Quickie: thoughts on toolkits?

rubberbullet
rubberbullet Posts: 36
edited January 2012 in Workshop
Hello all

I've decided to take the plunge and overhaul my commuter by myself. To that end, I've bought new STIs, brake calipers, cassette, chain, cranks, etc... Oh and a workstand. So, I thought to myself, I can get going now, right?

No. I forgot that beyond a set of allen keys and a pedal wrench, I'm stuck. Does anyone have any thoughts on this? Tools look ok, all the tools I'd need, etc?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Bike-Hand-Shi ... 165wt_1185

Thanks!

Comments

  • kentphil
    kentphil Posts: 479
    Looks ok. You might need some cable cutters too though if your changing any shift/brake cables as pliers etc just don't do a decent job.
    1998 Kona Cindercone in singlespeed commute spec
    2013 Cannondale Caadx 1x10
    2004 Giant TCR
  • biscuit959
    biscuit959 Posts: 111
    I've been looking for a cheap toolkit aswell lately. I came across this the other and thought it looked pretty damm good for the price. As far as i can tell, the main things you want are; cassette tool, chain whip, bottom bracket tool which are all probably gonna be at least £10 each if you buy separtely so anything else is sort of a bonus.
    My question would be why are Park Tools stuff so expensive, I'm sure its all great quality but can it be worth so much more?
    Strava: http://app.strava.com/athletes/117170
  • rolf_f
    rolf_f Posts: 16,015
    You'll get mixed opinions on these. For myself I bought a Lifu toolkit from Woodrups in Leeds; much the same sort of thing and varying theoretically only in detail. In practice, it is hard to know if the quality of these things (always in the same sort of silver plastic box) varies so I can't speak for sure for this one. In my case, so far the only thing I have wrecked has been the cassette removal tool (and that was really my fault - the replacement from Ebay turned out to be a duplicate!). Otherwise, I have used most of the tools many, many times and some never. It's been fine; I've used it to completely rebuild three old bikes and maintain a few more. I've managed to wedge in additional Campag, Suntour cassette tools.

    I suspect it will be many years before all are replaced and I may well look to Park or more likely BBB to source replacements. The Park stuff will be more durable and nicer to handle. It may have been made in the States rather than the Far East. It makes nice stuff but it isn't necessary. If you have mechanical sympathy and aren't about to make a business of bike repairing, the cheap toolkit should earn its cost many times over.

    There are other things needed as already said. As well as cable cutters, pliers, socket set, torque wrench if playing with carbon, big torque wrench ideally for cassette tool and BB (The former being what would have prevented me from breaking the original cassette tool) and the BB and cassette tools will probably be Shimano and not necessarily compatible with what you need.
    Faster than a tent.......
  • ugo.santalucia
    ugo.santalucia Posts: 28,272
    Cheap tools are OK as long as you don't come across a stubborn thread... at that point they will show why they are cheap, whether the material is softer or the machining inaccurate.
    If a cheap tool fails is no big deal, problem is that often damages the bike component, which maybe is expensive or even worse it becomes an expensive/impossible job to remove it

    I would buy an expensive tool and a cheaper frame rather than the other way round... or I would not get into tools at all and leave the job to a professional

    That said, this is a generalisation and I have no idea on how good this set is... I just think that if you buy a toolset for the price of a single Park Tool piece, something is not quite right
    left the forum March 2023

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