but precision...

definition of "is" "is." Everyone has different expectations.

cc700....I'm the type 3 person who wrote this thread. I hope I'm not in trouble for it. What you said made a lot of sense, I have to say the park pedal wrench did have a good feel to it and the metal seemed to be of good quality.

For the most part you get what you pay for. There are tools I would not bother buying, it would be less expensive to have the lbs who has the tool do the work.

no, you're not in trouble at all! i didn't mean it like it was a bad thing. there's nothing wrong with not knowing better, it's just that if you're in that group (as many great cyclists are) and you happen to read this thread, it's probably a good idea not to buy anything but a multitool for emergencies. a shop is better equipped and you won't be wasting money on tools that don't work well for your purposes.

All basic maintenance can be done with an allen key set and an adjustable wrench (or even better, a wrench set)

A good multi-tool takes care of it as well.

Bike tools usually give more leverage where it's required, and fit into places where normal tools can't. A common wrench / allen key set is universal, though. No need to get bike specific ones (UNLESSS YOUR BIKE HAS CARBON COMPONENTS)

I have a cheap one stamped out of metal, used it as a screwdriver in a pinch once. It was cheap, and I like having it. (and it was before I had amazon prime, and adding it to my order when I got a new speedometer got me free shipping)

I bought a pedal wrench from a bike shop about a week ago, and maybe the pedals I changed wern't as 'tight' as the set I had done before them, but it seemed to work better than the smaller 15mm gearwrench I had been using before. Yeah, a lot of tools don't need to be special, but it sure helps.

Certain tools like spoke wrenches or a crank puller don't really have an equivalent tool...while on the other hand I refuse to spend money on a chainwhip as vise grips and a leftover section of chain do the same thing. However, I will say that on most tools that are similar a tool from park is much better than a tool from harbor freight. Quality from Harbor Freight is just not the same as tools from say Cornwell, snap-on, etc. You get what u pay for.

Using that tool to measure chain wear matters a lot more when it comes to geared bikes, as a worn chain and cassette will cause skipping and drivetrain inefficiencies.

But can't you still just use a ruler and measure from pin to pin?

Yes.

But I like chain wear indicators. They're very quick and easy to use, even when compared to something as trivial as a ruler measurement. I will admit that the price is pretty ridiculous for a little piece of metal, though.

Chain "stretch" doesn't occur by the side plates actually stretching, but rather the pivots and bushings becoming worn (think of a donut with a hole that keeps getting bigger over time) - which makes the chain get longer. Using a ruler isn't really as effective as a chain wear indicator.

Aside from that, I'd rather use a $10 tool to check chain wear than mess around with a ruler and eyeball it.

Like I said, having seen it, yeah, 10 bucks seems like a lot, but I would have had to pay a chunk of that as shipping, and getting it gave me free shipping, so... it wasn't really 10 bucks in a way.

this.

And harbor freight has a lifetime warranty on most of their tools. If it's not a bike specific tool like a crank puller or bb remover, I shop at harbor freight.

So for the Harbor freight torque wrench, how much does 5 foot pounds equal in newtons? All the specs on the bike look like they're in newtons

https://www.harborfreight.com/3-8-eig...rench-807.html

that click type torque wrench is garbage. ive been calibrating torque wrenches for years at work and any click type is complete garbage. we have everything from harbor freight to crapsman to snap on. all is junk. get an electronic torque wrench or dont get one at all

crapsman

I think nearly all members of this forum would disapprove of the tools I use, a mixture of home made, modified and out right garbage. Having used horrid tools for years, I have to say that if you have the funds, buy a rather comprehensive set of good tools once, and try not to lose them. It minimizes stress considerably

If you take apart a worn chain you will see that the pins develop grooves where the inner plates sit. this wear over the length of the chain causes "stretch". Both systems for checking seem to work just fine as I have compared a little on peoples' worn chains at the co-op. If you look in the Mechanics forum it seems like most arguments are against chain checkers

fwiw, using the ruler to check wear got me three chains to last cassette. unfortunately I don't have miles logged

After cracking my stem clamp from over tightening I decided any torque wrench is better than guessing without experience so I picked up this one from Harbor freight yesterday

https://www.harborfreight.com/1-4-qua...ench-2696.html

its 20-200 inch lbs instead of 5-80 foot lbs like the one you linked, lighter duty

Here's a calculator to convert nM to inch lbs: https://www.unitconversion.org/energy...onversion.html