[Closed] Tools you wish you'd known about years ago

Non bike related;

Impact driver.
Oscillating multi tool.

Both awesome

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Pipe cutter. Made trimming bars absolutely efffortless.

Will a pipe cutter work on mudguard stays?

Ordering that tyre seating tool!

knife edge pullers.

Basically a crown race remover for forks - but bigger and for doing wheel bearing inner races off stub axles on cars.....

i always used to cut at 45 degrees then split with a cold chisel.

The chisel knife

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Star nut Setting tool

for Cars it was Hose clip pliers - They are a game changer compared to stock pliers

Are those tyre seating tools any good then? I was looking at one only last week.

And if they do work.....how do you get the tyre off, if you get a puncture while out riding....

I bought a new Michelin Pro Endurance tyre recently from my LBS for the road bike (£50 down to a tenner), but I cannot get it anywhere close to seating on the rim. It's miles off & if I used a tool like that lever, I am not sure I'd ever get it back off again!!

Attach pump. Keep pumping til tyre explodes

makes shortening hoses a pleasure not a pain.

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Stumpy - I have the VAR tyre jack which is a similar, but simpler idea. It includes tyre levers in the design and will fit in a big saddle bag or a jersey pocket. SJS cycles stock them.

I remember discovering what circlip pliers were, while in the middle of changing the clutch on my motorbike, wish I'd known about them before I tore half the engine off...

Hayes brake pad alignment tool, been using one for a few years, or you could otherwise use two suitable feeler gauges but the Hayes tool is handy for reseating the pistons as well

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[url= http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/hayes-pad-rotor-alignment-tool/rp-prod35769 ]Hayes pad alignment tool here[/url]

And a tool i discovered years ago when fiddling with carburettor jets on cars or for replacing that fiddly screw when changing the points on cars, you only drop a jet screw down a venturi once before you decide there must be a better way.

[url= http://toolguyd.com/ullman-screw-nut-starters/ ]screw starter with magnetic head[/url]

I could list other tools that i've found handy but they are mostly for vehicle applications so i doubt they'll be of much use here

stevious - Member

Stumpy - I have the VAR tyre jack which is a similar, but simpler idea. It includes tyre levers in the design and will fit in a big saddle bag or a jersey pocket. SJS cycles stock them.

Cheers, stevious. Yeah, I've been looking at the VAR tyre jack too.
My point is though, that if you need one of these to get the tyre onto the rim, is it not then nigh on impossible to get the tyre back off again if you get a puncture - the tyre jack only helps to put the tyre on, doesn't it? Not take it back off again?

Or does it generally not work like that - i.e. a tyre is easier to get off, than put back on??

Side cutters, make zip ties flush every time, no faff, and cost about £3

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Both of these have been a god send and means I can get out more on the bike 🙂

We have two of these, both bought in the Aldi sale, one mounted on the wall in the garage and one in the camper van. Work wonders when popping tyres onto rims.

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Pillar drill. I weep at the number of times I have made a mess of vertical holes in things in the past.

Just wish I had space for the X/Y axis table for it so I could do some basic milling.

Flush side cutters are a good one- it's the sort of thing you overlook and just curse the jaggy ends left by your traditional sidecutters, and never think that there might be a better tool.

quicklink pliers. Not that you can't do them by hand but these just make it so much easier.

Off the bike - Chimney starter for my BBQ. Again, I can do it perfectly well with pyramids of charcoal and torn up newspaper if I have to, but sitting down with a beer and a clock knowing it'll be ready to cook on in 20 mins is a joy.

I use nail clippers to cut zip ties, always get some in Christmas Crackers!

I've just borrowed a headset press, first time ever not relying on wooden blocks and various other makeshift objects. Wish I'd bought one years ago.

The humble Pickle Fork. A lovely edition to your hammer and brute force based tool set!

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Great thread!
I am a fan of these;
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Allows screwing a BB in with a 1/2" ratchet.
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No more pissing around with chain whips!

The chisel knife

+1

The Hultafors chisel knife / knife holder / snickers work trousers integrated system is a revelation too. Been wearing versions of the trousers for 10 years or so but only recently started using their knives. It seems to be a strange thing to get excited about but the way they work together is great.

One of those 12V impact wrench thingers from Argos that run off a car battery.

Are those tyre seating tools any good then?

I've got the same one that's in that original photo and it works well. Not sure I'd have been able to fit some Schwalbe Marathon Plus tyres without it.

Haven't needed it since I fitted it, but good to know that it's there.

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ThT ball joint fork above is good for removing crank arms when the thread has stripped.

Haven't needed it since I fitted it, but good to know that it's there.

Not sure what that is...

Chainset bolt tool
Bench vice
Pin gun

Specialized chaintool that fits in an expanding steerer bung. Expensive but means you can have a much smaller multitool.

Pedro's vice whip.
Blind bearing puller.

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Cable setting tool for Alfine hubs. Saves so much faffing about with rulers and two spanners.

Oh, and this thing, for putting the circlips back onto hub gears:

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https://goo.gl/images/1n8qzJ

Makes applying grease so much easier.

Knipex for me...

An adjustable spanner that doesn't slip open or round off nuts.

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surely thats not an adjustable spanner but some sort of pliars?

survivor has my suggestion. Posted on here last year, but has the best bits of a pip wrench and Bahco. Used it lots!

Totally going to have to get some side cutters ... good shout!

Swiss army knife hunter to be precise.

Gone are the "i must fix that" niggles in a shitehole flat. i just fix them there and then

surely thats not an adjustable spanner but some sort of pliars?

It's better at adjustable spannering than adjustable spanners are. Useful for a lot more things also.

I kind of get it in a portable sense, but a set of spanners can be had for similar money and are far better at being spanners.
As James May says; The adjustable spanner is the tool of the charlatan!

I've never rounded off a bolt with a proper adjustable spanner. I use one a fair bit

Nor me, but a spanner is the right tool.

Inded - its just someone always hides the correct size!

What's a chisel knife used for?

Morticer pillar drill for me. Perfect joints every time. Or side wall drive sockets. Genius.

Inded - its just someone always hides the correct size!

Latex gloves. Puncture fixing in the pissing rain with mud everywhere is much more pleasant.
I discovered some 3/8 to tap square adapters the other day. Well handy when there's no room for a tap wrench. And if I'm feeling lazy I can smack then in with the rattle gun.
Neway valve seat cutters are awesome.
WNT lathe tools are just incredible. Bloody expensive but I wish I'd got them years ago.
Articulating ratchet spanners are probably one of the most useful tools in the box and they are only a ton or so for a set.
Also how do people manage without a lathe and dro a vertical and dro a mig and a tig and a big record vice? Doesn't compute

At the moment it's my home made tool board, it's on a wall in my porch, and it has a screw for each of the garden/large tools which used to make up the jumble of tools which sat in the corner of my porch, and fell over/under/got knocked onto and then scratched my bikes.

To be able to take a few steps to my toolboard and put my hand easily onto the tool I want is currently a revelation.

Everybody should have tool boards. 🙂

Basin tap spanner

James May is wrong.
I still have a good quality adjustable spanner from my apprentice days, its very useful.

I would suggest those gloves that are sold everywhere now, sometimes called builders gloves but close enough fitting for quite fine work. No more rough hands for this boy.

Tool for removing clutch driven alternator pulleys.
Not something you'd use every day but nigh on impossible to remove without one.

[url= https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/704/32810740992_afe0149be4.jp g" target="_blank">https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/704/32810740992_afe0149be4.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/RZnCbU ]Alternator Pulley Tool[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/takisawa2/ ]pten2106[/url], on Flickr

surely thats not an adjustable spanner but some sort of pliars?

Its not to obvious from the pic but unlike pliers the jaws have a parallel actions like an AJ rather than the scissoring action of pliers - so they fit the nut like a spanner but grip like pliers. Theres a very high leverage ratio so the grip things very tightly too, but the gripping faces are smooth so you can grip without marking stuff. With a bit of practice with how you hold them you can use them as a sort or ratchet too - good for hard to get at bolts and much faster to work with than an AJ. They're really light too, mine is usually in my pocket all day.

What's a chisel knife used for?

They've got a bit more spring to them than a conventional chisel so you can lever and pry with them too without them snapping and they're thiner than a chisel or a cats paw so good at getting into stuff and prying it apart. Easy to resharpen and dead cheap too so you don't need to be precious with them.

The first time you use one you'll cut yourself.

That quick link removing tool, cheep and awesome

The pliery/adjustie is called a Waterpump Plier

@MacCruiskeen - thanks! Realised i was tee-ing that up, but well done for resisting going to town.

I have knives. I have chisels. Hadn't realised i was missing a tool! A couple of suggestions here added to the list.

The knipex is called a pliers wrench. Not a water pump spanner.

Water pump spanners move in a different motion and the flats don't stay parallel.

The flats staying parallel is key to the knipexs greatness.

A top tool for your back pack.

Seeing as were including non bike tools then a draper trim removal kit is pretty handy

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Adjustable wrenches are like molegrips, in the wrong hands they're weapons of mass destruction which means people tend to forget that as long as you're not a clown, they can be really useful. Also, most of the ajs out there are cheap crap from B&Q £10 toolkits with wobbly jaws. A good one is worth owning.

Groove joint, slip joint, flat, angles or curved......versions of their 'base', that is a WP Plier.