JonBailey

I just moved to Lawton, Oklahoma from Boise, Idaho. No longer do I have my Boise Bicycle project which I was an annual member for at $60 a year. No more can I use their shop, special bike tools and mechanic's assistance. I will have to refer to the bike's owner's guide or YouTube for tutorials on bike repairs and adjustments.

As a former automobile mechanic by trade, I do most of the work on my 1995 Toyota Corolla. I have a Hayne's book in my trunk which is my bible. I have quite a few tools for automotive work already. Some of these can be sued on my later-model Schwinn-brand bike.

I will still need special tools for:

1. pulling crank arms
2. adjusting and servicing bottom bracket bracket bearings
3. pedals
4. servicing threadless headset bearings
5. servicing wheel hubs and bearings
6. pulling the freewheel
7. servicing the chain, removing a link pin

I already have spoke wrenches and a Bell bike pocket tool kit and stuff to service flat tires/inner tubes.

Most of my car tools can do everything else.


I have a Schwinn-branded Discover made in China by Pacific Cycle. It does not have such fancy stuff as a cartridge bottom bracket or a cassette but does have a fancy headset and stem which I think is called "threadless". The bottom bracket adjusting cup requires a 16 mm tool like this Park tool which rather expensive:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000C14P1C/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?smid=AMY4I718ZUBOU&psc=1

I found this Bikehand tool kit from mazon.com which has most everything else including the bottom bracket lockring tool I need:


https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B006WRWEJU/ref=ox_sc_act_title_2?smid=A1C9T7ACO5T769&psc=1



This is what I hate about modern bicycles. Too many different specialty tools are needed for different brands, models and eras.

Most "complete" bike tool kits, even expensive ones, don't supply all the tools needed for modern department store bicycles which have more
conventional bottom brackets.

The automotive industry has more standardization for common tools that work across many makes, models and eras. I only had to buy one specialty tool for my 1995 Toyota Corolla to replace the fuel filter mounted on the firewall.

I need a good tool kit for $100 or less. This kit should also be complete for my future Cannondale Quick 6 model.

I need the ultimate bicycle repair bible.

davidad

I wouldn't buy a kit. I built a collection as I needed a tool for a specific job. A good start is a set of metric Allen wrenches and Park cone wrenches that fit your hubs. I like the Park shop chain tool.

fietsbob

Park Tool will sell an all in 1 go tool box .. adding to it is always possible ..

I have some Special tools for older bikes which I saw a lot of in my early years in the shops..

such as fixed cup wrench hold down tools ( plastic faced dead blow mallet for added 'persuasion' )..


you have to choose : cheap or good .. you cannot have both ..

deacon mark

Buy tools as you need them for your specific bike. Buying a bunch of tools all at once in those kits is generally a waste. You get things you do not need and some things can be had as just regular tools from a box store much cheaper.

JonBailey

My experience working on my bike at the Bicycle Project in Boise, ID taught me that I needed that special bottom bracket 16 mm spanner.

I have already ordered the $45 Bikehand kit from to save a lot money on ordering individual tools. I also ordered that $15 Park Tool special spanner for my China-made Schwinn branded Discover.

The Bikehand kit has a cartridge bottom bracket tool which may or may not fit a Cannondale Quick 6 that I may buy in the future.

I'm hopeful my new amazon.com tool order will complete what I need to service everything myself on my own bike.

I already have a ton of car tools.

The Bikehand kit features special bicycle tools as the chain tool, the chain whip, the freewheel tool, the hub cone spanners, pedal wrench, the lockring spanner, a headset tool and an arm puller. I don't have a special cable cutter in this kit but can get by with a good pair of dikes.

Of course, when I get the kit, I will double check that all these tools fit their corresponding parts on my bike.

Gresp15C

China-made Cannondale branded Quick 6, to be specific.

JonBailey

No, I do indeed need that Park tool. My BB adjusting cup, non-drive side, has a rectangular protrusion that that wrench fits right into and the notch in the the tool allows it to slip through the axle to adjust the bearing without pulling the crank. I will also need the hooked spanner included with the Bikehand kit to loosen and tighten the BB lockring which is knurled with small notches around it.

For the most part, selecting your bicycle tool kit will be most critical with regard to the bottom-bracket design you have. If you have a cassette instead of a freewheel, you may yet need another special tool. China mountain/road bikes like mine usually have a freewheel.

Gresp15C

I've worked on cups like that. In my experience, a special tool isn't needed unless the cup is good and stuck. The distance between the flats is just a bit more than the diameter of the axle, so you can slip a big Crescent wrench over the whole thing and get some purchase on it. And, since it's the adjustable cup, there's no real torque involved unless the threads are rusted and frozen. I've dealt with persuading stubborn cups by holding the wrench on with a large socket or washers and a bolt, and giving it a good whack, or leaving the wheels on and pushing down with my foot.

That's a case of wait and see if you really need the tool.

Retro Grouch 

That's what I think too. You will be surprised at how much you can do with just a 5mm Allen wrench.

dedhed

https://boise.craigslist.org/bop/d/b...879935619.html

dedhed

https://oklahomacity.craigslist.org/...847179315.html