Perhaps none of these are essential but they are all items you will never regret buying (apart from one)
Park Tool ZP-5 Flush Cut Pliers
- Price: £24.99
- From: Freewheel
Try as we might, even in the world of internally routed everything there is still a need for zip ties. And yes you can just use scissors, Stanley knife or regular snips to do your trimming but flush cut snippers like these are lovely. You’ll never go back to the old ways after going flush. These Park Tool versions are incredibly sharp too (so you may find yourself using them for various DIY tasks too). As well as making zip ties look a bit more ‘finished’, those of you who have ever received a cut from non-flush cut zip tie will know how much that hurts. And bleeds. Especially if it’s a cut on your leg mid-ride. Oof.
Pedro’s DH tyre lever
- Price: £17.99
- From: Pedro’s
This tool has seen some action. Those of you with carbon rims may wish to wrap a bit of insulation tape around the tip if you’re anxious. I use this tool pretty much every time I remove or install a tyre. Because why not? It makes easy tyres even easier, normal tyres nice and easy, and impossible tyres possible. There are alternative ‘big metal tyre levers’ out there but none has the tip shape or sheer strength of the classic Pedro’s version.
Nutrak Sealant Syringe
- Price: £12.99
- From: Freewheel
Whilst most of time when installing tyres I simply squirt sealant straight out of the bottle into the tyre and then finish putting the tyre bead on the rim, occasionally I do have the need to inject sealant via the valve whilst the wheel is fully tyre-shod. It’s arguably less techno than some other more expensive injectors but I don’t seem to get on very well with the fancy injectors. I understand this Nutrak one and am fine with it. Remove valve core, thread on the black end of this injector, squirt a measured amount of sealant in, unthread end, reinstall valve core. No waste. No waste. Just works.
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Rope vernier / Rideguard ruler
- Price: £freebie from The London Boat Show / £14.00 Rideguard PF1
- From: Marlow Ropes / Rideguard
The black things comes supplied with RideGuard mudguards. The white I picked up as a freebie from the London Boat Show back in the day (it was next door the London Cycle Show). Normal people won’t need these things as much as bike testers do. But for accurate and consistent suspension sag setting-up, either of these two dinky things are very useful. Basically you can put them fully up against the stanchion or shock body without the risk of scratching the surface (which can happen with metal tape measures or rulers). And the fact that you can rest these measuring instruments directly on to the suspension seal lip and O-ring means you can be sure of your measurements.
Muc-Off eBike Drivetrain Tool
- Price: £20.00
- From: Muc-Off
Very ebike specific. And very specific to the type of ebike motor you have. Basically you need to have an ebike with a chainring that mounts via spider and chainring bolts. Direct mount chainrings won’t work with this. But if you have a Specialized or Shimano motor for example, this makes oiling your chain a heck of a lot simpler. Thus you will do it more and/or better! Select the correct bit end (5/6mm hex, T25), insert it into the chainring bolt, pedal your crank backwards and voila! You can oil your chain just like you used to do in the analogue days.
Park Tool FCT-1 Fork Cap Tool
- Price: £13.99
- From: Freewheel
Something rather niche. A cube for undoing stuck fork caps. Again, normal humans probably shouldn’t rush out and buy one of these but for bike mechanics (and bike jounros) who encounter a fair few seized-on fork caps will be welcome to see a solution that works and doesn’t risk damaging someone else’s bike.
and…
Wera 9 Piece Colour Coded Allen Key Set
- Price: £33.95
- From: Wera
I think my expectations were too high. Nonetheless, this colourful set of Allen keys was very disappointing. There were two main issues I had with them. Firstly, the insertion depth of the non-ball end was occasionally too shallow (for things like thru-axles) and secondly, the plastic sleeves weren’t great. The more frequently used ones (for me, the 4 and 6mm) suffered from splits ends and ultimately ended up slipping and spinning on the shaft. I ended up replacing this whole set with a pack of non-sleeved colour-coded ones from Lidl of all places, which have been surprisingly great so far (you can see two of them in the top left of the photo above).
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I got a set of those Wera allen keys for Christmas last year and they’re great – an unexpectedly thoughtful gift! I agree that the ball end could do without being a ball end much of the time, but it’s no biggy.
Next up for me: mini ratchet set, I reckon.
@a11y
Vittoria make a great liner fitting/removal tool.
Yeah. Just the initial getting the tyre bead released and into the centre channel in the rim. Insert taking up that space definitely making it harder. Worse with Rimpact v1 than my bike with a Cushcore XC. My thumbs were agony afterwards last time!
TBF I’ve not looked into technique since last swapping tyres over so I’ll be missing some trick (or some tool).
I’ve had success with putting it in a vice, with a rag to protect the rim.
Tighten up, and bend the wheel down so it drag the bead into the centre.
Did it on one of mine at the weekend, tyres are re-useable afterwards.
That was without an insert, but think I did it on one with a Rimpact in the past.
@a11y That’s the one.
Those Vittoria pliers look like such a good idea that I just ordered some immediately. Hopefully they’ll be just the trick for breaking the bead with Rimpacts in. I’ve also suffered from crippled thumbs in the aftermath of a tyre battle.
I’ve got the large metal Park tyre levers which will remove any tyre but with inserts I sometimes can’t even get them in to begin with.
I be interested in hear if that Vittoria tool is any good, but it always seemed aimed at roadied tyres not 2.6’s…
Off-hand “cushcore bead dropper" the clue is in the name, and definitely helped me deal with swapping tyres, while recovering with a broken collar bone.
They do an MTB specific one.
I’ve just gone ahead and ordered the MTB version of the Vittoria tool too.
@z1ppy, I’ve already got that CushCore bead dropper tool but tyre/rim combo so tight it was near-impossible to get the bead over the bulge into the centre channel. Definitely an improvement over normal tyre levers but I still struggled.
The tool is for folks who don’t have the bike in a stand with the wheel off the ground, spinning the wheel is not an option
Um, just turn the bike upside down – takes 2 seconds. Makes applying lube and rotating the cranks/wheel easy.
My Weras are the old green sleeved ones. The sleeves are all chewed up after using them as levers, the writing has worn off, some sleeves have come off and get stuck in the rubber holder, I trimmed the 10mm sleeve down so I could get deeper insertion on something. Still going strong.
I’ve put off the knipex pliers for ages convincing myself I don’t want (or need them) but the desire is still there.
The park tool wheel holder looks pretty appealing.
Side cutters are great but if you spend £25 on the Park ones then I have a gold brick to sell you.
Agree about the Weras though, they can be really good but for bike use, where a lot of fasteners are shallow, or not great quality, and also full of mud, and especially for smaller sizes I just don’t think they’re the right too. I retired mine to other jobs and they still do good work but all that really gets used on the bikes is some bog standard teng ones
“Um, just turn the bike upside down – takes 2 seconds.”
My ebike is too long to turn upside down in my (tiny) garage, plus the huge rear mudguard that’s a necessity for my winter commute would get squashed into the ground when flipping it, and I’d rather not have to replace it more often.
The little crank turning tool is actually a really neat solution, I’ve been using it since Benji reviewed it at some point in the last few years.
A 5mm hex key on a 3/4″ socket is a lot cheaper than the muc off tool and works just as well, and it’s even cheaper if you already have one knocking about from a socket set. Wrap the OD in insulation tape if you’re precious about your cranks (but there’s barely any force there)
Also wera hex keys are superior to standard keys for 95% of jobs IMO. They don’t wear/ round off as quickly, I think they give better engagement and don’t round out soft bike hex screws as easily. The ball ended bit has the same issues as any ball ended bit, and once in a blue moon the small ones aren’t thin enough to poke into a hole. The slipping rubber only happened to me after about 10 years and was easily fixed with some liquid super glue dropped inside then rapidly re-assembled. 5⭐, will buy again
“A 5mm hex key on a 3/4″ socket is a lot cheaper than the muc off tool and works just as well”
Have you used the Muc-Off tool?
I’ve found it works a lot better than any of the alternatives because:
1. The rubber sleeve means that it doesn’t tend to jam hard against your cranks making it hard to get out.
2. If it does seem stuck then the removable hex bits lets it separate into two parts, again stopping you having an annoying fight.
The Weras are great, I use mine almost every day. Definitely the go-to set of allen keys. The hex-plus shape does seem to work for reducing rounding bolts. The sleeve on the 5mm did slip a bit, but a heat gun seemed to solve it.
Literally never had a hex socket get stuck so maybe I’ve not run into the problem that this solves. I’ll save my £20 until I do
Edit: that’s with a Bosch gen 4 and there always seems to be enough backlash to unload the socket. Maybe other motors are different
“Edit: that’s with a Bosch gen 4 and there always seems to be enough backlash to unload the socket. Maybe other motors are different ”
That must be it – there’s no backlash on my Levo motor, every wiggle as you try to coax it out feels like it’s making it even tighter!
If I’m going to kill or maim anyone it will be with the cheapeast bottle of sparking wine I can get in Duty-Free! Proving that:
a The terrorists have won &
b What is practiced at the ‘security’ scanners is theatre
(Mrs Sandwich was stopped at both Stansted and Aldergrove this weekend for a travel size bottle of Tresemmé shampoo in a black bottle. “Come at me with that banana")