009jim

hi everyone,
I've had several bikes in the past. The last was about 15 years ago. I do ALL my own maintenance. I have quite a few tools including chain breaker, cone spanners, cluster removal socket, Allen keys. I am about to purchase a new hybrid - such as a Giant Elwood or similar. Have bikes changed so much that I won't be able to do the maintenance? I read stories where people are taking the bike to the shop to get the gears adjusted. Is there any reason I can't adjust my own gears? When I buy my bicycle should I ask the shop to provide me with literature, owners manuals, or such?

AndrewP

There might be some torx screws on the brakes. Owners manuals that may come with a bike are useless for maintenance. There are good books such as Bicycling magazine's "Complete Guide to Bicycle Maintenance and Repair", but also make use of the Park Tool and Sheldon Brown websites https://www.parktool.com/repair/ https://www.sheldonbrown.com/articles.html

Panthers007

I'd suggest a copy of Lennard Zinn's - Zinn and the Art of Mountain Bike Maintenance. Other than that, if your last bike had a freewheel, you'll need a lockring-tool to get the "cassette" off the freehub.

skeem

i work in a shop, so i have all the tools at my disposal, but before i was a mechanic i still did all my repairs. maybe 4-5 years ago my dad bought me one of these, and though the tools are not as good as park or bedros or hozan, theyre great for a home mechanic (and 1/5 the price). mine still are in good shape, and this kit comes with almost everything a home mechanic could ever need. for 50 bucks, which is about how much a tune up costs, this kit supplies you with more tools than youll need to do a basic tune up. also, get a bucket of grease. i used to use park stuff, but ive found that the 3 dollar marine axle grease at an auto parts store works just as well, and its 1/4 the price. ive had the same tub for a few years now and its still good.

bigvegan

Skeem - any chance you could add the link so we can see this kit?