cyclingarri

I love finding uses for tools that are not made for bikes. Here is one of my favorite.......a cuticle pusher that I use to remove dust caps. Notice a dust cap removed by someone else with a flat head or ??? Left little dings all around. Next notice the one I just finished removing....nice lol. It cost me $1.00. Post any you may use ....

Cuticle pusher from nail supplies dept.

dsbrantjr

Felco cable cutters; I use the C7 most often but also have a C3 and #8 pruners (not for bikes): https://www.felco.com/us_en/our-prod.../felco-c7.html They are decades old and work as well as the day I bought them, and I do not regret spending the money for any of them.
Also, Euro Tool nut starting pliers: https://www.jensentools.com/euro-too...ers/p/354pl698
and Iwanson dental gauges for measuring brake track thickness: https://www.amazon.com/Stainless-Iwa.../dp/B0087HKWCO
I use a lot of medical and dental tools for tasks other than those for which they were designed, hemostats, ear polypuses, dental picks, etc.

HillRider

Allen keys (both individual and folding sets), side cutter pliers, needle nose pliers, waterpump pliers, Vise Grips, hemostats, screwdrivers, ratchets and sockets, measuring tapes and rulers, dial calipers, torque wrenches, hammers (!), and others.

Actually the bicycle tools are fewer: cone wrenches, lockring tools, bb tools, axle vise, chain breaker, chain whip, and others that are specific to bicycle use.

Crankycrank

Soft head mallet with changeable heads, Example-Vaughan 12 oz. Soft Face Mallet with 12 in. Hickory Handle-SF12 - The Home Depot Tweezers for picking up and placing small parts, digital calipers, 14"-15" adjustable end wrench for the occasional threaded headset nut and provides lots of leverage for bottom bracket and cassette removal tools.

momoman

I’ve been using a Harbor Freight dead blow hammer a lot recently. To pound the stem bolt down to loosen a stem, to whack a wrench fastened to a freewheel remover. I don’t ever recall using a steel head hammer on my bikes.

edit: Q-tips are probably my most used “tool” lately. I use them to wipe off grease from vintage hubs, headsets, pedals, etc. I use them for cleaning and polishing.

texaspandj

My mechanic Uncle Joe used to say "Proper tools give good Results".
However, i don't have a chain whip so I use a pipe wrench instead.
I use string to check frame alignment.
I sometimes have to use a U shaped nail to remove crank arm bolt covers/caps

Iride01 

Almost everything I use to maintain and re-build my bike are not bike specific tools. Even breaking a chain to size it, I just use a small punch, hammer and a piece of 1" steel plate with a hole drilled slightly bigger than the pin. Cable housings just get cut with wire cutters and rounded back up with a small pointed awl or cut with a angle grinder and thin cutoff wheel.

The only bike specific tool I use frequently is the presta chuck on the air pump which gets used 3 or 4 times a week. Other bikes specific tools to remove spindles from pedals or cassette from freehub have only been used once in the last 5 years.

'02 nrs

flat chisel for headset crown race removal,long punch for headset cup removal,pipe wrench for removing a seized seatpost,empty plastic tea jar filled with solvent for cleaning chains,heatgun & empty cookie tin for applying chain lube.and as mentioned above-Qtips a must have for intricate polishing & cleaning wheel bearing races,derailleurs,etc..

curbtender

I have a San Francisco world's fair ice pick that gets use for cleaning up cable housing among other things.

aggiegrads

Here are my favorite tools that are not bike specific. Besides the obvious non-bike tools (hex & Torx keys, ratchets, cable cutters), the non-bike tools that I use most by far are my Knipex Pliers-wrenches, bench vises, torque wrenches, and dental picks.

For my saddlebag, I carry a Wera bit ratchet and separate bits. I can carry more wrenches with less weight.

Although not really a tool, my headlamp is also very useful.

Knipex Pliers-wrench
Bench Vises - Reed 405-1/2, Reed 203
Hex Keys - Beta (T-handle), Wera (L-Key), Wiha (Long L-key)
Torx Keys - Bondhus
JIS screwdriver - Vessel
Picks - stainless steel dental picks
Cable Cutters - Knipex
Combination wrenches - Craftsman (USA)
Torque Wrench - Gedore
Diagonal Cutters - Knipex
Needle Nose Pliers - Klein
Ratchets - SK tool
Mallet - Soft-face deadblow hammer
Bit Ratchets - Wera

momoman

I forgot this most valuable tool in my post above. My iPhone! I use it to take pictures with 1 hand and enlarge so I can see the details. I use it to remember how to reassemble parts. I use it to capture the part number or details so I have it ready when I order replacement parts. I use it all the time!

andrewclaus

Tape measure for chain checking
Various metal files
Tap and die set
14 mm socket for crank bolts
Automotive tie rod remover (pickle fork) for stripped cranks.
Cold chisel

Trakhak

When I run into a seemingly insoluble problem with a bike repair, I tell myself that the solution is likely at hand somewhere within a 10-foot radius. Most recent example: a pedal that refused to come out of the crank arm. Looked around, noticed that my portable bike stand was built with several large-diameter tubes. I pulled one tube out of the stand and used it on my wrench as a cheater bar (and used a piece of soft wood through the spokes of the rear wheel to brace the other crank arm). Done.

By the way, I've known bike mechanics who sneered at the use of Vice Grips. They tended not to be particularly creative mechanics. Vice Grips are amazingly versatile; they can be used to apply crushing force, but they can also be used for the most delicate metal-shaping operations. (That applies to the Vice Grips made by the original company; all of the knock-offs I've used have been inferior in one way or another.)

Mad Honk 

I have four Craftsman lower tool cabinets full of Mac, Snap-On, and Var tools. I have Makita battery powered hand drills and impact drivers that speed up work on just about everything. Along with those I have a lot of special use tools and some that are even obsolete. The last time I needed a Reed and Prince screwdriver was to adjust the headlights on a '57 Chevy. Smiles, MH

denaffen

andrewclaus it never occurred to me to use a tie rod tool to remove a stubborn crank. Thank you for that!

Non bike tools I reach for a lot:

Heavy duty scissors
Steel rulers.
Awl
Cable cutters
Phone
Blue scrubby pads
Velco straps

Geepig

I am not quite sure what the definition of a not bike specific tool is, but I picked up a child's bike from a skip a while back and this week used the rear axle and front sprocket from it to make a dummy rear axle for when I clean the chain in situ, to keep the derailleur in a normal working position.

Joe Bikerider

I asked my dentist and he gave me couple cleaning picks. Great for taking off snap rings, like inside IGH. Except they are also great for shooting them across the garage into the “never be found again” area. For that I’ve got a couple powerful magnets. My dad worked for a company that sold magnets and the samples that he brought home are still in good use.

JohnDThompson 

My VAR-78 pliers work great in the kitchen for loosening tight jar lids.

70sSanO

Vise.

Bench grinder.

John

Gresp15C

Sheet metal shears that cut cables perfectly for no obvious reason
Big crescent wrench for headsets
Pipe wrench when the crescent wrench isn't big enough
Board to whack a stubborn wrench with

MarcusT

Cable and housing cutter

curbtender

I got some grief for posting about using an impact driver for that same purpose.

veganbikes

I love tool threads : )

Snap On Flank Drive Short Ratcheting wrenches (I also added a 7mm)
Snap On 1/4" Swivel Head Ratchet
Snap On T25 Hard Handle Screwdriver (granted mine is a bit older but similar)
Wera Hex Plus Stainless L Wrenches (though they do sell bike tools these days so...)
Wera Torx L Wrenches
I have also been using a variety of small pliers to do some internal routing but I am unsure of their make. However I am planning to get some Knipex stuff.

Darth Lefty 

See, if we start going the other way - what bike tools do we use elsewhere - then I need everyone’s help to find my Park 4-5-6 Allen wrench, because it’s f***ing never with the bike tools. Never can find a 4 or 5 mm hex bit either among the dozen T25’s that come in every pound of deck screws like a Cracker Jacks toy

bwilli88 

I call it the hammer of Mars 😂🤠