Originally Posted by
tgot
So, I'm here to vote the opposite way: I bought a Nashbar "big tool kit" many years ago and it has been great.
I'm not maintaining a fleet nor flipping lots of bikes.
But 3 times out of four, I had the freewheel tool I needed. I've pulled only 5 cranks off the bottom brackets in 10+years, but the crank puller worked fine. The headset wrench worked, and my (decent) general toolset didn't have one that big. The cone wrenches are stamped, but I've only done three cup-n-cone wheel rebuilds. I have the pin tool to pull the threaded BB when I needed it.
If I ever got more serious, I may want better tools. But I found it tremendously helpful to go into my bicycle repair book, YouTube video, or BF thread for how to tackle a problem, and then have already the tool I needed.
Not always, but often.
YMMV
Thanks for the counter-perspective.
Many mechanics (myself included) get too caught up in the quality of their tools so it is good to see that people get along just fine with inexpensive tools for occasional use. I’m curious if you are still using the hex keys from the big tool kit or if you have upgraded those. I usually recommend hex keys as the first tool upgrade; I wonder if you had the same experience.