Bike tools for home mechanic

Back by popular demand, the general all-things Road forum!

Moderator: robbosmans

TLN
Posts: 630
Joined: Wed Jul 12, 2017 4:50 pm

by TLN

Building new bike and wanted to do everything myself, after shop charged me $250 to put my Orca together.

What's the best torque wrench and set of allen wrench keys out there? I got depot store keys, but wanted to get something more prescise and better looking.
There was a similar topic earlier, but wanted to know if there's anything new in the past two years: viewtopic.php?f=14&t=160712

Torque wrenches I'm looking at:
Wera bike set 1: https://products.wera.de/en/tools_for_b ... que_1.html
Very expensive and pretty massive. There's a review here: viewtopic.php?t=162699

SYNTACE Torque Tool 1-25: https://www.syntace.com/en_GB/products/ ... -tool-1-25
Goes from 1nm, instead of 2nm. Made by Wera (same as above), but way more affordable.

ProBike tools: https://probiketool.com/products/torque ... 3259843681
Available on Amazon. Goes from 2nm and includes all the needed bits.

Speaking of allen keys, torn between Wera and PB Swiss.

I found some people dislike Wera Hex-plus: viewtopic.php?f=14&t=160712&start=45#p1665491
Never seen any bad feedback about PB Swiss on the other hand.

Anything I'm missing?
His: Orbea Orca OMX
Hers: Cannondale Synapse HM Disc

MrRolandos
Posts: 251
Joined: Sat Feb 13, 2021 8:19 pm

by MrRolandos

viewtopic.php?f=14&t=155208&start=45

Plenty of info there, also some testing. I'm in the search for a new one myself :)

by Weenie


Visit starbike.com Online Retailer for HighEnd cycling components
Great Prices ✓    Broad Selection ✓    Worldwide Delivery ✓

www.starbike.com



Ferry
Posts: 164
Joined: Mon Dec 11, 2006 8:47 pm
Location: Maastricht, The Netherlands
Contact:

by Ferry

I have had a Würth and replaced it with the Wera. They make vert nice tools.

cro2
Posts: 49
Joined: Fri Oct 13, 2017 7:39 am

by cro2

The first torque wrench I bought was a LifeLine Professional. It's a generic design that's sold under several different brands, including Pro. But it gets the job done and apparently is also quite accurate. If I was on the market right now, however, I'd go for WGB - I have two of their bigger wrenches for working with motorcycles and they are of really good quality.

MrRolandos
Posts: 251
Joined: Sat Feb 13, 2021 8:19 pm

by MrRolandos

Just purchased a https://www.pro-bikegear.com/nl/tools-m ... que-wrench

Price was good, review seems goods too. But i dont think you can go bad with either a WERA A5/A6 or something like mine.

CyclingGiraffe
Posts: 328
Joined: Sat Jul 18, 2020 10:04 pm

by CyclingGiraffe

I recently got the effetto mariposa giustaforza 2-16 pro for Christmas, and I love it. Easy to use with a very positive "click," a good size, looks great, feels like quality, great range for most torque-sensitive bike applications, and reputed to be very accurate. Well worth burning a Christmas present on it. I use an old-style Park TW-2 beam torque wrench for higher torque applications, like bottom bracket cups and cassette and rotor lockrings. It works well enough for those applications.

For allen keys I have a several sets of Bondhus USA-made wrench sets. They are comparatively inexpensive and work well; I think the ones with the the "Bright Guard" finish feel the most durable, though the "Color Guard" finished set does make it somewhat easier to locate the appropriate size when, say, assembling a bike and using a lot of different sizes at once (remembering, for example, that the 5mm wrench is the blue one, makes it easy to pick up off the table when its next to the red 4mm wrench).

Most other bike-specific tools are a combination of Park, Shimano, or Pedros. If I need, for example, a chain-whip type tool, I'll just go on Amazon and/or Competitive Cyclist (or forums like this one), and see which of the major brands has the best balance of price/performance based on user feedback.
Last edited by CyclingGiraffe on Sat Feb 18, 2023 5:39 pm, edited 1 time in total.

ParisCarbon
Posts: 1918
Joined: Mon Feb 05, 2007 5:39 am
Location: Winnipeg Canada

by ParisCarbon

Check bike24.com for stuff.. I just searched torque wrench on there and lots of options popped up.. I got the tacx tq rwench set years ago and its served me well... as for allen keys, I honestly just use canadian tire ... half the time I end up loosing one of them, and easy enough to replace a cheapo set than being angry when you lose a good new one.. Ive built all my EPS bikes with those cheapos and nothing has ever gone wrong.. save your $ and throw it at something else you need for the build

User avatar
Cannoli
Posts: 533
Joined: Thu Nov 12, 2020 1:53 pm
Location: Mid-Atlantic, USA

by Cannoli

Here is a great list of tools for varying degrees of home and professional mechanics:

https://www.parktool.com/en-int/blog/re ... a%5B%5D=59
Canyon Aeroad CFR Di2 | Canyon Ultimate SLX 9.0 Di2 | Trek Domane SL5 Disc (Gravel Bike / Fly-Away Road Bike) | Orbea Tera H-30 Disc (Touring Bike)

Campyforever
Posts: 106
Joined: Sun Nov 06, 2022 1:32 pm

by Campyforever

This is what you want, if you can afford it: https://www.effettomariposa.eu/en-us

robertbb
Posts: 2179
Joined: Thu Jul 23, 2009 3:35 am

by robertbb

Campyforever wrote:
Sat Feb 18, 2023 3:26 am
This is what you want, if you can afford it: https://www.effettomariposa.eu/en-us
+1

kervelo
Posts: 866
Joined: Wed Jan 21, 2009 6:58 am
Location: Finland

by kervelo

Another vote for Wera tools. Both the torque tools and the hex keys are very good.

ArtV
Posts: 173
Joined: Tue Mar 01, 2016 3:23 am

by ArtV

For hex keys I ended up getting the Silca hx two set. So many fasteners on a bike are either Allen or Torx and I have so many Ti and AL ones that every time I used a cheaper set it felt like I was on the verge of rounding them every time I tightened them. These fit really well and are much less prone to rounding. Worth it in the long run.

https://silca.cc/collections/tools/prod ... travel-kit

Sent from my SM-X800 using Tapatalk


SunsetRider
Posts: 27
Joined: Sun Jan 29, 2023 5:05 pm

by SunsetRider

I have a Topeak D-Torq 1-20 N•m torque wrench and love it. One of my most used tools and stays out on the workbench in it's soft case since I use it so often I don't bother putting in the drawer. The price varies a lot but deals can be had if you shop around.

https://www.topeak.com/us/en/product/316-D-TORQ-WRENCH


IMHO you need to spend a lot of money to get a good set of hex keys. Bondhaus wrenches are great quality and very affordable. They were my go-to tool when I was a CNC setup man (as well as everybody else in the shop) and I still use that same set today on the bikes.

https://www.amazon.com/Bondhus-10999-Ba ... 70&sr=8-30


In working on my bikes I've found I only need a T25 Torx. The Topeak comes with a T25 bit and I have a hex drive handle that it fits in so between the 2 I haven't need anything else on the bikes. I also have complete ⅜" drive torx set I bought decades ago but rarely use any of them but it has a T25 too.

Nixster
Posts: 253
Joined: Wed Oct 04, 2017 3:30 pm

by Nixster

For low torque applications, which is most things on a bike, I recently got the Feedback Sports torque ratchet. It’s a beam design so doesn’t require calibration and can be used as a ratchet without wearing the torque wrench aspect. Presta tools do a version also.
Heavy duty stuff like cassettes and cranks gets a generic auto clicker.
Hex keys are worth investing in, I regret getting Park Tools as they’re neither cheap or high quality. All the Wera tools I have bought are great but I’d still go PB Swiss for the looks :D

robertbb
Posts: 2179
Joined: Thu Jul 23, 2009 3:35 am

by robertbb

Nixster wrote:
Sun Feb 19, 2023 12:54 am
For low torque applications, which is most things on a bike, I recently got the Feedback Sports torque ratchet. It’s a beam design so doesn’t require calibration and can be used as a ratchet without wearing the torque wrench aspect. Presta tools do a version also.
Heavy duty stuff like cassettes and cranks gets a generic auto clicker.
Hex keys are worth investing in, I regret getting Park Tools as they’re neither cheap or high quality. All the Wera tools I have bought are great but I’d still go PB Swiss for the looks :D
Park Tool: 'neither cheap nor good'

Should be their motto.

by Weenie


Visit starbike.com Online Retailer for HighEnd cycling components
Great Prices ✓    Broad Selection ✓    Worldwide Delivery ✓

www.starbike.com



Post Reply