Bike maintenance tool kit...?

[bigandclever]

I'm looking at getting some tools so I can start doing my own bike maintenance. Wiggle have these LifeLine kits for £70 (RRP is £100), but are they any good, or can someone recommend a different manufacturer / core set of tools for regular home maintenance. Budget is, let's say, £100.



Chain-cleaner; Puncture repair kit; Cleaning brush; Cassette cleaner; Y-shaped Allen Key wrench; Y-shaped Allen Key wrench; Cassette lock ring removal tool; Bottom Bracket removal tool; 8 and 10mm open-ended spanner; 8mm Super tough hex key; Chain ring nut wrench; Tyre levers; Spoke keys; Chain tool; 14mm crank extractor; Chain whip; Pedal spanner; 30/32 and 36/40 headset spanner; External BB cup tool (Shimano/FSA/Truvativ); 19mm hub cone spanner; 18mm hub cone spanner; 17mm hub cone spanner; 16mm hub cone spanner; 15mm hub cone spanner; 14mm hub cone spanner; 13mm hub cone spanner; Cable cutters

Ta!

[rico]

Park

No contest. Pricey but last for ages

For £100, something like this: www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=6107

[beyond rational]

Depending on what bike you have, the lifeline kit (and other kits) have a load of spanners you will never need.

I tend to buy individually, I spend a lot on the bike specific things but save on generic items

[mat205125]

Agree with B R above.

I'd hope that you already had at your disposal a good selection of open ended spanners, so there will be many parts that are not required.

Write yourself down a list of things that you will be planning to do from the offset, and the specialist tools that you will require to complete these jobs.

Got a few Park tools and must say they are excellent.

On a similar note, the T style allen wrenchs are very nice, but do nothing a standard set of £5 allen keys from machine mart do. Are you spending money on flashy tools that may not necessarily be any better for your needs than what you already have? Mate of mine is a proper "tool tart", and has £25k of Snap-On kit (he's not a mountain bike mechanic obviously!)

[beyond rational]

To answer the core tools (I forgot to answer that originally)

(Cheap from most places)
Puncture repair kit + tyre levers
Cleaning brush
Allen Keys (or multltool but you will probably need a seperate 8mm allen key with one of those)
Spanners (make sure you get a slim one for the pedals)

Vital (invest in quality IMHO)
Chain tool
Chain Whip (Although can be done with old piece of chain a a vice, its more pain than its worth)
Cassette lock ring removal tool
Crank extractor (check what kind of bottom bracket you have though) - I prefer the ones without the built in handle for workshop use as you can apply more leverage with a spanner.)
Bottom Bracket removal tool (check what bottom bracket you have though)
Cable cutters (dremel will do but cutters are more easier/safer)

Nice to have: Torque wrench
If you have suspension forks and feel like servicing them, a socket to remove the top caps
Chainring peg spanner

I've probably forgotten something vital :-)

Edited by beyond rational on Wednesday 21st March 17:46

Edited by beyond rational on Wednesday 21st March 17:46

[custardkid]

you can get away with budget tools, except for....

park / shimano cable cutters, nothing else will give a clean cut

park pedal spanner

custard

[rico]

custardkid said:

park / shimano cable cutters, nothing else will give a clean cut

Agree!!! They're awesome.

Would also add:

Park allen keys (don't round easily which is handy)

Thats about it really... rest (as mentioned above) you can get cheap and they'll be fine for the odd time you need them.

[rlk500]

Tin snips or metal shears will.......

But seriously, as others have suggested, buy the tools you will need for the jobs you are going to do, rather than a pile of gear you will never use. One other thing, you don't mention it, but a stand is a real must for working on your bike, alternatively you can rig up a workmate but it's not as good.

[bigandclever]

Thanks for the responses. Looks like build a kit up as I go along is the answer then

Got myself booked on a days maintenance course in a couple of weeks so I'll have more idea of what I'm able to do myself, and what needs to go back to the shop for.

Cheers.

[snotrag]

bigandclever said:

Thanks for the responses. Looks like build a kit up as I go along is the answer then

Got myself booked on a days maintenance course in a couple of weeks so I'll have more idea of what I'm able to do myself, and what needs to go back to the shop for.

Cheers.

EBC by any chance? I worked there from the start!

My advice as a bike shop person - The kits can be good value, if you have NO tools yourself.

However many of them have the wrong stuff in, on a modern bike you'll have little need for cone spanners.

Your most commonely used tools are your allen keys, buy good ones with T handles.

Then build up individual bits as you need em.

[pdV6]

snotrag said:

Your most commonely used tools are your allen keys

Closely followed by cable cutters.

[beyond rational]

Chain tool!

Nah, depends what you are doing really

[bigandclever]

Snotrag - EBC indeed. Am I being stalked?

[Jez_200]

I needed a Bottom Bracket extractor, chain whip, crank puller so bought one of these from wiggle instead



[url]www.wiggle.co.uk/ProductDetail.aspx?Cat=cycle&ProdID=5360020503[/url]

[beyond rational]

I fancied an icecream so just popped into Lidls - they have what I consider the complete kit for £17.99, probably not great quality but for the price worth a bash, kind of kicking myself for not grabbing one, could just have stuck in the car for emergencies. Also got multitools, pumps etc.

[White_van_man]

im slowly building up a park toolkit i know its pricy bit it lasts for ever!!

[woodies92]

The lidl kit is great i picked up one today for my new frame build and everything works flawlessly and feels very high quality. I also picked up one of the hydration packs for £8.99 which is much larger than my camel back but have not tried it out yet.

Woody

[groomi]

Most important tool I find is a pair of thin spanners for the axle bolts... Or alternatively if you're saving pennies is to make them yourself. Must be the easiest tool to make.

[custardkid]

woodies92 said:

The lidl kit is great i picked up one today for my new frame build and everything works flawlessly and feels very high quality. I also picked up one of the hydration packs for £8.99 which is much larger than my camel back but have not tried it out yet.

Woody

[custardkid]

woodies92 said:

The lidl kit is great i picked up one today for my new frame build and everything works flawlessly and feels very high quality. I also picked up one of the hydration packs for £8.99 which is much larger than my camel back but have not tried it out yet.

Woody

Tesco (i know)
have a good camel back, about the size of a mule, for £9... almost bought one but decided i din't need two almost identical packs! even if one was 1/4 of the price!

Custard