I am looking for a basic tool kit that would be needed to buld and maintain a road bike. How much should I spend and what should I get?

What's your budget? Do you need to do a few specific maintenance tasks or are you trying to just have a set of tools already on hand in case anything comes up?

Setting aside discussion of pros & cons of particular brands: see the Park Tool website.

Buy the park home mechanic set, park are the best, they will last a lifetime and the set has most of the tools you will need, bar an adjustable spanner for tyhe brank tool and bb tool. do not, do not, do not buy cheap tools they wiil ruin components and the tools, buy the more expensive park tools and reap the rewards for years to come!!!!!

Over the years I have seldom bought a set of tools, except for basic things like basic wrench sets for working on a car. Instead, I would buy a good tool for the job when I had a specific need and was reasonably certain I would use the tool repeatedly for other jobs, or just could not get a very necessary job done any other way. I have an odd assortment of tools, but have not spent money on things I never use. I also know people who want to have the best and want a full set, just in case. I know I get more use from my tools than they get from theirs. Pick your own philosophy for acquiring tools and go from there.

And, I like to make a tool when I can. I ground the jaws of an 8" adjustable ("Crescent") wrench down from one side very slowly until there was only about 2.5 mm of thickness left. It makes a fine cone wrench adjustable for any size cone they will ever make.

My Specialized Allez has a carbon seat post and it should be torqued. I made a torque wrench with a dial indicator fisherman's scale and a steel bar in excess of ten inches long. I made a fitting on one end to hold Allen wrenches. A five pound pull on the scale is 50 inch pounds of torque. (I did weigh something I know to be five pounds and the scale read six percent light. That would have resulted in overtorquing a little. So, I shortened the ten inch distance between the scale and the wrench by six percent to "calibrate" it. This torque wrench cost me about $5.)