dolphin62

I just bought a park tool pedal wrench. I paid $14 for it, which is not a real bad price. The one thing I noticed is that my wrench from my router was the same size.So I really didn't need to buy one. The park tool is was a little better and heavy duty.

The question I have is this I want to buy a few more tools to do some basic maintaince work on my bike. I want to regrease and pack the cones on my wheels. I see park tool and other bike tool companys sell a wrench just for that purpose. Is there any thing special about bike tools or can I use wrenches that I might have that are the right sizes.

Tell me am I paying for the name of the tool because It has the title bicycle tool on it.
I don't mind spending the money if it's going to make a difference.

redpear

This is a very broad question. Some tools overlap, some don't.

In the case of working on cones, you will likely need the right cone wrench, as it's difficult to find spanners that are thin enough to fit in there.

By the way, the pedal wrench you bought may just work for the cones if your cones are 15mm. If I'm correct, it has a low enough profile and I believe it will fit right in. Use an adjustable for the locknut.

Squirrelli

Cone wrenches you need to buy from a bicycle parts company, unless you have time to cut your wrenches into thin slices.

Most bike specific tools are more expensive because they preform a specific task that a regular tool might not be able to do. For example, for cone wrench, you only really need the smaller one to fit the cone, you could just use a regular wrench for the lock nut.

adriano 

the cyclist tax is outrageous.

dolphin62

thanx....you have been a great help. It would make sence that specific tools for bikes.

GMJ

https://www.pedros.com/trixie.html

I bought that bad boy just because of convenience. For the majority of things I will need to wrench on the road, I think its got it covered. Its a small tool, so I can just throw in the bag or stick it in my pocket and go.

I probably could've gotten the same tools from my grandpas old toolbox, but it was worth it for me to just shell out the cash for that thing.

calv

Tbh, I totally hate that thing and wish I never walked into a LBS looking for a lockring tool and getting suckered into buying that instead, lol.

prooftheory

Why? Doesn't the lockring tool work?

adriano 

that works fine as a lockring tool.

i bought a set of metric allen keys for two bucks at a hardware store. park would charge 12 plus probably.

yummygooey

Harbor freight ftw.

Verbose

+1

Sixty Fiver

Just because a tool says Park does not mean that it the best you can get... I treasure my old Sugino cone wrenches as unlike Park cone wrenches, they are not made of cheese.

Filzer makes a fairly decent line of tools that is reasonably priced and in my experience in a shop environment found they hold up very well.

yummygooey

Though I must say you can certainly tell the tools aren't of the best quality. They're cheap, though, and should be good enough for the home mechanic.

If it's bike specific like a bottom bracket tool or cone wrenches, I'll just buy the Park or Pedro's stuff.

calv

Sure does, I would just way rather have Hozan lockring pliers or something. Because honestly, I don't use the trixie for anything else, and it's a bit uncomfortable on the hands.

Squirrelli

Our co-op haves a bunch of Filzer stuff as well, I think it was a donation from MEC and they could take quite the beating.

Leukybear 

+1 Not saying that Park is not a respected brand with hard earned fame in the bike world, but I actually prefer my set of sugino BB tools. And hozan spanners for my lockrings and a shimano DA chain whip.

rustybrown

Shop tools make the job easier.

Given that, it is possible to work on a bike with regular house hold tools, and ingenuity.

striknein

I don't think bike-specific tools are outrageously priced. They seem to be priced the same way other tools are. Auto mechanic's tools, for instance, run the gamut of prices; cheap handyman crap that tends to wear and break quickly, up to expensive Snap-On or MAC tools that can cost a fortune. I'm just talking basic hand tools here, nothing specialty. In fact, when it comes to specialty items like bottom bracket tools, headset presses, face/chase cutters, and other shop tools, bike mechanics get away for a lot less than an auto mechanic would.

Of course, they don't get paid nearly as well.

cc700

there's a few things about tools you either know and appreciate, know and ignore, or don't know:

1. precision matters. tolerances in the tool production process vary greatly from high price tools to cheap ones, and a more expensive tool developed to more precise spec is almost always going to fit better, last longer, do the job more efficiently, and give you a good feel for what you're doing. you could use an adjustable wrench for every bolt, but it's not going to ever fit as well as a set of expensive high quality box wrenches like park or other nice tools. that means less rounded nuts, better feel in use, and longer lasting because there will always be more surface area contacting your hardware.

2. material choice is paramount: metal isn't all the same and good metal ain't cheap. harder, purer metal is going to last longer, be stronger, and be the right kind of metal for the job. if you don't know this from liking bikes then you are hopeless... they make different alloys for tools just like they make different alloys for bike frames, and for example, a park pedal wrench has 'spring steel' which helps it transfer a lot of torque because the metal is far more resilient and offers more return-flex (totally made that term up, there's a real term for it) than other metals. generally, cheaper tools are made from absolute **** steel that has lots of impurities and will bend and break FAR easier. it also means they can't make it as precise because it will change in the production process more than a nicer metal. i bought a ****ty chainwhip and the metal of the whip bent and broke before the chain broke. a park one won't do that.

3. design. you get higher quality rubber handles on better tools and other design features that make nicer tools nicer to use. more importantly, they're designed by companies that know what a job entails and design the tool to fit in a larger 'tool kit' that they offer for a job. have you ever seen a bike shop where the mechanic area is all jumbled cheap tools from lots of different companies? it's **** when you compare it to a glorious tool wall that is obviously a complete system of tools that were designed to be used together, hung up on the wall together, and form a comprehensive and cohesive canon of utility.

if you're person type 1, this all is worth the money if you have it to spend. if you're person type 2, you probably pay others to do at least some of your wrenching, or you really actually like rounding off bolts and using low quality things because it means you can save money. I would say that's not frugal, it's just cheap. you end up spending more in the long run because you buy tools multiple times and you cause damage more, and you can't get the job done (sometimes). and finally if you're person type 3, you just need to spend more time wrenching with these points in mind.

Only type 3 people would start a thread like this. Most of us are type 2 trying to be type 1... i never used to buy park because it's so expensive, but now i try not to buy anything lower quality than park.

vw02

yes and yes. its the same thing w/ regular tools. wrenches from target or $2 hex wrenches from the hardware store will get the job done, but if you use them a lot, they will twist or break eventually. there's some tools like hex's you can get away with but some tools its good to spend the money. a nice pedal wrench is soooo worth it if your changing pedals a few times a month.

also remember, if you spend the money the first time, chances are you'll never have to again.

Street rider

Problem is, sometimes the money just ins't there when you really need the tool, and its hard to pony up when you have other expenses. Hell, just the other day I had to make some slight adjustments to my spokes, I used a small adjustable wrench and never even took the wheel off the bike. I built an entire wheel once only using a small adjustable like that and a flathead to do most of the work. Sometimes those expensive tools just aren't necessary.

prooftheory

Spoke wrenches are cheap though. There are some bike tools that make no sense whatsoever. What is up with the park chain wear measurer thing?

cc700

spoke wrenches are the ULTIMATE example of why precise, high quality material tools make a huge difference. use a park spoke wrench properly and you'll never round a nipple and true HUNDREDs of wheels if not thousands. misuse your tools or use the wrong size or have a cheap spoke wrench and you'll ruin a wheel. i've done it before i knew better(as a 2.)

prooftheory

I meant that even higher-end spoke wrenches are not overly expensive and thus a good investment, not that they are cheap.

It is the chain wear measurer thing that I think is a bad investment.

adriano 

you can use a green or black spoke wrench on most nipples. theyre two totally different sizes.