Tool kit

Robbie101

Hi guys
I’m new to this forum and new to mtb and cycling in general.
Rode my mates hard tail around thetford forest last week and it was a good 10 mile ride but I completely loved it.
Expecting my new bike to be delivered Tuesday, it’s a bit over kill at this moment in time but it was a bargain buy.
Going to need to buy some tools to keep my bike in tip top condition as well as checking tension on all nuts and bolts, is it worth buying a complete kit of tools or buy them Separately and get even better quality tools?
Lastly what grease lube should I buy? I’m thinking some sort of ptf spray to drive out moisture from drive train.
Wet and dry chain lube
Normal break cleaner for disc and calipers
And some sort silicon spray to give the frame a nice shine. Any thing I missed?
Thank you all for the advice.

cooldad

Have a look at On One or CRC for toolkits. I prefer to buy what I need when I need them.

Lube depends on what you are lubing.

I use ordinary WB grease for most things, some Red Rubber grease for places needing better waterproofing like headsets, Squirt chain lube all year (wax based), and basic 3 in 1 oil for places that need oil.

Don't get brake cleaner - it's for cars, not bikes. A bit of water is enough. If you feel the urge to clean road gunk off the rotors or something, use isopropyl alcohol.

And watch out for anything you spray on the bike - it might make it look shiny, but get it anywhere near the brakes and you'll contaminate them. The aerosol effect means you don't even have to spray near the brakes to cause issues.

02GF74

If you have carbon fibre frame or components then a torque wrench will be useful, also if you've never done any bike maintenance, it will help you get a feel on how much to do up bolts. Search for m-part 1/4 in. Torque wrench.

A good quality set of hex (Allen) keys, 3, 4, 5 and 6 mm do 97.2% of bolts.

More esoteric tools like BB and cassette removal tools when you need to replace either.

Lube, dry wax type for the chain and general purpose grease, eg castrol lm.

Forget fancy cleaning products, a squrirt of washing up liquid in warm water and use brush to clean off muck, then hose dy(note. Never use a pressure washer)

swod1

be careful of spray lubricants any off spray on the discs and your in trouble brake pads ruined.

chain lubricant, depends where you are riding and the conditions, if UK i would advise to use a good quality wet lube at this time of year and be careful how much you apply as you don't want a black drive train its awful to clean up.

grease wise I've switched to mobil xhp 222 much better than the bike shop ones and you don't need to use a lot of it as its that sticky which is good for threaded parts, pedals etc.

Robbie101

Thanks for the replies this is info is a good bench mark on what tools grease is needed

CharlieV453

Disk brake cleaner is fine on bikes. Many companies sell mtb disk cleaner but you can buy a larger car version for cheaper with the same ingredients and performance. It will be fine and works a charm.

bobbydigital

Park tool stand, my favorite tool, makes everything easy.

Robbie101

park stool stand will come in handy when working on my bike that’s on my list or a diff version of.
Rockshox sells a pump for the suspension, are these descent little pumps or are they cheap tat?
I need a pump for pumping up my tyres but there is so many to choose from, is it best to get a floor standing pump or is there a perticular pump that I should get instead?
Yes I thought that normal car break cleaner would do the same job as mtb break cleaner for cleaning discs and Calipers.
Thank you for all the good advice

bobbydigital

Those suspension pumps are fine, I've used rockshox branded ones and phaart planet x ones and often they are the same, just re branded so don't think you can go wrong with a rockshox branded one.

I think if you run tubeless you want a pump which you can build up pressure and then release it, it apparently helps seal the edges but I'm a poormans so never ran tubeless so not 100% sure on that.

I use a Beto tripod track pump, it was like £15 from ebay and it's not let me down in the year I've had it and I build a few bikes and wheels so use it often, it's decent for the monies plus has the connection for presta and schrader valve.

I use a lot of marine grease, I'm a bit ott with it but it stops water getting to the bearings, I use it on the seatpost tube so if water flicks up on the seatpost it has a hard time of running down into the frame, I had a set of GXP bearings die on me within a month as water went down there and pretty much destroyed them.

Torque wrench is pretty good, I have a 1/4 inch one but would really like one of the smaller ones, they seem really useful and would be good just to make sure everything is as it should be, they do preset torque wrenches which are little hand held things, they look pretty nifty, IceToolz Ocarina is an example of what I mean.

mattyfez

Rockshox suspension pumps are fine, you can often pick them up second hand in new condition or nearly new for about half the retail price, (I belive some of the higher end rockshox forks come with a pump, so people often end up with a spare one).

They are not suitable for pumping tyres, and likewise a tyre pump is unsuitable for pumping suspension.

For tyres, a track pump makes things so much easier than a frame pump or mini pump, but obviously they are not very practical to take out on a ride, so they tend to live in the garage /car boot and a seperate mini pump is used whilst out on the bike, or a Co2 pump.

cooldad

CharlieV453 wrote:

Disk brake cleaner is fine on bikes. Many companies sell mtb disk cleaner but you can buy a larger car version for cheaper with the same ingredients and performance. It will be fine and works a charm.

No it isn't. Car brakes work at higher temperatures and brake cleaners contain additives that will burn off on cars but not bikes. And some additives may damage delicate seals.

The best advice for disc brakes is don't faff around with them, don't spray any lubricant or similar near them, and preferably not actually near the bike. Google aerosol effect if you don't believe me.

Hose with a bit of clean water if they are muddy, replace pads when worn, and clean rotors with a little IPA if necessary.

That's all they need.

As I said higher up. Most problems are caused by spraying censored on the bike, and random bleeding and faffing when brakes lose bite because of contaminated pads.

mattyfez

Agreed with that, disks don't really need cleaning at all other than to wash clods of mud off them. The pressure from the brake pads keeps the disks clean.

I'd only use iso alcahol if you've managed to get some oil or grease on the disk.