Up until recently I'd probably have said my star-nut installer, just because it makes the job so easy.
But that was before I got one of these...
[img] 
?1227124707[/img]
Makes fitting stubborn tyres an absolute doddle, hugely satisfying to "own" the tyres that used to give me all manner of grief.
I'm about to buy a rank puller... that'l be my favourite tool when I use it. There is a special moment you get whn you use the right tool for the job, and it works so well!
I invested in a set of cone spanners... wow !!!
my campag crank puller for taper BB system, really well made 🙂 inserts comments about fondling tools
park tools cable cutter.
but when i find a great deal on a park tools pro wheel jig!!
[img] 
[/img]
Mine is about ten years old now, and built hundreds of bikes while in the trade. It's still going strong. Simple, well made and just what you need for loads of bike (and household!) repairs.
Bottle opener
bushing removal/replacement tool.
super satisfying (satisfying enough to use the word "super" infact)
anodized, lazer etched betd loverlyness,
makes a 15min bodge job, which risks being expensive in mashed bushings, and possibly press fitting a socket into a shockeye, into a literally 30 second job.
with two satisfying thwacks of a rubber mallet.
cracking
My Spoke Key.
Must have saved me £hundreds in wheel truing costs over the years, and now even more since I started building my owm wheels.
Everyone should learn how to true if not build their own wheels. It's very easy, and there's no mistique to it like some would have you believe. I started off with an MBUK article in about 1992.....
Rubber mallet. Endless fun.
The bottle opener I made from an old brake lever.
I don't really have anything else fancy, but the Hope bore cap tools are cool. No nonsense, supply your own handle for leverage, lumps of metal 🙂
[img] 
[/img]
😀
proper pedal spanner and chaingring bolt thingy have probably saved me the most pain and blood !!
But I still have a soft spot for the old rubber mallet - allows extreme ****ting with far less chance of collateral damage.....
Hammer
I lost my rubber mallet on holiday in Spain the other year, really need to get a new one.
3 way 4,5,6 mm allen key i got free with MBUK many moons ago... awesome tool!
is it just me or does everyone elses 5mm allen keys and 10mm spanners always go walkabout never to be seen again?
i was going to say me,but it has to be my bike stand and my rubber timmy,no more putting the bike upside down,holding a piece of wood over the crank and hitting it with a hammer...joy
Bondhus ball ended hex keys atmo, though i'm getting a Norbar torque wrench for my birthday 😀 (unless my dad craps out and gets me a Sealey one, i hope not)
Not strictly bike tools, but all they get used for. Beta Tools 1/4" Socket Set, with allen key bits. And a 1/4" Norbar torque wrench to go with it.
Pedros work stand is very good, but a bit yellow.
Park hex tools, no more rounded bolts 🙂 The torx tool is a close second (only because I don't use it so much).
Anything made by Beta tools. Ohh ITALIAN ORANGE lovelyness.
[img] 
[/img]
Looks cool and just a smidge more versatile then a rubber mallet.
We had this debate on the old site once - track pump wins every time
Captainflashheart... I would have to list that as one of my most handy tools but also at the top of the most infuriating to use list, cant beat a proper set of T handle allen keys.
And any bike multi tools should be left in the saddlepack/rucksack for emergency use.
Cant beat proper tools all seperate and not fighting each other.
edit My Joe Blow pump is great edit
The tool that makes my life easy is the peg spanner that fits the eccentric on the Tandem - makes a fiddly task easy
I have one of those rubber mallets and it is fun but it has to be my bog standard 5mm allen key with ball end.
[img] 
[/img]
Not really a bike tool but a hydraulic press. Makes pressing in bearings, star nuts and headsets easy as pie.
[img] 
[/img]
I've got two:
1: Park allen keys from 1991, the mini-tool thingy. The keys themselves have been replaced but the alloy housing is the same. My mum and dad bought it me and somehow I haven't lost them. They mean a lot to me...
2: Campagnolo corkscrew. Quality engineering for a quality job. Bought as a present for getting my phd -the sort of thing I always wanted but never would have bought myself.
3 (ok I know): Park mini chain brute. A beast of a tool!
Y shaped 4,5,6mm hex key is my favourite too.
[img] 
[/img]
blatant excuse to show off my new toy 😆
kids they just love washing my bikes do a cr@p job mind but at least they try (free till they understand what money is and the youngest cleans my bike every friday even if it is clean)
They are 2 and 4 so not quality but willing
chakaping - MemberI lost my rubber mallet on holiday in Spain the other year, really need to get a new one.
What/why/how?
[img] 
[/img]
It's either my Shimano chainring bolt spanner or the Enduro bottom bracket bearing tool.
I've love one of those King hub tools...but I don't actually have King hubs!
King tools look nicer than King components!
Racing Ralph - I came home from holiday (camping) and the mallet didn't.
Work stand and track pump are the most useful.
I do like this though - [img] 
[/img]
My chainring bolt spanners never seem to work very well. Have both Park and Shimano.
Effetto Mariposa Giustaforza torque wrench is my favourite. (Also sold under other brand names, eg: Ritchey)
5mm allen key
a Park 'phillips' type screw-driver, the little one that fits the adjuster screws on mechs perfectly
This
[img] 
[/img]
What does it do?
Have lots of fave tools
USE UFO (flying saucer) bottle opener - got mine for £2.99 - probably gets more use than most "bike tools".
Would like a campy corkscrew - they're really cool too.
Seriously though. Everyone should have;
A workstand
Proper cable cutters
Rubber malet
good set of allen keys
Pedal spanner
Park mini chain brute
Ti cool tool.
My set of Halfords allen keys. They were actually pretty expensive, same kind of quality as Park but they've been going strong for years with no rounded bolts.
The one tool I'd never be without is a track pump.
silver pigeons is a cable puller?
useful for people with one arm, MAYBE?
can someone name ONE thing a pillar drill could be used for RE bikes please?
x
[img] 
[/img]
what a tool!
Olly, it's not a pillar drill 😉
Pedros Star-Nut tool. Whop, and it's in.
4/5/6mm triple allen key spidery thing. Gets used so much more than everything else. Love it even more considering it's the free MBUK one from years ago and it's out lasted several other allen keys I've bought which have then rounded off.
[img] 
[/img]
[img] 
[/img]
[img] 
[/img]
A decent set of cable cutters. Its almost fun to replace cables with them.
The only other one was after 1 hour of brutal struggling trying to get an excessively worn shock bush out, Vortex from these parts invited me over to watch him use his shock bush tool and a vice. It made the job ludicrously easy.
My faves have to be my Pamir Engineering Hyper cracker and Shimano cable cutters.
So easy after years of swearing with pliers and anything else that might but metal cables.
I do enjoy a good bit of ratchet action.
[img] 
[/img]
Is that for facing IS brake mounts?
grumm asked
about the Pedro's garlic press thingy.What does it do?
The Pedro’s cable puller applies the desired amount of tension on cables tight while tightening pinch bolts. Locking lever holds the cable tight while using both hands to perform other operations.
the one that set me off down the "right tool for the job" path was definitely a pedal spanner. Struggled for ages trying to change some pedals without, took a quick drive to the LBS, got a pedal spanner and "saw the light" when the pedal came off in seconds.
I always liked the Morning Star Freehub buddy but you don't get much call for them these days.