recommended tool kit

Adam Lea said:

I am interested in learning how to do my own bicycle maintenance and
servicing, rather than relying on the LBS but do not have the necessary
tools. Is this a good toolkit to start with:

Quoted message said:

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/ProductDetail.aspx?Cat=cycle&ProdID=5360031530&N=LifeLine%20Professional%20Tool%20Kit

Wiggle appears to be offline at the moment, so I cannot comment on that
offer, however they were doing one of their tool kits half price in
Novemeber. (34ukp instead of 70).

IMHO what you should be looking for in a bike toolkit is a selection of
common specialist tools, e.g. crank puller, chain whip, bottom bracket
tool, cassette lockring tool, cone spanners, chain tool, 32mm spanner,
long 8mm allen key. If you pay 35 quid, and only use half of these
tools, then the toolkit will pay for itself, and you will have the tools
for when you need them.

You will also want a reasonable selection of general purpose tools, e.g.
Allen keys, spanners, screw drivers etc, Any of these included in such a
tool kit is a bonus.

Finally a tool you will need if you are doing a lot of maintenance
yourself is a good quality cable cutter. It is something I would
recommend buying separately. Again, a decent cable cutter will pay for
itself once you have used it a few times.

Quoted message said:

Also, I am thinking of getting a better light for next winter (I have a
cateye EL530 currently). I was looking at a Cateye EL610 or EL820. Are these
a significant improvement on the EL530 in terms of lighting the road ahead?

Thanks

Adam

Adam Lea said:

I am interested in learning how to do my own bicycle maintenance and
servicing, rather than relying on the LBS but do not have the necessary
tools. Is this a good toolkit to start with:

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/ProductDetail.aspx?Cat=cycle&ProdID=5360031530&N=LifeLine%20Professional%20Tool%20Kit

Quoted message said:

or does anyone have any other recommendations?

What groupset do you have on your bikes? You will need different tools if
you use Shimano than if you use Campagnolo, for example; and hydraulic disk
brakes require radically different tools from dual pivot callipers.

The set you indicate will be mostly OK for current Shimano mountain bike and
low-end road bike stuff with cartridge bearings, although you'll almost
certainly need at least one other bottom bracket tools as Shimano change
these so frequently.

There are no cone spanners, no tools to deal with shortening hydraulic brake
pipes, nothing for ten speed transmissions, apparently no proper chain tool
(there's something that looks like one, but it's listed as 'chain rivet
extractor' so may not stand the pressures for putting rivets in properly).
There's no maintenance stand, and a decent maintenance stand makes working
on a bike much easier; something like this:
http://www.cyclestore.co.uk/productDetails.asp?productID=12109

There's no wheel building stand. Even a simple cheap one makes repairing
wheels much easier; there's no dishing tool, which makes building wheels
much easier (but which I confess I've never used myself).

There are also no tools for facing and rethreading frames. That probably
doesn't matter because when it gets to stuff like that you'll probably go
to the bike shop anyway.

Finally one of the most useful things in my toolkit is a magnetic parts
dish - something like this:
http://www.wiggle.co.uk/ProductDetail.aspx?ProdID=5360031498

Wiggle also offer this kit from Park Tools for pretty much the same price:
http://www.wiggle.co.uk/ProductDetail.aspx?ProdID=5220000300

It doesn't have as many actual parts but will do pretty much all the same
jobs, and in my experience Park tools are good workmanlike tools and worth
the money. I don't have experience of Lifeline tools; they may be OK, or
they may be cheese.

--
[email hidden] (Simon Brooke) http://www.jasmine.org.uk/~simon/

Do not sail on uphill water.
- Bill Lee

Adam Lea said:

I am interested in learning how to do my own bicycle maintenance and
servicing, rather than relying on the LBS but do not have the necessary
tools. Is this a good toolkit to start with:

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/ProductDetail.aspx?Cat=cycle&ProdID=536003153...

It's missing that most important tool, the big hammer.

Apart from that it's got quite a lot of good general purpose stuff,
but also some specialist tools which are mutually exclusive, in other
words unless you are fixing a whole lot of different bikes you'd not
use them all. For example there's a "cotterless crank tool" and a
hollowtech BB tool, your bike will probably have one or the other but
not both. You're not going to have three different size spoke nipples
on one bike, a freewheel remover and chain whip are generally only
applicable to older bikes but there's no mention of a gear cassette
tool so maybe that's what it really is? A torx 25 is mostly for brake
discs, do you have those?

Might not be a bad way to get started, but I bet most of the tools go
unused and you have to buy others.

"Adam Lea" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

I am interested in learning how to do my own bicycle maintenance and
servicing, rather than relying on the LBS but do not have the necessary
tools. Is this a good toolkit to start with:

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/ProductDetail.aspx?Cat=cycle&ProdID=5360031530&N=LifeLine%20Professional%20Tool%20Kit

or does anyone have any other recommendations?

IMO you need the following for basic bike maintenance on a modern bike:

A decent set of ball ended allen keys (needn't be expensive)
A couple of cross and flat head screwdrivers, and one of those screwdrivers
that can take various bits, plus a set of bits for it, again, these can be
had quite cheaply.
A pair of Knipex cable cutters (buy second hand from a car boot for £2) -
you can tell these are good because they tend to have "Made in West Germany"
stamped on them.
Tyre levers, either plastic or steel. I've rarely needed steel levers, but I
do have a set.
A chain tool and an SRAM powerlink, so you can take the chain off easily.
Something to clean your chain in (ie, a load of thinners or degreaser), and
maybe a chain cleaner if you like them.
Something to stick your chain in with a load of oil. And a spare chain if
you can.

That should do pretty much every day to day task on an ordinary bike.

Other tools that are useful but by no means essential:
A good set of spanners if your bike has hex nuts and bolts rather than
allen.
A headset spanner if you don't have an ahead headset.
Bottom bracket tools for your bottom bracket, though I'd be inclined to wait
for the thing to die before I bought the tool.
The tools to remove your cassette, though again, I'd be inclined to wait
until I needed to change the cassette.
Cone spanners if your bike has cup and cone bearings.
A pedal spanner if you need to swap pedals and your pedals don't have an
allen hex in the back.
A spoke key if you want to start meddling with wheels.

IMO the big tool sets are OK, but nothing more than that - I bought one at
£15 from Lidl, and it was OK, but you inevitably end up with lots of tools
for stuff that's not on your bike. TBH if I need the bottom bracket swapping
or the freewheel / cassette off, I'm inclined to take the bike to the LBS
and let them have the aggro, and I'm a fairly ardent DIYer with most things.
The main issue I find is not of the actual time spent on the task, but the
fact that I'm working in my shed, whereas the bike shop are working in a
bike workshop. If I need something halfway through a job, I have to get in
the car and fetch it, whereas it's on hand for the bike man.

The other thing is the toolkit you need is going to vary by what bike you
have - my 20 year old Raleigh needs radically different tools to my MTB,
because my MTB is fairly new and nigh on maintenance free, whereas the
Raleigh has cup and cone bearings etc.

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

Quoted message said:

TBH if I need the bottom bracket swapping or the freewheel / cassette
off, I'm inclined to take the bike to the LBS and let them have the aggro,
and I'm a fairly ardent DIYer with most things. The main issue I find is
not of the actual time spent on the task, but the fact that I'm working in
my shed, whereas the bike shop are working in a bike workshop. If I need
something halfway through a job, I have to get in the car and fetch it,
whereas it's on hand for the bike man.

And the other thing is that the Bike man knows more or less what he's about,
whilst I'm learning on the job with tasks that I don't often do. As an
example, there are all different widths of freewheel and bottom bracket, and
I can't be doing with spending time researching which I want. And bike shop
labour is much cheaper than garage labour, so I'm more inclined to spend my
spare time on the car...

Doki said:

IMO you need the following for basic bike maintenance on a modern bike:
...
Cone spanners if your bike has cup and cone bearings.

Pardon my ignorance, but does this mean that some bikes don't have cup
and cone bearings? I suppose that 3-speed hubs migh be an exception, but
wouldn't the front wheel still have cups and cones? Or is there some new
development that I'm not aware of?

Kenneth MacKenzie said:

Doki said:

IMO you need the following for basic bike maintenance on a modern
bike: ...
Cone spanners if your bike has cup and cone bearings.

Pardon my ignorance, but does this mean that some bikes don't have cup
and cone bearings?

Yes.

Quoted message said:

I suppose that 3-speed hubs migh be an exception,
but wouldn't the front wheel still have cups and cones? Or is there
some new development that I'm not aware of?

Quite a few front as well as rear hubs have cartridge bearings - for example
all the current Campagnolo ones apart from Chorus and Record. Mavic and
various other makes use them as well.

Cone spanners are also not needed for Campag Record, Chorus and <=06
Centaur/Daytona hubs. These do have cones, but they are threadless and
adjusted by other means.

~PB

Quoting Kenneth MacKenzie <[email hidden]>:

Quoted message said:

Doki said:

IMO you need the following for basic bike maintenance on a modern bike:
...
Cone spanners if your bike has cup and cone bearings.

Pardon my ignorance, but does this mean that some bikes don't have cup
and cone bearings? I suppose that 3-speed hubs migh be an exception, but
wouldn't the front wheel still have cups and cones? Or is there some new
development that I'm not aware of?

It's not _per se_ a new development [1], but an increasing number of bike
hubs have cartridge bearings. Shimano / Campag are still on cup and cone,
but a lot of the minor manufacturers use cartridges - White Industries,
Rose Versand's in-house stuff (which is rebadged someone, but I don't know
who) are represented on my bikes.

Many front dynamo hubs have cartridge bearings - I dunno if even the
Shimano ones are cup and cone.

[1] I think Suzue were doing cartridge bearing hubs in the late 80s, for
one.
--
David Damerell <[email hidden]> Kill the tomato!
Today is Tuesday, March.

"David Damerell" <[email hidden]> a écrit:

Quoted message said:

Many front dynamo hubs have cartridge bearings - I
dunno if even the Shimano ones are cup and cone.

They are.

Quoted message said:

[1] I think Suzue were doing cartridge bearing hubs in the
late 80s, for one.

Phil Wood was at it in the early seventies, and MaxiCAR go back to the
forties at least, perhaps even pre-war.

James Thomson

"Kenneth MacKenzie" <[email hidden]> a écrit:

Quoted message said:

Pardon my ignorance, but does this mean that some bikes
don't have cup and cone bearings? I suppose that 3-speed
hubs might be an exception

All the threes (and fours and fives) I've played with are cup-and-cone.

James Thomson

David Damerell said:

It's not _per se_ a new development [1], but an increasing number of
bike hubs have cartridge bearings. Shimano / Campag are still on cup
and cone, but a lot of the minor manufacturers use cartridges - White
Industries, Rose Versand's in-house stuff (which is rebadged someone,
but I don't know who) are represented on my bikes.

Campag use cartridge bearings in their low to mid price hubs - fronts for
the last few years, rears for at least 10 years. Up to Veloce until 2006,
now up to Centaur.

~PB

Adam Lea said:

I am interested in learning how to do my own bicycle maintenance and
servicing, rather than relying on the LBS but do not have the necessary
tools. Is this a good toolkit to start with:

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/ProductDetail.aspx?Cat=cycle&ProdID=5360031530&N=LifeLine%20Professional%20Tool%20Kit

or does anyone have any other recommendations?

http://www.inmotionproducts.com/productDesc.asp?session_id=5ec0ded0ce2dfa5abe41179e1f5be6a2&text_product_id=TK

Kenneth MacKenzie said:

Doki said:

IMO you need the following for basic bike maintenance on a modern bike:
...
Cone spanners if your bike has cup and cone bearings.

Pardon my ignorance, but does this mean that some bikes don't have cup
and cone bearings? I suppose that 3-speed hubs migh be an exception, but
wouldn't the front wheel still have cups and cones? Or is there some new
development that I'm not aware of?

Many cheaper modern wheels (and some expensive modern wheels) have
non-adjustable cartridge bearings.

--
[email hidden] (Simon Brooke) http://www.jasmine.org.uk/~simon/

---===***<<< This space to let! >>>***===---
Yes! You, too, can SPAM in the Famous Brooke Rotating .sig!
---===***<<< Only $300 per line >>>***===---

Quoting Pete Biggs <[email hidden]>:

Quoted message said:

David Damerell said:

It's not _per se_ a new development [1], but an increasing number of
bike hubs have cartridge bearings. Shimano / Campag are still on cup
and cone,

Campag use cartridge bearings in their low to mid price hubs - fronts for
the last few years, rears for at least 10 years.

I've a feeling I'm going to get told that a lot. :-)
--
David Damerell <[email hidden]> Kill the tomato!
Today is Tuesday, March.

Pete Biggs said:

Kenneth MacKenzie said:

Pardon my ignorance, but does this mean that some bikes don't have cup
and cone bearings?

Yes.

Quite a few front as well as rear hubs have cartridge bearings - for example
all the current Campagnolo ones apart from Chorus and Record. Mavic and
various other makes use them as well.

Cone spanners are also not needed for Campag Record, Chorus and <=06
Centaur/Daytona hubs. These do have cones, but they are threadless and
adjusted by other means.

Well, you learn something every day. Thanks. That shows you how long it
is since I last bought a bike!

Pete Biggs said:

Kenneth MacKenzie said:

Doki said:

IMO you need the following for basic bike maintenance on a modern
bike: ...
Cone spanners if your bike has cup and cone bearings.

Pardon my ignorance, but does this mean that some bikes don't have cup
and cone bearings?

Yes.

Quoted message said:

I suppose that 3-speed hubs migh be an exception,
but wouldn't the front wheel still have cups and cones? Or is there
some new development that I'm not aware of?

Quite a few front as well as rear hubs have cartridge bearings - for
example
all the current Campagnolo ones apart from Chorus and Record. Mavic and
various other makes use them as well.

Cone spanners are also not needed for Campag Record, Chorus and <=06
Centaur/Daytona hubs. These do have cones, but they are threadless and
adjusted by other means.

Top-end Mavics these days do have cones but have special magic spanners
which are supplied with the wheels, which allow the cone to be adjusted
when the axle is clamped. Cunning stuff.

--
[email hidden] (Simon Brooke) http://www.jasmine.org.uk/~simon/
;; Skill without imagination is craftsmanship and gives us
;; many useful objects such as wickerwork picnic baskets.
;; Imagination without skill gives us modern art.
;; Tom Stoppard, Artist Descending A Staircase

In article <[email hidden]>, Adam Lea
[email hidden] says...

Quoted message said:

I am interested in learning how to do my own bicycle maintenance and
servicing, rather than relying on the LBS but do not have the necessary
tools. Is this a good toolkit to start with:

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/ProductDetail.aspx?Cat=cycle&ProdID=5360031530&N=LifeLine%20Professional%20Tool%20Kit

or does anyone have any other recommendations?

I used to be a bike shop mechanic with extensively and expensively
equipped workshops. Now that I only work on a few people's bikes
occasionally my specialist tool collection is minimal, consisting of a
cassette lockring tool, a bottom bracket tool, a set of cone spanners, a
chain rivet tool, a couple of spoke keys, tyre levers, a crank puller.

Apart from that you'll probably need a set of metric Allen keys, 8/9/10mm
spanners, spanners/sockets for axle nuts/seat clamps/stem if your bike
needs them, a (usually 15mm) spanner for the pedals, and one for the
headset if yours isn't threadless, a good pair of pliers and a couple of
screwdrivers. Servicing pedal bearings generally requires a small socket
- I got a neat little 1/4" drive set from Lidl for about £8 IIRC

A set of metric combination spanners is generally useful
http://www.abbeypowertools.co.uk/showitem-10025-68232.aspx

You can buy other sizes individually as and when you need them (Halfords
have a good range of high quality spanners and sockets, a bit pricey but
very convenient).

I also like these little 3-in-1 tools
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=330215546659
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=250220446906

The other thing that can be really useful is a big vice mounted on a
solid bench (I just thought: I stick a bit of chain in the vice when
removing cassettes - you'll probably want a chain whip instead).

The main thing is that you don't need to acquire all the tools in one go,
just get the basics and add to your collection as each job requires it.

In article <[email hidden]>, David Damerell
[email hidden] says...

Quoted message said:

[1] I think Suzue were doing cartridge bearing hubs in the late 80s, for
one.

ISTR Mavic 500 series hubs were introduced in the mid 80s.

"Simon Brooke" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Adam Lea said:

I am interested in learning how to do my own bicycle maintenance and
servicing, rather than relying on the LBS but do not have the necessary
tools. Is this a good toolkit to start with:

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/ProductDetail.aspx?Cat=cycle&ProdID=5360031530&N=LifeLine%20Professional%20Tool%20Kit

Quoted message said:

or does anyone have any other recommendations?

What groupset do you have on your bikes? You will need different tools if
you use Shimano than if you use Campagnolo, for example; and hydraulic
disk
brakes require radically different tools from dual pivot callipers.

I have a mixture of Shimano and Campagnolo parts (Shimano cassette and rear
mech, Campagnolo chainring/crank, Shimano pedals).

Quoted message said:

The set you indicate will be mostly OK for current Shimano mountain bike
and
low-end road bike stuff with cartridge bearings, although you'll almost
certainly need at least one other bottom bracket tools as Shimano change
these so frequently.

There are no cone spanners, no tools to deal with shortening hydraulic
brake
pipes, nothing for ten speed transmissions,

I don't have hydraulic brake pipes or ten speed transmission.

Quoted message said:

apparently no proper chain tool
(there's something that looks like one, but it's listed as 'chain rivet
extractor' so may not stand the pressures for putting rivets in properly).

I have a chain splitting tool but tend to use powerlinks as well.

Quoted message said:

There's no maintenance stand, and a decent maintenance stand makes working
on a bike much easier; something like this:
http://www.cyclestore.co.uk/productDetails.asp?productID=12109

Yes I do need one of those.

Quoted message said:

There's no wheel building stand. Even a simple cheap one makes repairing
wheels much easier; there's no dishing tool, which makes building wheels
much easier (but which I confess I've never used myself).

I wasn't planning to get into that just yet.

Quoted message said:

There are also no tools for facing and rethreading frames. That probably
doesn't matter because when it gets to stuff like that you'll probably go
to the bike shop anyway.

I was planning to start with the simple stuff first and go from there.