Just serviced my forks, and fitted the new seals using the Unior seal tool. What a joy – having used various wood blocks and sockets and all that nonsense – the seal fits onto the tool, slot into fork, the seal has nowhere to go except into the slot, few taps of a mallet, job done. Literally took thirty seconds to get both new seals in and seated, and the tool is less than a tenner. A real “why didn’t I get one of these before?” moment.

Sat here feeling immense satisfaction, while at the same time ruig all the wasted time and frustration from services past

http://www.unior-bike.com/?doc=10780&prod=303751

A star fangled nut installer and a crown race mover are both joyous thibgs to use.

Never has the SFN tool… must add it to the list. Getting a workstand was a similar revelation for me… just made gear tuning and the like so so easy.

And a set of pliers for opening & closing powerlinks – brilliant

And a set of pliers for opening & closing powerlinks – brilliant

unless they’re from SSC, and turn out to be made of plastic (they were on sale..)

Mine was BBB, and was about six Euro from CRC

There can be moments of deep satisfaction from doing a job without the tools, but on the whole: “The Right Tool for the Job” wins every time.

How much OP?

10 Euro off eBay

Will have a gander ta.

It’s a job that can be a pain in the bum without the right tool. The right tool isn’t necessarily something designed for the job, mind, mine is a bit of PVC pipe, and my SFN Right Tool is just a bit of threaded M6 bar (thread it in from the bottom then tap in from the top, or pull in with a washer and nut if you prefer- the length of the bar makes it impossible to get it squint)

Cable cutters.
I ‘managed’ with pliers for years before getting a pair.

Had to replace shock bushings on a Fox RP23. Plenty of online advice that removal was easy using a couple of sockets and a vice or hammer. Persevered for about an hour getting increasingly violent until I decided to err on the side of caution and bought a shock bush removal tool for £6.50 from Ebay. Slid the bushings out out no problem in less than a minute.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Shock-Bush-Removal-Tool-DU-Bushes-for-Fox-Rockshox-Manitou-X-Fusion-etc-/121781078102?var=&hash=item1c5ab7c856:m:mxb-uOJjvZNMo1AdFrMDoSQ

I’ve had a few of those moments, as a start:
A work stand. Suddenly working on the bike is just a whole lot easier.
A track pump. Why oh why did I not buy one of these years ago???
Good cable cutters – Wonderful things, just wonderful.
A workshop size chain tool – Effortlessly removes and installs pins, sooo much better than a small one.
A grease gun – Suddenly I can get the grease exactly where I want it rather than roughly where I can get my fingers.

Ordered one of those fork seal jobbies, who knows I might even use it one day.