Bike workbench / repair area?

Bill H. said:

I recently received a nice metal workbench with two drawers and a wood
top as a birthday present. I also got a pegboard and a bunch of basic
tools that my parents got at an auction and didn't need.

Anyhow, I'm trying to set up a nice work area for my bike projects. By
"nice" I mean a place for everything and everything in its place.

I'd also be interested in adding a few bike-specific tools to my
aresenal for my next bike. So far, I've only done basic maintenance
tasks (cleaning and lubing the chain, etc) but I'm going to a police
auction in the next few weeks and I'll hopefully be coming away with an
old road bike that I can build up.

What should I have around my workbench for this task?

Up until recently, all of the tools I had could fit pretty well in the
toolbox, but since my workshop is going to be in the garage, I'll
probably keep them on a pegboard over the bench for easy access. Now I
don't know what to do with the toolbox...

I've got a ton of basic tools (combination wrenches, screwdrivers,
hammers, hex keys, etc) but nothing really specific like a bike work
stand or anything for installing a headset (which is tough, I hear).

[snip]

Quoted message said:

So that's about it. What kind of spaces do you have set up for your
bike projects? I won't be doing any welding but short of that, I'd
like to be prepared for just about anything. Oh, and it has to be
reasonably cheap - I'm on a strict budget.

Any hints or ideas would be cool. Thanks!

Couple of sites to look at:

1) http://www.parktool.com/repair_help/toollists.shtml

2) http://sheldonbrown.com/tooltips/index.html

3 Apr 2005 19:02:01 -0700,
<[email hidden]>,

Bill H. said:

What should I have around my workbench for this task?

Space. Lots of empty space free from clutter.

Work out a way to get the bike off the ground and hold it at a
convenient height. A work stand is nice but hooks hanging from the
joists work for most needs. It's good if you can walk around the bike.

A study bench vise is probably the first tool to buy.

http://www.parktool.com/repair_help/toollists.shtml
--
zk

In article <[email hidden]>,

Zoot Katz said:

Work out a way to get the bike off the ground and hold it at a
convenient height. A work stand is nice but hooks hanging from the
joists work for most needs. It's good if you can walk around the bike.

I'm quite happy with my display stand as a repair stand.
It doesn't get the front wheel off the floor, but it's
not as swingy as the hang-it-from-the-ceiling method.
To me, it's well worth the 20 bux.

cheers,
Tom

--
-- Nothing is safe from me.
Above address is just a spam midden.
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Sun, 3 Apr 2005 20:17:58 -0700, <[email hidden]>,

(Tom Keats) said:

In article <[email hidden]>,

Zoot Katz said:

Work out a way to get the bike off the ground and hold it at a
convenient height. A work stand is nice but hooks hanging from the
joists work for most needs. It's good if you can walk around the bike.

I'm quite happy with my display stand as a repair stand.
It doesn't get the front wheel off the floor, but it's
not as swingy as the hang-it-from-the-ceiling method.
To me, it's well worth the 20 bux.

Yep, they sure make life easier when adjusting derailleurs and most
other jobs undertaken at home.

My concern was raising the bicycle to a convenient working height.

I use a stand hacked from a heavy duty pedestal base, a piece of steel
tubing, quill stem and sawed off drop bars covered with pipe
insulation. I hang the bike's top-tube on the abbreviated hooks of the
drop bar. It's not so good for step-through or mixte frames though.
It's also swingy but not fixed in space like ceiling hooks. I can
relocate the stand.

Another thing a shop needs is a comfy chair for pondering projects and
problems.
--
zk

In article <[email hidden]>,

Bill H. said:

I'd also be interested in adding a few bike-specific tools to my
aresenal for my next bike. So far, I've only done basic maintenance
tasks (cleaning and lubing the chain, etc) but I'm going to a police
auction in the next few weeks and I'll hopefully be coming away with an
old road bike that I can build up.

What should I have around my workbench for this task?

That's a good approach. Get the bike first, and then
acquire the tools as needed. For starters, you'll want
a freewheel remover and/or chainwhip(s), specific to
what type of freewheel is on the bike. Also a crank
puller, metric wrenches if needed, maybe a bottom
bracket lockring remover. Park makes a combination
headset/pedal wrench that comes in quite handy. A
third hand is useful for cabling brakes. And of course
a chain tool is a basic necessity. A big pair of
electrians' (side-cutting, square-nosed) pliers for
cutting inner cable. A pair of long, non-locking
forceps for picking bearing balls out of jars of
solvent. And spoke wrenches -- the colour-coded,
separate-size ones are easier on the thumb than the
triangular 3-in-1 spoke tool. That should get you
off to a good start.

BTW, thrift shops might offer better deals than
police auctions.

cheers,
Tom

--
-- Nothing is safe from me.
Above address is just a spam midden.
I'm really at: tkeats [curlicue] vcn [point] bc [point] ca

"Tom Keats" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

In article <[email hidden]>,

Bill H. said:

I'd also be interested in adding a few bike-specific tools to my
aresenal for my next bike. So far, I've only done basic maintenance
tasks (cleaning and lubing the chain, etc) but I'm going to a police
auction in the next few weeks and I'll hopefully be coming away with an
old road bike that I can build up.

What should I have around my workbench for this task?

That's a good approach. Get the bike first, and then
acquire the tools as needed. For starters, you'll want
a freewheel remover and/or chainwhip(s), specific to
what type of freewheel is on the bike. Also a crank
puller, metric wrenches if needed, maybe a bottom
bracket lockring remover. Park makes a combination
headset/pedal wrench that comes in quite handy. A
third hand is useful for cabling brakes. And of course
a chain tool is a basic necessity. A big pair of
electrians' (side-cutting, square-nosed) pliers for
cutting inner cable. A pair of long, non-locking
forceps for picking bearing balls out of jars of
solvent. And spoke wrenches -- the colour-coded,
separate-size ones are easier on the thumb than the
triangular 3-in-1 spoke tool. That should get you
off to a good start.

Save yourself some time and money and just buy the latest Toppeak Alien
multi-tool, it will fix your pedals on and place Shimano rivets perfectly in
your chain plus most other things as well.

Quoted message said:

In article <[email hidden]>,

Bill H. said:

I'd also be interested in adding a few bike-specific tools to my
aresenal for my next bike. So far, I've only done basic maintenance
tasks (cleaning and lubing the chain, etc) but I'm going to a police
auction in the next few weeks and I'll hopefully be coming away with an
old road bike that I can build up.

What should I have around my workbench for this task?

A very good starter kit, is the one below from Nashbar and now is the
time, it is on sale.

http://www.nashbar.com/profile.cfm?category=99&subcategory=1232&brand=&sku=3521&storetype=&estoreid=&pagename=

I have used it to work on both my 2 yr old and 29 yr old bikes. I did
own a lot of general hand tools and this kit took care of most of the
speciality tools, that I needed. The one other tool I bought was the
Shimano cable & housing cutter, which I got on sale from Cambria. At
the current price for the Shimano cable cutter, I would suggest that
you look at other brands.

I don't think you can go wrong with the Nashbar kit. I would only buy
a milti-tool for carrying on the bike. They are awkward to use, at
home. Individual tools are much better to work with.

Life is Good!
Jeff

Bill H. said:

... I'll hopefully be coming away with an
old road bike that I can build up.

What should I have around my workbench for this task?

Take a four foot 2x2 and saw it into four 12 inch pieces.
Nail them together in a square with ends overlapping, log
cabin style, so that two pieces are always off the ground.

Youre done. Now throw it on the shop floor. It always lands
right side up. Turn your bicycle upside down, put the bars on
the sides of the square which are raised. Obviously this keeps
shifters, hoods, computers, etc off the floor.

When you're done, you kick it, and it goes skating away under
the bench. When you want it back, just find it with your toe.
Easy to bring in the car with you. Total cost: $1.

I tried the park stand but went back to my wooden square.

Doug

In article <[email hidden]>,

(Tom Keats) said:

That should get you
off to a good start.

D'oh! I forgot to mention cone wrenches.

cheers again,
Tom

--
-- Nothing is safe from me.
Above address is just a spam midden.
I'm really at: tkeats [curlicue] vcn [point] bc [point] ca

Zoot Katz said:

Work out a way to get the bike off the ground and hold it at a convenient
height. A work stand is nice but hooks hanging from the joists work for
most needs. It's good if you can walk around the bike.

A study bench vise is probably the first tool to buy.

Maybe not the first, but perhaps the first after getting a bench to bolt
it to...

For workstand I've got a 50cm length of aluminium tube with a steel
hydraulic fitting of some sort pushed into one end. The tube is put
vertically into the jaws of my bench vice and the steel fitting stops the
tube crushing. At the other end is the cap off a 35mm film canister,
which just happens to be the right size ;-) The seat post comes out of
the bike and the bike is then placed upside down with the seat tube
sliding down the aluminium tube. The bike can then be rotated in either
direction and it _just_ clears the wall behind. The matching of the
diameters of bike seat tube, aluminium tube and 35mm film cap is entirely
happenstance, but there are probably enough bits of this & that in my
garage to have rigged something else if this idea hadn't worked.

For the bike with no seat tube (mesh seat recumbent) I either sling it
from snap-hooks hanging from the rafters, or put it onto the Workmate with
judicious wooden chocks.

Plug for Workmates --excellent devices, buy several because a friend of
mine gets a royalty for each one ;-)

Mike