look for oxygen sensor socket. Boom! somthing comes up in an online store for like $5 bucks. Bike specific=$30, Non Bike=$5. 6 times more expensive.

How much else is there? I mean there has to other examples like this.

Spot on. The list is long indeed.

Box wrenches, screwdrivers, torque wrenches, calipers, fluids, degreasers...all stuff with much cheaper counterparts in the local hardware store, even compared to wholesale prices through bicycle distributors. I guess if you just have to have a screwdriver with a certain manufacturer's name on it, you'll pay it.

Given that, I still buy quality tools and supplies with name brands I trust...they just aren't always bicycle brand names. I do wonder how the bike brands do sell some of that rebranded stuff, especially considering that most mechanics are of the frugal and crafty variety, and if something else does the job better (oftentimes homemade) then you use that instead.

Give us some examples of that long list. You can save your fellow cyclists some money.

Tim

+1...

Frame polishes, shop stools, tape measures, files, allen keys, torx wrenches, hammers...look at a tool board in your LBS and see how many of those tools are things you already have that are just branded items.

There are some very specific tools like spoke threaders and such that truly are bike specific, but those are shop tools and not something the average Joe needs in his toolbox.

For most people you really only need to buy a crank puller, a cassette tool, some chain whips (you might even be able to make those) and a spoke key. Most everything else is allen keys or torx wrenches. You might need a few of the very thin 13/14/15 open end wrenches for hubs, too, but that pretty much covers the bulk of home repairs. What can't you do with those and the sockets and screw drivers you probably already have in the garage for your car?

Now, if you have some shiny, flashy rides in your quiver, then the amount you spend on additional tools will be small in proportion to the money needed to feed your habit. If you start to talk about wheels by the set (and have to actually unzip a couple of wheelbags to find the particular set your looking for) then the cost of a truing stand and a tension guage isn't so outrageous.

OR, if you're like me, having more tools on your toolboard at home makes it easier to justify all the time you spend puttering in the garage to your wife. Whenever you sense her approaching, you can put down your beer, pick up a Phil Wood BB tool (circa 1990) grab whatever is sitting on your bench and start muttering under your breath. Most likely the wife will beat a hasty retreat and you can go back to the beer you had in your hand and that oh so precious respite.

How can you put a price on that?

Man you crack me up! Were you spying on me? I thought I invented this.

Of all the lunacy... You posted such an important man-secret on a public forum, where some of our wives can see it? Have you lost your ever-lovin mind?

:rolleyes:

P.S. the same trick works with old cars...

It's not exclusive to men. ;)

Weigel's Frame Saver is, in the experience and analysis of lots of people on this forum, as Amsoil's Heavy Dut Metal Protector. HDMP is a fair bit cheaper, although Weigel's bicycle-specific can also gets you detailed instructions for how to internally rust-proof a steel frame, and given the economics of selling through bike distributors, I doubt that Weigel's (or whoever) is making a killing by ripping of cyclists.

My pet peeve. Those very expensive t-handle hex wrench sets for bicycles. There is a bike specific Y wrench, with the 3 most popular sizes on each end, that works just as well, if not better, and costs less than the price of one of the T handle wrenches.