4th-Hand Tool/3rd Hand Tool, whatever! Luxury or necessity?

curium

Hey! How many of you home mechanics have a 3rd/4th hand-tool for pulling/tensioning gear cables?

I'm currently f-ing and blinding while trying to get adequate tension on my front derrailleur (cuaght my knuckles on the chainring a few times too ).
Got a 100 mile ride this Sunday (fingers crossed for the weather) so yesterday I gave the bike a badly needed clean up and lube and now I can't get adequate tension in the cables.

Checked out a few videos on YouTube and people are using this special tool that pulls the cable with one hand, freeing the other hand to tighten the bolt.

Worth the cash? I ride a lot (3-4 times a week) and frequently adjust the rear derrailleur and will probably need to replace all the cables soon.

Also, anyone know a cycle shop in SE or Central London where I could pick one up TODAY?!

ugo.santalucia

I have one... I hardly ever use it...

curium

ugo.santalucia wrote:

I have one... I hardly ever use it...

But when you do use it, do you think 'That made the job so much easier and quicker to complete'?

marksimon69

Got one ............ use it when I need to hold cables etc ...... works well. Check around for prices though as they vary from £12 to £45 for the same tool. Some bike shops may stock them, google shops in your locality.

rolf_f

curium wrote:

Worth the cash? I ride a lot (3-4 times a week) and frequently adjust the rear derrailleur and will probably need to replace all the cables soon.

Not sure why you need to frequently adjust the rear mech - I probably average about 700 miles a month and hardly touch either mech. Once set up they go on forever.

As for the mechanics of getting the tension right - a nice big pair of pliers is all that's needed. I can quite easily hold tension with one hand and tighten the bolt with the other.

As for the videos - I suspect if you want to show how it's done clearly, the third hand helps - but more simply for the shot than any practical need.

keef66

I have one and have hardly ever used it. As above, I can usually pull the cables tight enough with pliers.

ugo.santalucia

curium wrote:

ugo.santalucia wrote:

I have one... I hardly ever use it...

But when you do use it, do you think 'That made the job so much easier and quicker to complete'?

No, it's often just a hassle to get the cable in the tool slit without it slipping out... frankly pointless. In the rare cases where you need a third hand, ask somebody around... there's 7 billion of us on the planet, surely you'll find someone with a spare hand...

keef66

Me too. I frequently found it quite difficult to manouvre the tool into place and grip the the cable in the right place.

i think they are a good idea very poorly executed.

Far easier with pliers and / or an attractive assistant

cycleclinic

I have learned how pull the cable and hold everything in place with one hand leaving the other hand free.

Cleat Eastwood

if you do it properly you shouldnt need a 3r or 4th hand - you can set the front mech up just by pulling the cable with your fingers - on the small-big combo the cable shouldnt be super tight anyway.

rubez

So, without this magic 3rd hand tool to 'properly' tension with cable, how aggressive do I need to pull with pliers, the old school way, before tightening up the bolt?

Thanks.

ElectronShepherd

My approach is a bit different, but no extra tools required. Take a "first guess" at where the cable needs to be, and tighten the clamp. It will probably be wrong. Shift to the big ring by rotating the pedals and using the shifters (i.e. as you would if you were riding). Then shift to the lower ring, but without moving the pedals. The derailleur swing arm will move in a bit until it hits the chain, leaving the cable untensioned. You can now loosen the clamp, move a cable a bit as needed and retighten the clamp. Rotate the pedals to move the chain to the smaller cog, and see how close you are now. Repeat until just right.

sandyballs

^This, don't over complicate things.

me-109

^It's a front mech, surely you don't even need to go to those lengths? Pull cable with pliers; tighten clamp nut using Allen key in other hand.

It's not even like a brake caliper where you need to squeeze the caliper in. For those I turn the adjuster out a couple of turns, squeeze caliper to rim, pull the cable and tighten, then turn adjuster in to give me the free clearance.

Monty Dog

Never needed one - if you have a cable adjuster, unscrew a couple of turns, give the cable a tug to remove the slack. Pull the mech a couple of mm to move it outboard with the right hand and tighten the clamp with the other hand - the spring tension will take up any slack, screw in the cable adjuster if the mech doesn't settle against the bottom stop.

majormantra

They're useful for setting up cantis, particularly old school ones, but otherwise not hugely.

andrewc3142

Gear and brake cables only need to be tensioned by hand, probably tweaking a few times until just right.

chris_bass

if you are struggling with the front mech try over doing the limit screw to hold the mech further out than it should (only slightly) then tighten the cable with pliers in one hand, allen key in the other, then reset the limit screw to the correct position, seems to do the trick for me.

ic.

ElectronShepherd wrote:

My approach is a bit different, but no extra tools required. Take a "first guess" at where the cable needs to be, and tighten the clamp. It will probably be wrong. Shift to the big ring by rotating the pedals and using the shifters (i.e. as you would if you were riding). Then shift to the lower ring, but without moving the pedals. The derailleur swing arm will move in a bit until it hits the chain, leaving the cable untensioned. You can now loosen the clamp, move a cable a bit as needed and retighten the clamp. Rotate the pedals to move the chain to the smaller cog, and see how close you are now. Repeat until just right.

That, sir, is a brilliantly simple idea.

arthur_scrimshaw

I find they're great for resurrecting two year old threads.