# Essential balloon or early (not 10 speed) bicycle tools evey bikenut should have



## bike (Jul 28, 2013)

Inspired by oldtimers thread.
What tools should anyone that plans on messing with bikes have?
Brand and model helpful!

Park stand is one I can no longer do without
pedal wrench in every vehicle and tool box.
...
Thanks!


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## SirMike1983 (Jul 28, 2013)

A high quality, adjustable wrench that opens wide for its size. I bought a Channel-Lock brand adjustable wrench about 10 years ago and have used it for every project since. Until then, I had been using junky hardware store type wrenches. THe CHannel Lock has thinner blades to get into small spots and its mouth opens wide enough to handle the largest size headsets I've encountered. The grub screw in it locks up tight. Adjustable wrenches often are written off as cheap, secondary tools, but once you have a high quality one that locks tight and opens wide, you just won't go back to the cheap stuff.

I'll also say it's really nice to have a high quality socket set. I use a set of Made in USA Craftsmans I got about 10 years ago when I got the adjustable wrench. They're dead solid and have given years of good service. They blow away the cheap, Chinese stuff any day. The CHannel Lock wrench was not USA, but made in Spain.

Quality on these is really important in dealing with 60+ year old screws and nuts that often get rounded off or buggered with cheap stuff.


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## rustjunkie (Jul 28, 2013)




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## fordmike65 (Jul 28, 2013)

Better swap out that hammer for something much bigger.


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## snirt54 (Jul 28, 2013)

Park cone wrench set
Park crank tap set
tweezers with square ends for ball bearings
axle vise with lead jaws
spoke threading tool


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## bike (Sep 8, 2013)

*more input*

please!!!!!!!!!


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## dougfisk (Sep 8, 2013)

Set of nylon tire levers.

Quick stick type tire changer tool.

Quality high capacity tire pump with integral gauge.

Park master link pliers


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## scrubbinrims (Sep 8, 2013)

Things that have made my bicycle tinkering much easier...
A vintage chain breaker able to pop a single pin out of a skiptooth chain.
Vintage mechanics toolboxes for salvaging and organizing every nut and bolt along with misc things
Vice for straightening fender braces, etc...
My motor with a soft wire wheel for removing oxidation from hardware and rims
Fender roller
Fork straightener/bender
Chris


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## Andrew Gorman (Sep 9, 2013)

Cone wrenches
Cotter press
A good truing stand
And as mentioned previously, a decent workstand.


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## GiovanniLiCalsi (Sep 9, 2013)

This is one of the most persausive tools in my shop.
I soak the parts in RustBlast then use my oxy/acetylene torch to heat the parts.
This works on the most stubborn fasteners.


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## Iverider (Sep 21, 2013)

I like a good quality forged bicycle wrench for everyday wrenching on non corroded bikes. They clamp well and get into tight spaces better than a modern adjustable wrench. The handles are also short enough to prevent doing stupid stuff like ballooning a fork steerer.


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