You mean a bottle opener comes in handy. FIFY

Thanks for the replies and suggested brands.

My dad used to have a bunch of rental properties and my shed has accumulated an embarassing amount of cheap abandoned bikes that my dad promised he was going to work on but will probably never fix. Nothing extraodinary except a vintage Sears Roebuck 3 speed IGH, and a rather nice unidentified butted steel frame road bike which is sadly too big for me but I figure I can fix them for kids, nieces/nephews rather than just throw them away. Plus its a good excuse to buy some pretty tools and learn a new skill.

A few questions about specific tools:

Cable cutters - what is the difference between these and some quality linesmans cutters?

T-handle allen wrenches - whats the advantage of these over say a socket and rachet type setup? I have a set of L allen wrenches and short and long allen wrench sockets already. I have thumb ratchets and mini-ratchets, so small torque applications are no problem.

Beer - whats a good brand? I prefer the small independent ones but what have you found to best lubricate those nasty jobs?

I believe all the bottom brackets I'll be working on will be the standard threaded kind as most of the bikes are older bikes One of my personal bike has a Shimano octalink crank, I didn't really look at the bottom bracket standard on that bike. A recent acquisition has late 90s era Campy Record groupset though I haven't taken a close look at it; I assume its standard as well.

I have the thinking of adapting my engine stand simply because of space constraints. I don't know how well the wife will tolerate another "big" fixture around. I'll do a how to when I build it up.

Thanks for this! I am not at all opposed to DIY tools.

Sharp 7-9" diagonal cutters (Klein, Milwaukee, Knipex, Felco, et. al.) are sufficient for cleanly cutting bowden (not braided) steel cables found on bikes. Cutting farther back in the jaw, straight across, and with no tension on the cable will greatly lower chances of fraying. Coiled brake housing is also easily cut with diagonal cutters. Basically, the only thing that wire rope cutters (as they really should be referred to) are necessary for is expediting sizing index compatible housing (which can be done, albeit slowly, with a rotary tool/cutoff disc), and cutting braided steel cable, which are quite uncommon now, but were found on older bikes.

Speed is the biggest advantage. It's easier to grab a different size, and quite fast to spin down a fastener. I would consider them a nice thing to have readily available, but far from necessary. If they aren't front and center in your work area, it is unlikely that you'll go out of your way to use them. The only fasteners on a bike that a ratchet is the first thing I reach for are axle nuts. Quite simply, with the exception of self-extracting cranks, almost nothing on a bike will be more easily removed with a ratchet. Corrosion that is causing difficulty removing a bolt may cause me to reach for a ratchet, but they are usually such low force applications that the ratchet doesn't trip, so the tool essentially becomes a large, unwieldy wrench. Thumb ratchets obviously fix this problem, but it is still almost universally easier to use the right sized wrench, and just grab the right size for the part you are working on. Specifically re: hex keys, ball-end keys in the sizes used on bicycles are easy to spin a fastener down one handed, so T-handles become much less necessary.

For me an allen wrench set is key. A few wrenches, flat head/Phillips head screwdrivers, good to go. I keep them in my bike bag

These are my favorite bike-specific tools in no particular order. Like you, I always buy the best quality tools and all of these are "pro" quality. You won't need all of these but a good chain breaker, cassette puller, chain whip, cone wrenches and pedal wrench are a must for the serious home mechanic. The one tool that I use most of all wasn't cheap either and it is the PB Swiss Allen set. Even Bundhus plays second fiddle to these wrenches and Bundhus are darned good.

30 year old VAR cable cutters
Stronglight crank puller
Hozan ratcheting crank bolt remover
Campy circle-type spoke wrench
Effetto Mariposa Giustaforza torque wrench
Abby chain whip
Abby double-ended cassette puller
Hozan Pro chain breaker I ordered from Japan - (dang this one is NICE!)
Various 30 year old Campy tools (Cone wrenches, bottom bracket lockring/cup wrench, headset wrench, "peanut butter" wrench, 8mm "T: handle Allen wrench and freewheel tool)
Park PRS-10 stand
Park Pro PRS-20 Euro-style stand (I really like this one - best stand on the market if you ask me)
20 year old Unior pedal wrench
PB Swiss Allen wrench set

I have a LOT of Snap On wrenches, socket sets, ratchets, etc but those aren't bike specific. I buy the best quality tools I can afford....always, every time.

Something I haven't seen listed but you probably already own is a rubber or plastic head hammer. I used electrical conduit for my headset cup torpedo. I didn't try copper but thought it might be a little too flexible. But I've only used it once, so not a biggie either way.

I have one of those Park "second hand" tools for brakes. It's actually not that great of a tool but I do use it (I covered it in electrical tape to avoid scratching).

scott s.
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Get a BFV (a very large bench vise) be good. Have fun.

I also buy tools as I need them, this way I'm not buying a package deal getting tools I may never use or getting redundant tools that I don't need. I've done this with my automotive tools over the last 40 plus years, my home tools, and my bike tools, and I don't have a huge tool chest because of doing it that way. It's cheaper that way too. Keep in mind that some of your current tools will work on a bike, so there's no need to get a set just to have redundant stuff...unless you just like seeing tools everywhere and lots of them, I know a person like that but of course he has over 35 vintage and classic cars! but no bikes...LOL!! So he can afford a lot of tools and he's a gearhead, but the odd thing is, he doesn't work as a mechanic or do anything mechanical for a living, but he's better than most pro mechanics!