Bottom Bracket Threading Tool – which one?

Has anybody got any good or bad opinions of the various Bottom Bracket Threading Tools that are available. I have found them from 100 GBP, like the Cyclus 2012, to models by Var, for 400 GBP, and then there are Park Tools versions like the BTS-1, which are very pricey.

I don’t specifically but I have some cyclus tools (inc headset press ) and they work perfectly well 🙂

Had the misfortune to use a cheap Cyclo one many years back, the threads ended up worse than when I started. Taps are one area I wouldn’t want to compromise on, especially considering the cost of some frames, currently using VAR which seems to have held up well over the past few years, but would probably use an LBS’ sevices for occasional use.

Superstar have a bottom bracket tap and facing tool set for £150.00 , thinking of getting one myself.

It’s the sort of tool that’s not likely to pay for itself, IMO… How often will you use it?

You can take an old BB and cut slots across the thread in order to make a thread cleaner- it won’t recut or repair threads but it’ll chase muck, grit, and even bits of broken cup thread out.

^^
Agree with this. One of the few jobs my lbs gets out of me.

A shop will charge you buttons for this in comparison so you will have to do an awful lot of chase and face to cover the cost. Some tools are worth having in the home workshop but I do not reckon that this is one of them.

I don’t have a local shop with facilities to do this. So I am bit stuck, since I have a bottom bracket full of powder coat. And, well, I like tools – and more is good 🙂

Slotted bottom bracket will chase out powder no bother (that’s what convinced me to try it in the first place)

Hey, Northwind, when you say slotted bottom bracket, do you mean an old bottom-bracket cup that has a slot – 1 mm or so – cut through one side with a saw?

I cut shallower slots, so not quite all the way through the shell but all the way through the thread. Full cuts might work just as well or even better tbh, but I was a wee bit worried the shell might lose its shape. Ends up working much like a proper tap, except you need to stop and clean it out quite often.

Works very well- especially for free 😉

Thanks. I’ll give it a go.

I chewed a Santa cruz bullit BB thread driving a shimano BB into it. Chase those threads if in doubt. A LBS can do it fe £10. It takes minutes, I likes tools but ones that will get used!