beer.
Your go-to tools
- Thread starter Carraig042
- Start date
sadly owned by heineken. pass.
dgaf. still tastes good. i still drink wicked weed too even though budweiser. ain’t nobody got time to care about that.
What are you liking these days?
Wait are we talking about these? If so you are nuts, anything else is an alien!
Jm is an alien..
These suck donkey balls. Spokey FTW!Wait are we talking about these? If so you are nuts, anything else is an alien!
A plastic wrench? Fuck, no...
"limited" lifetime
the workshop manager's been using their T handle allen keys, really nice & seem to be lasting well.
The "Pro elite comercial clamp" for workstands is the shizzle!! best clamp ever...... the cheaper ones they do are shit however & I hate using them.
Birzman?
Nice gear, most of my workstand tools are Birzman, don't rate the ergonomics of the T handle allenkeys though, park is comfier.
But the rest of their gear is really good, well except the shock pumps which are crap which is odd, cause their other hand & track pumps are great.
Ball end is fine as long as you don't go below 4mm, anything smaller is just asking for rounded out bolts.
There's a bunch of stuff on bikes where not being able to angle the tool really really sucks.
If folks used ball ends where it's appropriate, they'd be OK. Using one when you have a straight shot is stupid, and people are lazy.
I have built ~500 wheels in 30 years with Park spoke wrenches...everything else just feels wrong to me.
I guess humans get used to anything, though.
Coming from an industrial electrical background, a lot of my bike tools are actually work tools that I've repurposed. All my circlip pliers and stuff are Knipex, allen keys are a mix of Bondhus, Park and JBS depending whether they're normal, Y-style or T-handle. Knipex do a lovely tiny little flush cut set of side cutters which is great for cable ties and not leaving sharp ends sticking out.
From work stuff I've actually got a Festo pneumatic hose cutter which consistently does the best cut on a hydraulic hose that I've ever achieved, far better than bike industry tools. My WAGO bootlace crimper does a super tidy job on cable ends as well.
I quite like my Park tools bike specific stuff like saw guides, chain whips and cable cutters. This rant here has me wanting to get a Unior or Cyclus saw guide though. I don't see the point in buying bike specific brands for common tools like hacksaws or sidecutters as bike brands normally aren't up to the quality of decent real-world tools.
Workstand is a P.O.S. Gripsport (aussie brand) and I'm currently on the lookout for a Park or Feedback stand to replace it.
From work stuff I've actually got a Festo pneumatic hose cutter which consistently does the best cut on a hydraulic hose that I've ever achieved, far better than bike industry tools. My WAGO bootlace crimper does a super tidy job on cable ends as well.
I quite like my Park tools bike specific stuff like saw guides, chain whips and cable cutters. This rant here has me wanting to get a Unior or Cyclus saw guide though. I don't see the point in buying bike specific brands for common tools like hacksaws or sidecutters as bike brands normally aren't up to the quality of decent real-world tools.
Workstand is a P.O.S. Gripsport (aussie brand) and I'm currently on the lookout for a Park or Feedback stand to replace it.
It isn't plastic. The business interface is metal, hugging nipples from three sides. It is super comfortable to use, compared to the Park Tools wrench.
If you can break the plastic wrench, you've long ago stripped out your spoke. The "wrench" part is metal, the big plastic blade gives you a lot more gripping area and leverage and is just far more secure than the floppy Park version for quickly adjusting tension (like quickly giving each nipple 1/2 turn on the stand).
As far as guides, I got a nice pipe-cutter (as opposed to a shitty one) a few years back and haven't looked back, that thing makes quick work of steerer tubes and is super easy to use, then just bevel the end with a dremel. Way less mess than a hacksaw too.
I think Ultimate (who later became Feedback) was a wakeup call for Park in terms of stands. Park had that terrible 2-legged stand and Ultimate came out with the super-stable 3-legged thing that wouldn't fall over like the Park version. You could do all sorts of stuff with the feedback like turn your bike upside down and clamp it in place. Park eventually got on board with some decent stands, but the Ultimate really brought out how terrible the Park one was. The Park shop-heads were always really nice, but that's more for a fixed location with lots of space and then it's kind of permanent.
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jonhipsterkranked, not drinking corporate beer before it was cool.drinking beer from a brewery owned by a mega corp is like riding an e-bike.
When I wrenched on CNC machines for a living my Bondhus ball end T-handles were priceless. They survived 5 years of daily professional use when I regularly put a pipe on the handle and applied more torque than they were ever able to handle. They worked flawlessly. Their retirement years working on bikes has been cush. Considering the shit I put them through I scratch my head when people complain about them exclusively working on things made of aluminium and composites.
Good to hear that you like it, my dad designed the Spokey over 30 years ago and we are still making them. If this site still had enough members I'd be totally down with producing a RM edition Spokey, but I doubt we could get enough people together for this to be feasible.
wow I had no clue it was that old...but I guess we started using them at my first shop job in 98...
I just checked, this is from the original patent filing, which was way back in 1985:
Spokey is the bomb. Love that spoke wrench. Have a dt-swiss branded version atm.
I don't know how many RM members build wheels anymore. Seems like folks are more into buying complete... like complete e-bikes.
i still primarily lace my own.Spokey is the bomb. Love that spoke wrench. Have a dt-swiss branded version atm.
I don't know how many RM members build wheels anymore. Seems like folks are more into buying complete... like complete e-bikes.
Here is one, also using a Spokey since 2002.Spokey is the bomb. Love that spoke wrench. Have a dt-swiss branded version atm.
I don't know how many RM members build wheels anymore. Seems like folks are more into buying complete... like complete e-bikes.
Never bought a pre-built wheel, can't see why I ever would. I have a friend who builds awesome wheels for me for spare parts or beer. I'd be down for an RM Spokey if it happened.
My favorite tool is my shock bushing tool that @4130biker (I think? It's been a while, sorry) made for me for RMSS.
Felco cable cutters are awesome as are Knipex cable tie cutters (so unnecessary, but so worth it).
Lezyne Dirt Drive floor pump has set up every tubeless tire I've ever mounted without a fuss. No need for a compressor.
I resisted buying master link pliers for a long time, but they sure are handy. Those are Park, because I bought them from a bike shop, which is petty much the only reason to ever buy Park. I also have a Park big blue toolbox that was a gift and is fucking sweet.
Oh, and I'm with @jonKranked on beer. Fuck the corporate overlords.
My favorite tool is my shock bushing tool that @4130biker (I think? It's been a while, sorry) made for me for RMSS.
Felco cable cutters are awesome as are Knipex cable tie cutters (so unnecessary, but so worth it).
Lezyne Dirt Drive floor pump has set up every tubeless tire I've ever mounted without a fuss. No need for a compressor.
I resisted buying master link pliers for a long time, but they sure are handy. Those are Park, because I bought them from a bike shop, which is petty much the only reason to ever buy Park. I also have a Park big blue toolbox that was a gift and is fucking sweet.
Oh, and I'm with @jonKranked on beer. Fuck the corporate overlords.
Sigh, I'm in for RM Spokeys, in all sizes, if they have sizes...
We go thru them like candies at a fat camp . Wera holds up better. Non ball end last the longest with these hardware damage.
I have a set of Bondhus Gorilla Grip hex keys that are so old I don't know how old they are; http://www.bondhus.com/bondhus_products/tool_categories/fold_ups/index.html
Knipex pliers-wrenches are generally better than the 'right' tool for the job. Measure the jaws of a Park cone spanner with vernier calipers and you'll understand. https://www.knipex.com/index.php?id=1216&page=group_detail&groupID=1500
Knipex pliers-wrenches are generally better than the 'right' tool for the job. Measure the jaws of a Park cone spanner with vernier calipers and you'll understand. https://www.knipex.com/index.php?id=1216&page=group_detail&groupID=1500
Must be green.
Full ack! These are one of the best allround tools available.