I’ve delayed and delayed but I really should buy a toolkit.
What’s the best all round toolkit under £50?
thanks

There isn’t one really.

You need to work out the jobs you’ll do and buy the tools for the jobs, in the order you’ll do them. That way you end up with all the tools you’ll need, when you need them.

A set of T-bar allen keys is a good start (£10 of ebay). Then go from there.

I have this from Decathlon, a fine starting point.

http://www.decathlon.co.uk/full-tool-box-id_4760419.html

This is good for £35:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Bike-Hand-Bicycle-Maintenance-Hollowtech/dp/B00652X13K

Screw-drivers are junk as usual and cone spanners are too small for Shimano hubs but other that it’s pretty good.

This looks like a pretty good starter set: http://www.merlincycles.com/bike-shop/workshop-tools/tools/tools-workshop/bike-hand-shimano-toolkit.html

As a ex vehicle tech my advice would be Buy quality,buy once. In all my years I have only ever had one spanner fail due to the chroming starting to peel off and one pair of Linesman pliers fail due to the jaws wearing – both replaced FOC under the lifetime warranty BTW. Respect (By this I mean don’t abuse them) your tools and treat them right and they’ll always be there when you need them through out your cycling journey 🙂

… so if I spent £10 a month buying bike tools what should be in the list?
I’ve got decent cable cutters & allen keys but need everything else.

I’ve had the above Bikehand one for 5 years now and it’s been absolutely fine. Some of the tools are now getting a bit worn and are due for replacement but they’ve built a dozen or so bikes in that time and done shedloads of maintenance. I’d get that and replace stuff as it wears out.

I have had one of those decathlon kits for years & still use the chain whip, cassette removal tool, crank/BB removal tools (got a better chain tool but the kit one still works fine). It’s done me proud really, though the rest of the kit tends to be a bit too plastic to work for long. The merlin tools kits looks to have ‘useful’ tool selection, abet more expensive for it (TBH a HT II tool are more useful than ISIS nowadays).

I totally agree with Oink but to spend £20+ on a set of allen (hex) keys, can make the process dauntingly expensive. Imagine having to buy a decent chain whip, cassette removal tool, crank/BB removal tools, chain tool which are needed for a simple job of drivetrain maintenance/replacement.
These tool kits can get you going maintenance wise, I thoroughly recommend them. Long term spend some cash, but just on the tools you need to…

bike specific tools – cyclo makes decent stuff..

for normal tools, just get the best normal tools you can afford from a none biek specific supplier

CRC had some decent offers on Xtools stuff last time I looked- recognisable as being mostly the same as used to be sold as Lifeline and in other midrange kits. Well specced and reasonable quality- I got some of this stuff about 3 years ago, it gets used way more than most home kits. Neither come with a cable cutter though and the more expensive one lacks an external BB spanner- easy to add and tbh, cheap “bike specific” cable cutters are usually quite poor and expensive ones are too expensive, wire rope cutter off ebay makes more sense.

To any of these I’d add a decent quality set of t-handled allen keys. Good allen keys don’t cost a ridiculous amount, but are less likely to ruin your bolts.

The thing about buying tools as and when you need it, is that sooner or later you’ll need something on a saturday night, right before a big ride.

thanks
I think I’ll get the Bike Hand kit and replace pieces when they wear out

I’ve got the Halfords one:
http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_storeId_10001_catalogId_10151_categoryId_242558_productId_522915_langId_-1?

Built numerous bikes with it, and for the money it’s fine.

In terms of bike specific tools you will probably also need a decent cable cutter and a pedal spanner. (Open ended spanners and electrical cutters will often do in a push, but not ideal)

The most invaluable item for bike work though is a proper stand. I’d rather one of those and cheap tools, than no stand and expensive tools.

I actually got the bike hand toolkit free with a workstand so I agree. Got the pair of £50 which has been pretty good VFM.

I would never buy a tool ‘kit’ myself, I much rather buy quality items as I need them and then keep them forever. I have tools over 25 years old in my kit that work as well as the day I bought them.

I would get as a start

Allen Keys, Ball end set 2-10mm I use Bondhus but several other good one available.
Couple of decent screw drivers, small flat blade most useful on bikes, Facom or Brittool
Chain Tool – I have a Park Tool CT3, still going strong after 20 years
Cable cutters – Buy a pair of Felco C7 and you’ll never need another pair again.
Medium Combination Pliers and Small Snipe nose – I use Facom
Chain Whip – Park here but other work just as well
Cassette Tool – Shimano’s own is the best I find
Larger adjustable – Bacho, good for lots of random jobs and holding B/B and cassette tools
Stanley Knife
Junior Hacksaw
Scissors
Black electrical tape
Tape Measure

Lots of other random tools can be added to these to do specific jobs but these staples will see you right for a lot of jobs on bikes and shouldn’t cost much over £100 and can be bought as finances allow.

thanks
I think I’ll get the Bike Hand kit and replace pieces when they wear out

I just got the same one. Pretty good kit and I think you can find it on Amazon for £27. At least it was a couple of weeks ago.

I have the BikeHand advanced toolkit, and most of it is pretty good. The cable cutters didn’t last, but most works well.

Blazin-saddles list is good.

I would add to that a rubber mallet and a torque wrench. Both get a fair bit of use.

An old seat post is also handy for applying that bit of extra leverage occasionally.

Threaded rod, nuts and various size washers are also very handy 😉