Bike maintenance tools - what to get?

CarlosK

Hi all,

I'm looking to put together a kit of essential tools required for maintaining my road bike at home. I'm fairly mechanically minded and would have no problem tuning the bike at home as required. Any major jobs I'll send into the local bike shop, but mostly I'd like to cover most issues myself. I'm only into all this cycling since the start of the summer and I'm loving it so far. A big part of the appeal is also that i love the mechanics side of it. I know there are ready made kits out there but I don't want to fork out a big wad all at once, I'd much prefer to pick up the odd tool here and there, building up a kit over time. That way I can get good quality tools that'll last me.

So if any of you have any recommendations from your own experience, I'd love to hear them. I already have a few things like:

Allen keys;
Phillips & Flathead screwdrivers;
Adjustable spanner;
Cone spanners;
Crank removal tool;
Cassette removal tool;
Chain cleaner;
Wire cutters;
Grease;
Chain Oil (think all I have is dry-type at the min);
Degreaser;
Cleaning tools.

I think that's about it for now, I need a decent work stand too, so if anyone knows where I can get a decent one, then that'd be great.

Thanks in advance.
Carlosk

ashleey

Get a torque wrench that works for min 5 nm and a chain wear tool. A crank removal tool is specific to your brand of crank and type so may not be essential. A chain cleaner and degreaser and then proper lube is essential. Get some proper grease for when you put pedals back on etc. Good luck.

seamus

A cassette removal tool is useless without a chain whip.

Also get yourself two good adjustable spanners - a normal-sized one (about 6-8 inches) and a large one (about 12 inches).

Get a small socket kit. You can get one that has a small socket wrench in it, with sockets between 5mm and 15mm - perfect for bike maintenance.

Never underestimate the usefulness of pliers. Get yourself two pairs of needle-nose pliers - one straight and one curved.

Don't waste your time fiddling with the cutters on most pliers or even with a standard wire cutter, get a proper cable cutter. Good gear cable outer is physically impossible to cut with a standard pliers/cable cutter.

As ashleey says, the type of crank removal tools you need depends on your crank type, so make sure you do some research before buying.

-Chris-

Are you missing a chain breaker?

CarlosK

Thanks for the info people - I'll check out the crank tool, and I'll look into getting a chain whip + chain break tool, socket set, pliers, proper wire cutters, torque wrench aswell as stocking up on all essential greases, oils and degreasers.

I think its worthwhile getting decent tools and looking after them, they'll last in the long run... look after your tools and your tools will look after you.... (that sounds soooooo wrong!!!) haha

Foghorn Leghorn

Hi,
One more thing you might find handy (although I guess its not actually a tool) is "Big Blue Book of Bike Repair"

I got it recently and would rate it very highly

brainstorm

Can I ask where you got the "Big Blue Book of Bike Repair"? Wiggle won't ship it to ireland but Amazon in the uk give a total price of 27 pounds inc shipping.

thanks.

ashleey

Just use park tools website too for step by step advice

Captain Havoc

This is my toolkit. This is the site I use.

CarlosK

Captain Havoc wrote: »

This is my toolkit. This is the site I use.

I'm liking the kit and the site looks excellent too.

I'd have got this kit only I have a few of the tools already and I can't see myself dishing out another £50stg for more of the same. I'll be taking the list of whats in there though and I'll be getting what I can over time.

With regards the book recommended in an earlier post, I already got one as a gift, I think its called "Road Bike Maintenance" by Guy Andrews, something along them lines anyway. Between this book and the serious amount of online content (on bike maintenance that is!!!) I think I'm well sorted there.

Next, I need a repair stand....

Foghorn Leghorn

the "Blue Book" isn't the cheapest book out there but I managed to get a copy on e-bay for a little bit cheaper, On saying that even at full price its value for money.

On the subject of bike stands keep your eye on Lidl, I got one there for 30 quid and its does the job rightly

CarlosK

Foghorn Leghorn wrote: »

On the subject of bike stands keep your eye on Lidl, I got one there for 30 quid and its does the job rightly

€30??? you serious? And they're of decent quality? Like they'll get the job done without collapsing onto the ground? If that's the case then I'll be keeping my ear to the ground for future sales of bike equipment in Lidl/Aldi. Any of the ones I've been looking at were in and around the €150-ish mark.

ipodrocker

whats a good chain lube to get??

07Lapierre

CarlosK wrote: »

€30??? you serious? And they're of decent quality? Like they'll get the job done without collapsing onto the ground? If that's the case then I'll be keeping my ear to the ground for future sales of bike equipment in Lidl/Aldi. Any of the ones I've been looking at were in and around the €150-ish mark.

I have this one. It does exactly what you want, i.e. hold the bike in front of you while you work in it. Perfectly adequate for the "home mechanic"

cdaly_

I have this one which cost €60 but appears to be discontinued. Very handy with about 40 second setup of which 30 sec is getting it out of the shed...

CarlosK

ipodrocker wrote: »

whats a good chain lube to get??

I cant say I've got years of experience in using different types of chain lube, but from what I gather, Finish Line do pretty good lubes. I've also used Halfords own brand stuff and found it spot on for my needs. I'm sure everyone has their own favourites but the important thing is to make sure there's some sort of chain lube on there.