Favorite Tool
 

Everyone has that one tool, that one you reach for for about everything.
Mine is a box end crescent wrench.
Stanley - The Claw is it's actual name, but what it is, is a box end crescent.
I watch for them on ebay.
I have a 10", 2-8" and 2-6" and I use them constantly.
One of these is at 3 bucks right now...
https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_fro...0&LH_PrefLoc=2

For framebuilding my fav is my hand scraped cast iron flat surface.
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For bike wrenching it's a 8,9,10 "Y" wrench
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For general life stuff it's an Explorer Swiss Army Knife (by Victorinox of course), and yes, those are unicycle build plans...
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Park vintage 4,5,6 mm Allen tri wrench.

Having been a stagehand for near 50 years, I got in the habit of carrying a multi-tool of some sort. Before Leatherman and the like were invented it was a Victorinox Champ SAK. Later Gerber, SOG or Leatherman. Never liked Leathermans. My current go to that I carry is a Gerber Truss MT, this being the design who's assorted tools open outward so no need to open up the pliers to access a knife, etc.,, They discontinued this design apparantly, too bad, best MT I've used.

Ball-end P-handle Allens.

+1 on the 8-9-10 Y wrench. I'm still using the one I bought at Yellow Front back in 1980-1981 or so. Used it quite a bit this afternoon, in fact, stripping an old swingset-steel Huffy.

These days I am pretty much specializing in wheel building although I still do some general bike work. I do get the most satisfaction from using my wheel building tools.
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hard to say favorite but best decision/purchase was to quit goofing around with DIY stand and getting a Park PCS 10 stand

I now wish I had a park wheel building stand, but don't do enough of that to justify

My Park PRS-6 (pre-1996). I use it nearly every day.

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Bike specific: EVT Ultra True Arc hangar alignment tool
not bike specific: Knipex 7” Pliers-wrench

the EVT is both a beast and precise at the same time. It is a joy to use.

the Knipex is great to have at the volunteer co-op. It will grab 14 and 15mm axle nuts as well as threaded headset and Ashtabula locknuts.

I like the specialized bike tools that are made for the specific job at hand. Like my cotter pin removal tool, which I haven't used for a long time, but I know it's down there in the bottom of the bike tool box, waiting for the day I decide to take up another vintage Raleigh.

Haven’t used a MT in 16 years.

My experience was the Leatherman had a harder tool steel and the phillips bit lasted longer than the Gerber.
Guys liked the Gerber because they’d screw around with whipping it open like a switchblade or something.

At the shop, I like to slide a Park pedal wrench under the top of a new bike box to pop it open. Very satisfying.

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I agree and appreciate the scale to nearly 8 inches and in mm, at 72 I still carry a Leatherman every day.

pedal wrench - it's a skinny old French unit but it works great

also, I'm glad that I dumped all my assorted & poorly stored allen wrenches into a big clear plastic snack container. they are all in there. it's OK if I have to hunt for the correct size & some are labeled w/ a piece of masking tape. but there's no more hunting for that other set of allen wrenches cuz I can't find the size I need. of course I carry a bike specific, folding allen set, that looks like a pocket knife, in my rack trunk

I remember getting my bike stand. made me feel like a grown-up. why was I hunching over all those years?

I remember that model

inherited my Dad's knife collection. he had a little baggie of extra toothpicks & tweezers. now I have to find my knife that is missing both

Fill in the engraved size with white paint pen so you can read it. I do he same with dark impact sockets

I have three:

The Park AWS1 4-5-6 mm allen Y-tool. Mine is so old and been used so much that I "dremeled" a thin slice off the 4mm to reestablish a sharp tip.

The Park PFP-4 floor pump refitted with a Hirame presta valve chuck. It's in nearly daily use for years

The "Wrench Force" (aka Feedback Sports) repair stand. Wrench Force was a Trek house brand and It was a super bargain years ago when Trek was closing them out and getting out of the tool business. Mine came with a crude but usable wheel alignment attachment, a carrying case and a handlebar/fork holder to keep the front wheel from flopping around when the bike is off the ground.

I first became aware of the Knipex pliers wrenches just a few months ago, and I have really been impressed by how useful I have found them to be. In addition to tightening and loosening fasteners and fittings that have "flats", I have found them to be great for bending metal.

It would be hard to pick just one size. The 7" is a great all-arounder for a lot of stuff, but I also find myself running into situations where the 5-inch (86 03 125) is just dynamite.

For a couple of the sizes I have, I've also purchased the soft jaw covers.

1. Leatherman Juice CS-4. EDC on or off the bike.
2. Knipex 6" pliers
3. Crankbrothers M10 Multi Tool

Maybe not a "tool," but my Bike Hand gets more use than any other thing on the list except the Leatherman.

Favorite all around Tool? Probably my mill, but possibly only because I don’t own a lathe.

Favorite bicycle tool is probably a dial indicator. I’m not sure it lets me true wheels substantially better, but it does make it substantially faster and easier.

Also on the incredibly handy list is a decent pair of digital calipers. I’d list the surface plate, but then I’d need to list the plethora of things that go with it, even if I didn’t do that for the mill.

Probably my mini Snap-On 1/4 Bit Ratchet, it gets quite a bit of usage. I would say my Abbey Chain Tool but I don't use it quite as often but it does feel good in the hand and operates so smoothly.

If I’m going to buy one Knipex pliers wrench for working on bikes, which size do you both recommend? 7”?

I think that the 7" pliers wrench is a great all-arounder for a lot of general mechanical work - and a great starting point for someone who has never used one of these before. I don't use mine a lot on bikes, but my few current bikes don't have a lot of fasteners and fittings that have flats.

For me, the magic with these comes from:

• Jaws have smooth faces to engage what one is gripping with minimal damage to part surfaces.
• Jaws remain parallel.
• They have fairly high mechanical advantage when it comes to the motion of the jaw relative to the motion of the handle when closing. So, it's easy to apply significant force at the jaws (and so engage the part firmly, and not mangle the stuff on which one is working).

For fasteners and fittings, I often find myself using these in places where I would otherwise use an adjustable wrench or a regular open-end wrench.

I would recommend thinking about where you might use it (on the types of bikes on which you work, or wherever) and then pick one that is sized appropriately. These have fairly large jaw capacity relative to overall length, so for me, the choice is usually driven by the handle length required for leverage. Smaller sizes have slimmer and more compact jaws that can work in tighter spaces.