What unlikely tools or products do you keep in your bike repair/restoration toolbox?
 

We all use things off-label when we discover they work really well for an unintended use. What do you all keep in your bike repair toolkit that wasn't intended for the way you use it?

I'll give an example:

Nail polish - I keep clear UV-resistant nail polish base coat as an all-purpose sealant for protecting decals and for coating rusty hardware after oxalic acid treatment and cleanup. It does a great job at preventing rust from re-forming on flaking chromed parts.

I don't know if it is unusual, but I have several X-Acto knives throughout the house and work. Downstairs toolbox. Garage toolbox. Work-at-home desk. Pen cup next to this computer. Desk at work. Several in the toolbox at the lab at work.

Cutting, cleaning, positions things. Can't imagine doing a job without them.

I asked my dentist and she said "Sure" and shoved a box full of old picks at me - lifetime supply. They're awesome for cleaning crevices like fine threads and bearing-seat corners and stamped/engraved details, and you can grind their tips for special purposes.

Often used with loupes - get one if you don't have one, they're great for checking bearing races and looking for cracks. A cheapie will do fine.

Supermagnet - stick it on the screwdriver shank somewhere near the tip; reduces swearing.

Something I learned here: feeler gauges to use as metal shims. Cheap and effective.

I am a tool grinder by trade so I always have my “Optivisor” handy. I also use dental picks and very small bottle brushes.

Ha, that's a great idea for when you need to dial in just the right thickness. I keep a few small aluminum and brass sheet stocks of different thicknesses as shims, I get them at Blick Art Supply, but it's not always possible to dial in the right thickness!

Rubber nipples in assorted sizes. You just never know.

Because every fixed cup always comes out, period. ;)

https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...89a2816011.jpg
https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...b131022aeb.jpg
https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...65869b71cd.jpg
https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...85813a1ca8.jpg

Dental picks! Also I have an older couple of thin walled sockets in 14mm, 15mm that can remove old crank bolts. Most sockets these days are too thick for it.

Medicine dropper and dawn...

I keep a bearing cup, a large fender washer (or 2), an crank bolt, or crank nut (depending on the spindle) on hand. They all hold the fixed cup wrench in place and is a bit more refined than merziac’s method. I also remove the fixed cup first with this tool. I found that works better than doing the adjustable cup first.

https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...15a0f3bb1.jpeg
https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...7d9d8d7fa.jpeg
https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...a9401ee13.jpeg
https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...9a35ec40a.jpeg
https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...3141e09c6.jpeg

Other items I use: A syringe and basting needle for injecting water under grips to slide them off. I also have a spoke with a sharpened tip as a pokey tool. As we say at my co-op, it’s for “poking stuff”. I also have empty Gatorade bottles that I use to clean chains. I put in mineral spirits, the chain, agitate for 30 seconds or so, and then fish out the chain. The chain comes out clean as a whistle.

The most portable version is a short fat bolt & nut and two washers; small enough to put in the long-and-far-away touring toolkit.


WD40 aerosol works a treat; the trick is slide the little red tube in by itself, then attach and squirt.

A ball of butchers twine I stole from the kitchen and never returned (my wife is vegetarian, so I don't get to use it that often anyway!), I prefer it zip ties for lashing things together temporarily.

I've also have a basting needle from the kitchen (again, vegetarian wife) which I've used as pick/small drift pin.

Old toothbrushes.

Lineman’s pliers and pipe cutter, and instead of dental picks I use these cheap sculpting tools I upgraded from many years ago.

I use this syringe with luer-lock fitting from a lab HPLC for adding oil to a Sturmey Archer IGH.

https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...40e32fdc2b.jpg

Taking a fixed cup off while on tour is way down on the list of things I need to carry the tools for. I’ve done close to 20,000 miles of loaded touring and never had to do any kind of maintenance on a bottom bracket. For the shop, I think you are talking about the Sheldon Brown method but I’ve never found that work all that well. This method works much better.

Nope. I reuse my grips and I’m not going to use an oil on them. I’d rather have my grips not be lubricated so that they just spin on the bars.

Twine also works well as dental floss for cleaning between the sprockets on freewheels.

A couple of nickels for adjusting brake calipers/pads.

An awl, a larger version of the spoke "pokey tool" for rounding crushed ends of cable housing. Bits of left over inner cable to insert into housing when I cut it so I don't need to use the awl.

Yeah, a simple scratch awl is an oft-used tool in my shop. In a pinch it can also deburr drilled holes. I used to use it for cable ends too, until bought a Pedro's housing cutter with built in awl for that purpose.

Box of old business cards for toeing-in brake shoes.

OK well I have an air compressor that is very handy. Like removing grips or putting them on. Just stick the nozzle under the rubber and the grip floats off.

Would 3.5mm hex for Campi Delta brake maintenance count as unlikely?

Or those tiny hex sizes for some vintage tt cable guide bolts.


My father's vintage screw clamp (with rag covering metal surfaces) makes a great '3rd Hand' brake holding/repairing tool. One clamp fits all brake sizes.

I keep waiting for someone to say a condom. Hopefully, not a used one.