mtb_addict

it seems i have to remove the wheels alot for various reasons.

i had a box wrench set, but lost the 15mm...so i have been using a adjustable wrench on the axle nuts. it seems to work better. the adjustable wrench is tighter fit thana box wrench. and adj wrenches have thick handles that don't hurt my hand like box wrench. so life is good. or so i thought...

i just rounded off the axle nut. i had forgotten to adjust it before using. it was not snug, and i used a lot of force.

so i guess its better to leave the adjustable wrench for fixing sink and toilet. what do pro mechs use in the shop?

CliffordK

Not a "Pro", but Craftsman makes good wrenches. For a lot of things I like a 6pt combination wrench.

Craftsman wrenches tend to be a little fatter than others, so it doesn't hurt to find a narrow 15mm that you can use on pedals. I tend not to use a "pedal wrench".

I hadn't thought much about handles on wrenches. Not a lot out here. A few by CTA.
https://www.snitelearn.com/index.php...ducts_id=95286
https://www.autobarn.net/cta-2500.html

The problem is that I'm not sure one tends to grip wrenches in the middle.

JoeTBM 

We like combo open/ratchet wrenches. like these from Harbor Freight (lifetime warranty also)

7 Pc Metric Ratcheting Combo Wrench set

Only drawback was that it did not include a 9mm but we purchased that separately from another vendor

mtb_addict

Results of my preliminar research on axle specific wrench (see pics below).

(A) + wrench looks good, but it wont fit in small tool box.


(B) too thin, hurt hand. might be too short.

(C) long enough. nice handle. metal around the nut is bit too thin.


(D) a giant wrench. unnecessarily big.


(E) "peanut butter wrench". nice!

JoeTBM 

The Park Tool Quad MQ1 is discontinued but most likely you can find one online. We actually have one for the nuts that were gorrilla'd on. Added a 14mm socket to the 3/8 drive end, great for crank bolts too.

JoeTBM 

The middle 2 look more like pedal wrenches and the last 2, crank bolt wrenches

mtb_addict

(E) Craftsman, slightly thicker "handle"

ARider2

I use the ratcheting crank arm wrench from Hozan. The tool has 15mm on one side and 14mm on the other. I find it is of excellent quality and holds up well.

JoeTBM 

Speaking of Quad wrenches, anyone know of a quad wrench with either all 4 ends having a 3/8 socket adapter or others that are bike specific (metric), a quick search did not show any other then the Park Tool MQ-1

Crankycrank

OP says he didn't check adjustment of the adjustable wrench which rounded off the nut. Seems to me it's easy enough to just check the adjustment when using....no? Also if your adj. wrench is low quality it will have more slop and more likely to fecker up nuts. Of course a nice quality, long/cushy handled, box end/combo, 15mm wrench will be nice to have but just sayin',

MudPie

I'm not a pro-mechanic but wrench on my own cars and bicycles since the 80's. I definitely prefer box and open end wrenches, over adjustable wrenches. A good quality box/open end wrench has a good, snug, and reassuring feel when torqueing on a fastener. I do have a few adjustable wrenches in my tool box, and I use them when I need. The quality of an adjustable wrench is very important - too much slop in the adjustment mechanism could allow the jaws to open when in use.

Broctoon

It’s not just failing to make the adjustment tight that can cause the wrench to slip and round off a nut. Even in the best case, adjustable wrenches only engage the nut at two points. A box end wrench engages at six points. Therefore, even though it fits with a little play (necessary to let it get on and off the nut), the non-adjustable box end is far less likely to bugger up a nut.

dsbrantjr

I have a 15mm "long pattern" combination wrench similar to this one https://www.amazon.com/Threaded-Quic.../dp/B01M0FYYL2 which is long enough for good leverage plus as a bonus the open end is thin enough to fit any pedals I have come across

Gresp15C

I got a 15mm combo wrench from Home Depot and cut it in half for my two bikes with nutted axles. The short wrench is enough for the amount of torque that I need.

As a bonus the box wrench fits Sturmey Archer without damaging the nut.

RGMN

I use the Park MQ-1 on most axle nuts. With the cross style you can use both hands to loosen those majorly over-torqued axle nuts. Or I use an appropriate sized socket and a breaker bar. Combination, box- or open-end wrenches are some of my last choices. Those happy wrenches (ratcheting box ends) look really useful but having full sets of metric, SAE, and offset versions of them they are usually only good in certain situations, and ratcheting end should never be used to loosen or tighten anything. I've snapped a couple of the ratchet pawls in them. They'd be my last choice for a basic shop wrench

Gresp15C

This brings up an interesting point. It makes a difference whether you're working on your own bikes, or regularly working on bikes for others. When it's my own bikes, or ones in the family fleet, then I have already taken care of torquing them correctly in the first place, and applying a bit of grease to prevent corrosion. I'd never need a cheater or heavy duty wrench. On the other hand, if I were working on a lot of neglected bikes, or in a "time is money" atmosphere, maybe that's were "pro" tools come into play.

Rolla

Pshhht. You guys and your fancy "wrenches" need to HTFU.

veganbikes

Most shops will use the Hozan Wrench shown above. A real professional would use something like this: https://shop.snapon.com/product/Reve...Wrench/SRXRM15.

I wouldn't use cheap tools and wouldn't use the wrong tools. A cheap wrench and cheap bolts may not have a precision fit but using quality stuff will help out greatly. Snap-On isn't cheap for a reason, they are quality wrenches that will last a lifetime or will at least have a lifetime warranty behind them should you have problems. They are designed for real usage.

andrewclaus

I'm not sure about pro bike shops, but no pro mechanics I know in other trades will use Craftsman tools. The Craftsman warranty is attractive to hobbyists, but they break, bend and slip. Pros prefer tools that don't do that. Mac, Proto, SK and Snapon make much better tools. One critical rounded nut, or lost time due to hand injury, makes the price difference worthwhile.

I volunteer for non-profit shops and co-ops, and Harbor Freight rules there for general mechanics tools. As far as anyone cares, they're fine for bicycles.

Chuck M 

In the day, Craftsman sockets and ratchets were not terrible. For combination wrenches though, I prefer my Snap On and Matco tools. The heavier build of Craftsman wrenches is not a positive. They had to make them heavier to be able to hold up due to the materials they were made from being weaker than Snap On and the like. At any rate, if you look closely most Craftsman tools are no longer made in the USA and are even thicker and heavier.

Adjustable wrenches need to be used to beat the person that invented them. And don't get me started on the nudnilks that want to use tongue and groove AKA Channellock pliers on nuts.

Long story short, buy the best tool you can afford and use the right tool for the job.

Andrew R Stewart 

While I can't speak to other industries in our bike shop world Craftsman wrenches (and other common hand tools) are very common and work well. So I disagree with the above to a degree. Bike shop tools "fail" (I hate this term but it does a job) far more from wear then over stressing. The torque levels most bike parts see is fairly low compared to cars and such. But our tools get used by many people with varying skills and on, as mentioned, on FUBARed fasteners often. It is far more common that the bolt head or axle nut "fails" before the bike wrench does.

One of the features of Craftsman tools was there wide distribution and minimal hassle replacement policy. Of course these factors are different today when compared to other tool sources and options. I have set up dozens of mechanic stations (work benches) in a number of shops with Craftsman wrenches as the base set. I don't think I've had a broken combo wrench in the 45+ years and dozens of sets I touched. Can't say that about most all pedal wrenches and many Park tools Andy

Rolla

preach!

Geepig

The choices we make are not all defined by our bikes, so my 'bike' toolboxes travel around the farm, around the village and beyond, finding their use in many circumstances - gas pipes in a cottage, a non-starting tractor or a Ukrainian bicycle from the 1950s I am not even sure I could source all the parts for sitting upside-down in a barn. The nearest town doesn't stock all the things I might need, and that tractor needs to start long before a delivery can arrive. The best and right tool may be that adjustable.

So my big adjustable has a hole in one end that I can slip over a wrench for more leverage, on my hands and knees in the dirt it makes a good little anvil to tighten a rivet, and sometimes it even makes a usefully slim hammer.

To help someone make the right tool-buying or tool-using decision, it might help if we stopped talking about tools as if they were things independent of the world, where tool X is always good and tool Y should not exist.

Context is king.

veganbikes

I have yet to actually use mine (I just bought it XXL) but this might actually be a solution for certain things.
https://products.wera.de/en/joker_60...e_spanner.html

Yes for many tasks an adjustable wrench is pretty poor especially one that doesn't act like the Joker which sets it selfs and stays tight if used in correct orientation, meaning it will stay tight. However I won't say they are completely without merit. Low quality adjustable spanners are garbage for sure though.

mdarnton

I keep one of these in my fixie bag. It has 15mm and 14mm sockets, and a pedal wrench. No extra metal and a soft rubber cover on the handle. $12.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00OC...b_b_asin_title