Pro tip: For cutting cable housing, where the situation allows, take an old length of inner cable and slip it inside the housing when and where you’ll make the cut. The cable will help keep the housing from crushing as much, and make opening it back up easier.
Russ wins the award for being the most desirable next door neighbor. Not because I need the help or to borrow tools. He’s just always working on interesting stuff. Thanks for this video. It was very timely.
I find an extendable magnet wand indispensable. Inexpensive and not bike specific - and one of the few tools I’ll buy from Harbor Freight. Great for extracting loose bearings from hubs and bottom brackets, but lots of other uses as well.
Tyre Glider is the one tire tool that beats and replaces all the rest...and believe me, I own them all. But after buying my first Tyre Glider, I bought 4 more to put in all my bike seat bags. Don't need levers and stubborn tires are no match for this thing. NUFF said!
I bought a set of Jagwire cable cutters, and discovered that they had a straight pointed end in the handle to help open up housing. Super handy having both tools in one. In agreement on a tap set. They are a must for cleaning out eyelets, especially on used bikes, which always have paint or rust in them. In a pinch you can drill out the threads and retap to M6 if needed ;)
It takes less effort to cut housings too (feels like snipping) compared to Park Tool's, but it's not the best when it comes to crimping cable tip end caps, I still use the latter for that.
Old socks. Great as rags but being a sock they can be pulled over things and more! For example, to ensure no scratches where your bike stand grabs your paintwork, slide a sock over each jaw. To polish your bike, wear the sock as a glove and dip it in the polish or rub off etc ( best to wear a latex glove underneath). If your hands are getting cold, cut the toe off the sock and wear them over your wrist area. Using spanners doing something a bit weighty? Pull a sock (or two) over them in case they slip, more of a soft clunk than paint scraped. Also great for wrapping tools in a pannier to stop them rattling.
Tool thoughts: I use an good truing stand every day for truing wheels, building wheels, replacing spokes taping rims, even cleaning wheels. I use ball-end screwdriver-handle 4mm and 5mm allen keys for most hex-screw turning outside if initially breaking them loose or the final torquing. I use sharpened spokes for awles. I use the j-bend of spokes regularly when fishing cables or wiring through internal routing. I use a 3-way allen key for thru-axles and going around the bike making sure everything is tight (torque wrenches are what one should use for the latter). . . I also use good needle-nose pliers a lot for pulling cables and zip‐ties and tightening the nuts on threaded valve stems.
My favorites are - Topeak (or equivalent) mini ratchet, 65mm ball end 1/4in bits for the ratchet, Crankbrothers Better Tire Lever, Milwaukee M12 tire inflator with a Prestacycle Big Presta Head, 5in Knipex, long 2, 2.5, and 3mm hobby hex screwdrivers with chunky handles for derailleur adjustment.
Good pointers. I recently added a Japanese industrial standard screwdriver. It fits Shimano perfectly, probably other types, too. You didn’t know you needed this until you got one.
A big, flat, square-ish piece of wood to set up road bike hoods. Picked that tip up in a YT comment. If you can make four contact points (incl. the two for the hoods), it allows you to set up the hoods symmetrically very easily.
All very solid tool choices. One of my favorites is the derailluer hanger alignment gauge. I mostly do MTB and i end up using it frequently, it's paid for itself 5x over.
The "disc rotor alignment tool" is pretty handy if you swap your wheels fairly often. Even if the wheels and rotors are of the same brand, sometimes less than a millimeter is the difference between a quiet ride and a noisy rotor. Another thing I found very useful even though I don't use it a lot is the "cable third hand" - used for keeping the brake and shifter cables taught as you cinch down the pinch bolts.
There's a small part called a rotor shim that goes to whichever wheel needs to bring the rotor a little further outboard. Once I have a disc brake road bike, I'll be getting some of it.
Not a tool per se, but my favorite bike-wrench-related thing this year is the Reserve Fillmore valves. Combined with a high-volume pump, they make seating tubeless SO much easier.
Very good video. I’m a fan of some of your less obvious tools. One tool you left out is the truing stand. I’ve built dozens of wheels so I know you can do it without a truing stand, but the stand makes it easier and faster. I’ve built wheels with and without a stand, and I prefer having it. The same goes for truing wheels which I do more often than building them.
My dude, recently bought a Wolf Tooth pack wrench and love it! 16/44 bottom bracket on one end, magnetic 1" hex on the other with 1" addons for that. Got a 16/41 cup that fits in it for my MT-800 and it worked flawlessly! Next on the list is Wolf Tooth hanger alignment tool. Love them guys.
I use a cheap grout brush for cleaning out the rear cassette. It gets in to the crevices and I don’t care if it gets mangled. The picks are good for getting long grasses out of those gears after they’ve wound themselves in.
A tool I seem to use a lot is a good pair of scissors. Seems I'm always cutting cable ties or bar tape. I work on old bikes and single speeds. On old bikes I'm always removing cranks to install sealed BB units so a crank puller is always close at hand in my shop. Agree with having a pick or set of picks as well as an awl, essential tools. For old bikes and SS, a variety of blocks to take off free wheels and of course a set of cone wrenches for servicing loose bearing wheels.
Park tool (and others if you look), makes a nice pair of small flush cut pliers for plastic only that let you cut zip ties flush so there’s no edge to catch on anything.
2:35 man, shooting grips across the shop is always so much fun! We put a hole in the wall, right above our main techs head once ... ever since then, we had to call out "fire in the hole" before we blasted a grip off.
would recommend E6000. great for patching kinda like silicon and being able to remove, plus it looks fairly clean as a clear goop. I love using this with extra stretch material from a stretched out dry fit nike that I can't wear and using scraps and gluing up torn holes on gloves
great set of tools! one great addition to this list is the bench grinder, which is quite indispensable when it comes to things like rounding the edges of cut fender stays, squaring/cleaning up housing ends, and polishing/grinding many other chunks of metal to the shape of your choosing. you can also use it to create a "sharpened spoke tool" aka the cheapster's version of the feedback sports pick.
great idea this made me think of is using an old spoke to make picks! Thanks. Also, have used a spoke and shaved it(I have a Dremel) and use it for stans darts as refills are cheaper.
My most used is definitely my small knipex, works for just about everything on my bikes except for the bottom bracket or headsets, so that just means i need the bigger size
I don't know if you can get them in the US yet, but if you can check out the TyreGlider (The have a YT channel), it totally looks like a crowd funded type gimmick, but it has replaced all my tyre leavers, it will put Gatorskins on a Decathlon rim (If you know you know LOL) for the money its probably the second best bike tool I've ever purchased, after my 6 year old Aldi work-stand that just wont die. P.s. Some "click" style Torque wrenches work both ways, some don't, the ones marketed to bikes usually do but not always, so always check at a low torque on first use before you go swinging counter clockwise on a BB or something, I had to get just the threaded part of a cheap BSA BB cup out of a frame not long ago, the guy made this mistake and sheered off the whole outer part NOT FUN!
You reminded me to buy a metric tap set. Thanks. I have an inexpensive torque wrench drive set (Pro Bike Tool) that I use all the time. It's the click type and only goes to 20 newton meters, but it's great for all the odds and ends that have small torque values, and it has the Allen sizes and T-drives for bikes. I also have a thin 15 mm pedal wrench that I bought ages ago that comes in handy when working on old bikes that don't have a place for an Allen key on the backside. Also have a great little lay over shim that sits on top of break disc with a tab on each side to space the pads on mechanical disc breaks.
20 Nm max. is natural for 1/4-inch square drive torque wrenches. For higher torque specs, 3/8-inch is what you need and pay extra attention to its torquing orientation as most models are clockwise-only. I have the same torque wrench, except that I put mine to shop duty since October 2020. Having held up this long, it gets my approval.
Great video on tips for tools! I’ve recently been thinking about getting the Park Took WH-1 or WH-2 wheel holder. Seems like a nice to have and handy tool for wheel work.
Good pair of scissors and/or box cutter/pocket knife. Amazing how much packaging needs opening when dealing w/ bike supplies. A pick is 1 of those items I never realized I needed until after I got it. Got a cheap set of 6 from the $4 bin at 1 of the home improvement stores. Great for removing gunk from between cogs and other random tasks. Pricey but worth every penny is Park Tool's utility pick set. Come in straight, curved, and 90 degree. All 3 have a strong magnet on the opposite end.
I have a scewdriver-size pry bar (with a split tip, like a crowbar) that is the most marvelously useful thing, And I use a C-clamp as a third hand for road caliper brakes.
Before I made my current pick out of a broken spoke I filed down, I used to open up housing with the finished/soldered cable ends from new cables. Worked most of the time, but a pick is definitely better. XD I might grab some of that Sugru stuff. Could use it as a barrier between bike bag and frame, maybe?
The park cable cutters do the best all around job, and they are ergonomic. I am aware there are better (I use Knipex cable cutters), and tend to use side cutters for brake housing. The Knipex cutters do an amazing job with SIS shift housing, don't crush it, and leave a factory cut on cables. Park cutters do a little better with brake housing if not using side cutters. The Park cutters are a little more ergonomic if your hands are smaller, and need to cut housing all day. I am happy with my Knipex cutters and they do a way better job with shift housing, cutting cables, and crimping cable ends.
Nice comprehensive list. Some that I use almost everyday is the 5 inch cobra knipex, a double ended 8 and 9 mil wrench (snap on), ratcheting 10mil, knipex mini cable cutters, p handle 3,4,5 but the T handle ones are great too, and a mini ratchet for hex bits.
Other handy tools: Strap for the front wheel, whether a simple nylon one or a snazzy 25" Voile' one (whatever is handy). Great to keeping the front wheel from flopping around in the work stand, or whenever messing with anything to do with installing/removing the fork or stem. Old multi-tool. While the "right" full sized tool is better, often having a cast off multi-tool is just faster than figuring out where your missing 4mm hex wrench got off to.
I used to use an old inner tube to keep front wheel from flopping around when bike is in repair stand. Eventually upgraded to the Park Tool HBH-2 b/c it's easy on and off, keeps bars from slapping frame if front wheel is not installed, and holds the front fork straight while storing the bike, so fork won't suddenly turn and cause bike to fall over if method of storage is to lean it against something else.
If you service other peoples' bikes, never hurts to have a variety of lengths and diameters of metal pipe or schedule 40 PVC handy to use as a "cheater" bar. Never know when you'll encounter a part that's seized up beyond belief. My friends aren't big on routine cleaning and maintenance to prevent those situations. Also never hurts to have a can of penetrating spray in the shop to aid in removal as well as an appropriate grease or lubricant to prevent the situation from repeating itself after re-installation.
Nice T handle hex wrenches are definitely worth their weight in gold. I’d love to find a nice seat that also has a tool caddy in it for my garage. Right now I use a five gallon bucket since my bike stand isn’t terribly tall. It would be nice to slide around the bike in a seated position while working with all my most used tools right at hand.
I live in the Philippines and get punctures caused by very small shards of metal. My short range eye sight is poor so I "feel" for the pieces of metal. To extract them the pliers on a Gerber Vise Pocket Tool is absolutely invaluable. Lovely quality too
Just a heads up on your threading tools. What you had were thread cutters?, made for cutting new threads. They shouldn’t be used for thread CHASING, which is what you’re using them for. There are separate thread chaser tools for that. Using thread taps to chase weakens the threads, and is not advisable.
When I bought my first 12 speed bike, I thought I would be able to separate the quick link like I had with every 9 speed link I’ve had. I was surprised when I could get it off and bought some quick link pliers
Thanks for the heads up - I am now, care of Amazon and Russ at Path Less Pedaled, the proud owner of a Turkey baster - could have dun with this sucker (pun) early on this morning when I was swapping into my Schwalbe Ice Spickers.
Any advice on what size of Knipex pliers to get for a touring toolkit? I've been coveting them for a long time now and they seem like a perfect multi-use tool to go in my minimalist touring toolkit, but I need to get the balance right between size and functionality. Reckon the 5" ones would be a good bet?
The Park Tools click style can be used in both directions. Also a pedal wrench has become a staple not that I have one set of power pedals. Any suggestions for a compressor just for setting tubeless?
Any regular compressor and gun will do, as long as the nozzle's tip can go inside the valve a little. Or, you can hook it up to a pump head with a pressure gauge (the closer it is to the pump head, the higher the accuracy), but this configuration may cost more, especially if it's Park Tool.
Clicked on the link to the Trident Quick Link Tool. I caught myself saying, "do I really need another bike tool"? I actually starting laughing out loud. "Of course I do"
A quality beam torque wrench is accurate and repeatable, and OK for left hand threaded fasteners, not to mention affordable---but avoid the very cheap. Next best mechanical TQ wrench would be the dial type, but stupid expensive, some have dials that read in both directions. Then the Split Beam TQ wrench, which does not need to be reset to zero after use, not for left hand threads. Click type are ubiquitous, but not necessarily the most accurate or repeatable, some will work both directions, but lose accuracy on left hand thread. Again, avoid the cheap ones. All mechanical TQ wrenches should probably work the best in the middle of their range, so you might need more than one. Electronic digital TQ wrenches, unless of high quality are suspect (cheap load cells) and all should have the batteries removed after use, and protect LCD screens from serious low temperatures. NEVER use a TQ wrench to loosen a fastener. Beside bicycles I do motorcycles, and use a TQ wrench nearly every day. I have printed out and laminated Torque Conversion Tables so it's easy to go from Newton Meters to foot pound, etc. without straining the brain with math. Mechanic's tool trucks like Snap-on and Mac and some auto parts stores usually have a tester on board. Not the same as certified, but can put your mind at ease. I love this channel.
Pro tip: For cutting cable housing, where the situation allows, take an old length of inner cable and slip it inside the housing when and where you’ll make the cut. The cable will help keep the housing from crushing as much, and make opening it back up easier.
Russ wins the award for being the most desirable next door neighbor. Not because I need the help or to borrow tools. He’s just always working on interesting stuff. Thanks for this video. It was very timely.
Baby wipes for hand cleaning, pretty good with tears as well if it all goes horribly wrong.
I find an extendable magnet wand indispensable. Inexpensive and not bike specific - and one of the few tools I’ll buy from Harbor Freight. Great for extracting loose bearings from hubs and bottom brackets, but lots of other uses as well.
I made my own from an old whiteboard pointer, a magnet - and Sugru!
Tyre Glider is the one tire tool that beats and replaces all the rest...and believe me, I own them all. But after buying my first Tyre Glider, I bought 4 more to put in all my bike seat bags. Don't need levers and stubborn tires are no match for this thing. NUFF said!
I bought a set of Jagwire cable cutters, and discovered that they had a straight pointed end in the handle to help open up housing. Super handy having both tools in one.
In agreement on a tap set. They are a must for cleaning out eyelets, especially on used bikes, which always have paint or rust in them. In a pinch you can drill out the threads and retap to M6 if needed ;)
It takes less effort to cut housings too (feels like snipping) compared to Park Tool's, but it's not the best when it comes to crimping cable tip end caps, I still use the latter for that.
Old socks. Great as rags but being a sock they can be pulled over things and more! For example, to ensure no scratches where your bike stand grabs your paintwork, slide a sock over each jaw. To polish your bike, wear the sock as a glove and dip it in the polish or rub off etc ( best to wear a latex glove underneath). If your hands are getting cold, cut the toe off the sock and wear them over your wrist area. Using spanners doing something a bit weighty? Pull a sock (or two) over them in case they slip, more of a soft clunk than paint scraped. Also great for wrapping tools in a pannier to stop them rattling.
Tool thoughts: I use an good truing stand every day for truing wheels, building wheels, replacing spokes taping rims, even cleaning wheels. I use ball-end screwdriver-handle 4mm and 5mm allen keys for most hex-screw turning outside if initially breaking them loose or the final torquing. I use sharpened spokes for awles. I use the j-bend of spokes regularly when fishing cables or wiring through internal routing. I use a 3-way allen key for thru-axles and going around the bike making sure everything is tight (torque wrenches are what one should use for the latter). . . I also use good needle-nose pliers a lot for pulling cables and zip‐ties and tightening the nuts on threaded valve stems.
My favorites are - Topeak (or equivalent) mini ratchet, 65mm ball end 1/4in bits for the ratchet, Crankbrothers Better Tire Lever, Milwaukee M12 tire inflator with a Prestacycle Big Presta Head, 5in Knipex, long 2, 2.5, and 3mm hobby hex screwdrivers with chunky handles for derailleur adjustment.
Good pointers. I recently added a Japanese industrial standard screwdriver. It fits Shimano perfectly, probably other types, too. You didn’t know you needed this until you got one.
Never new such a thing existed until your comment. Thanks!
Thumbs up just for the turkey baster! I was wondering if I was the only one who re-used sealant :)
A big, flat, square-ish piece of wood to set up road bike hoods. Picked that tip up in a YT comment. If you can make four contact points (incl. the two for the hoods), it allows you to set up the hoods symmetrically very easily.
All very solid tool choices. One of my favorites is the derailluer hanger alignment gauge. I mostly do MTB and i end up using it frequently, it's paid for itself 5x over.
The "disc rotor alignment tool" is pretty handy if you swap your wheels fairly often. Even if the wheels and rotors are of the same brand, sometimes less than a millimeter is the difference between a quiet ride and a noisy rotor.
Another thing I found very useful even though I don't use it a lot is the "cable third hand" - used for keeping the brake and shifter cables taught as you cinch down the pinch bolts.
There's a small part called a rotor shim that goes to whichever wheel needs to bring the rotor a little further outboard. Once I have a disc brake road bike, I'll be getting some of it.
Another Feedback tool I love is the valve core remover. Simple design but perfectly executed.
@philr696, be careful not to overtorque the valve core with this tool. I've stripped this tool and can no longer use it.
The Cool Stop Tire Jack is a great help for those really tight tire/rim situations!
Not a tool per se, but my favorite bike-wrench-related thing this year is the Reserve Fillmore valves. Combined with a high-volume pump, they make seating tubeless SO much easier.
A hard rubber mallet for just about anything that needs to come loose.
Very good video. I’m a fan of some of your less obvious tools. One tool you left out is the truing stand. I’ve built dozens of wheels so I know you can do it without a truing stand, but the stand makes it easier and faster. I’ve built wheels with and without a stand, and I prefer having it. The same goes for truing wheels which I do more often than building them.
My dude, recently bought a Wolf Tooth pack wrench and love it! 16/44 bottom bracket on one end, magnetic 1" hex on the other with 1" addons for that. Got a 16/41 cup that fits in it for my MT-800 and it worked flawlessly! Next on the list is Wolf Tooth hanger alignment tool. Love them guys.
A BB facing tool comes in handy particularly for BSA & ITA BBs since framesets seldom if ever come faced.
I use a cheap grout brush for cleaning out the rear cassette. It gets in to the crevices and I don’t care if it gets mangled.
The picks are good for getting long grasses out of those gears after they’ve wound themselves in.
A tool I seem to use a lot is a good pair of scissors. Seems I'm always cutting cable ties or bar tape. I work on old bikes and single speeds. On old bikes I'm always removing cranks to install sealed BB units so a crank puller is always close at hand in my shop. Agree with having a pick or set of picks as well as an awl, essential tools. For old bikes and SS, a variety of blocks to take off free wheels and of course a set of cone wrenches for servicing loose bearing wheels.
Park tool (and others if you look), makes a nice pair of small flush cut pliers for plastic only that let you cut zip ties flush so there’s no edge to catch on anything.
Tool you need: Park Tool Flush Cut Pliers.
2:35 man, shooting grips across the shop is always so much fun! We put a hole in the wall, right above our main techs head once ... ever since then, we had to call out "fire in the hole" before we blasted a grip off.
The Park Tools zip tie cutter is surprisingly useful and satisfying to use.
I'd love to hear more about how you use Sugru!
would recommend E6000. great for patching kinda like silicon and being able to remove, plus it looks fairly clean as a clear goop. I love using this with extra stretch material from a stretched out dry fit nike that I can't wear and using scraps and gluing up torn holes on gloves
great set of tools! one great addition to this list is the bench grinder, which is quite indispensable when it comes to things like rounding the edges of cut fender stays, squaring/cleaning up housing ends, and polishing/grinding many other chunks of metal to the shape of your choosing. you can also use it to create a "sharpened spoke tool" aka the cheapster's version of the feedback sports pick.
great idea this made me think of is using an old spoke to make picks! Thanks. Also, have used a spoke and shaved it(I have a Dremel) and use it for stans darts as refills are cheaper.
My most used is definitely my small knipex, works for just about everything on my bikes except for the bottom bracket or headsets, so that just means i need the bigger size
I am sure you are a more than competent bike mechanic.
I don't know if you can get them in the US yet, but if you can check out the TyreGlider (The have a YT channel), it totally looks like a crowd funded type gimmick, but it has replaced all my tyre leavers, it will put Gatorskins on a Decathlon rim (If you know you know LOL) for the money its probably the second best bike tool I've ever purchased, after my 6 year old Aldi work-stand that just wont die.
P.s. Some "click" style Torque wrenches work both ways, some don't, the ones marketed to bikes usually do but not always, so always check at a low torque on first use before you go swinging counter clockwise on a BB or something, I had to get just the threaded part of a cheap BSA BB cup out of a frame not long ago, the guy made this mistake and sheered off the whole outer part NOT FUN!
You reminded me to buy a metric tap set. Thanks. I have an inexpensive torque wrench drive set (Pro Bike Tool) that I use all the time. It's the click type and only goes to 20 newton meters, but it's great for all the odds and ends that have small torque values, and it has the Allen sizes and T-drives for bikes. I also have a thin 15 mm pedal wrench that I bought ages ago that comes in handy when working on old bikes that don't have a place for an Allen key on the backside. Also have a great little lay over shim that sits on top of break disc with a tab on each side to space the pads on mechanical disc breaks.
20 Nm max. is natural for 1/4-inch square drive torque wrenches. For higher torque specs, 3/8-inch is what you need and pay extra attention to its torquing orientation as most models are clockwise-only.
I have the same torque wrench, except that I put mine to shop duty since October 2020. Having held up this long, it gets my approval.
Great video on tips for tools! I’ve recently been thinking about getting the Park Took WH-1 or WH-2 wheel holder. Seems like a nice to have and handy tool for wheel work.
PBSwiss Allen’s, jis screw driver, spoke key, knipex, and a mallet. A wood wedge is handy also.
Good pair of scissors and/or box cutter/pocket knife. Amazing how much packaging needs opening when dealing w/ bike supplies. A pick is 1 of those items I never realized I needed until after I got it. Got a cheap set of 6 from the $4 bin at 1 of the home improvement stores. Great for removing gunk from between cogs and other random tasks. Pricey but worth every penny is Park Tool's utility pick set. Come in straight, curved, and 90 degree. All 3 have a strong magnet on the opposite end.
Good tool list. Gave me some good ideas for next tool purchases.
I have a scewdriver-size pry bar (with a split tip, like a crowbar) that is the most marvelously useful thing, And I use a C-clamp as a third hand for road caliper brakes.
Before I made my current pick out of a broken spoke I filed down, I used to open up housing with the finished/soldered cable ends from new cables. Worked most of the time, but a pick is definitely better. XD I might grab some of that Sugru stuff. Could use it as a barrier between bike bag and frame, maybe?
A 1.5mm Bondhus ball end is my perfect housibg liner opener.
The park cable cutters do the best all around job, and they are ergonomic. I am aware there are better (I use Knipex cable cutters), and tend to use side cutters for brake housing. The Knipex cutters do an amazing job with SIS shift housing, don't crush it, and leave a factory cut on cables. Park cutters do a little better with brake housing if not using side cutters. The Park cutters are a little more ergonomic if your hands are smaller, and need to cut housing all day. I am happy with my Knipex cutters and they do a way better job with shift housing, cutting cables, and crimping cable ends.
Nice comprehensive list. Some that I use almost everyday is the 5 inch cobra knipex, a double ended 8 and 9 mil wrench (snap on), ratcheting 10mil, knipex mini cable cutters, p handle 3,4,5 but the T handle ones are great too, and a mini ratchet for hex bits.
I hadn't seen that feedback centerlock ring wrench, very nice!
Other handy tools: Strap for the front wheel, whether a simple nylon one or a snazzy 25" Voile' one (whatever is handy). Great to keeping the front wheel from flopping around in the work stand, or whenever messing with anything to do with installing/removing the fork or stem.
Old multi-tool. While the "right" full sized tool is better, often having a cast off multi-tool is just faster than figuring out where your missing 4mm hex wrench got off to.
I used to use an old inner tube to keep front wheel from flopping around when bike is in repair stand. Eventually upgraded to the Park Tool HBH-2 b/c it's easy on and off, keeps bars from slapping frame if front wheel is not installed, and holds the front fork straight while storing the bike, so fork won't suddenly turn and cause bike to fall over if method of storage is to lean it against something else.
I still use old school bar ends for inside the lever at times for the upside down bike fix to keep all the shifters and grips safe
If you service other peoples' bikes, never hurts to have a variety of lengths and diameters of metal pipe or schedule 40 PVC handy to use as a "cheater" bar. Never know when you'll encounter a part that's seized up beyond belief. My friends aren't big on routine cleaning and maintenance to prevent those situations. Also never hurts to have a can of penetrating spray in the shop to aid in removal as well as an appropriate grease or lubricant to prevent the situation from repeating itself after re-installation.
Great list. Great use of Auto-Focus too. Well done!
Nice T handle hex wrenches are definitely worth their weight in gold.
I’d love to find a nice seat that also has a tool caddy in it for my garage. Right now I use a five gallon bucket since my bike stand isn’t terribly tall. It would be nice to slide around the bike in a seated position while working with all my most used tools right at hand.
I love my sliding t-handle allen keys so much that I bought a set of sliding t torx key set even though I don't have any torx bolts on my bikes
Geez, looks cold there in the Studio Russ.
Wooly hat. Ski jacket...
Regards from NE Thailand...
I live in the Philippines and get punctures caused by very small shards of metal. My short range eye sight is poor so I "feel" for the pieces of metal. To extract them the pliers on a Gerber Vise Pocket Tool is absolutely invaluable. Lovely quality too
Knipex Pliers Wrench can also be used as a rotor truing tool
Just a heads up on your threading tools. What you had were thread cutters?, made for cutting new threads. They shouldn’t be used for thread CHASING, which is what you’re using them for. There are separate thread chaser tools for that. Using thread taps to chase weakens the threads, and is not advisable.
Watch out Dave Rome, new tool nerd coming through!
Mech hanger alignment tool !
cone wrenches to keep those loose ball hubs adjusted, buttery smooth
Good pair of Knipex flush cutters is also worth it. no more sharp corners on zip ties, flush cut remainings of injection molding and so an... :)
When I bought my first 12 speed bike, I thought I would be able to separate the quick link like I had with every 9 speed link I’ve had. I was surprised when I could get it off and bought some quick link pliers
Thanks for the heads up - I am now, care of Amazon and Russ at Path Less Pedaled, the proud owner of a Turkey baster - could have dun with this sucker (pun) early on this morning when I was swapping into my Schwalbe Ice Spickers.
The one thing that is a true game changer is a proper bike stand imo.
One Item would recommend to avoid your metal items getting rusty is to apply Birchwood perma blue.
Any advice on what size of Knipex pliers to get for a touring toolkit?
I've been coveting them for a long time now and they seem like a perfect multi-use tool to go in my minimalist touring toolkit, but I need to get the balance right between size and functionality.
Reckon the 5" ones would be a good bet?
The 5 are a good allrounder.
@@PathLessPedaledTV - Fantastic. Thanks, Russ!
The Park Tools click style can be used in both directions. Also a pedal wrench has become a staple not that I have one set of power pedals. Any suggestions for a compressor just for setting tubeless?
Any regular compressor and gun will do, as long as the nozzle's tip can go inside the valve a little. Or, you can hook it up to a pump head with a pressure gauge (the closer it is to the pump head, the higher the accuracy), but this configuration may cost more, especially if it's Park Tool.
Great list. Some good ideas.
Sugru. Great idea. Thanks
That koolstop thing!
Is that a Patagonia Macro Puff? I love mine!
Clicked on the link to the Trident Quick Link Tool. I caught myself saying, "do I really need another bike tool"? I actually starting laughing out loud. "Of course I do"
Precision (slim jaw) adjustable spanner.
A quality beam torque wrench is accurate and repeatable, and OK for left hand threaded fasteners, not to mention affordable---but avoid the very cheap. Next best mechanical TQ wrench would be the dial type, but stupid expensive, some have dials that read in both directions. Then the Split Beam TQ wrench, which does not need to be reset to zero after use, not for left hand threads. Click type are ubiquitous, but not necessarily the most accurate or repeatable, some will work both directions, but lose accuracy on left hand thread. Again, avoid the cheap ones. All mechanical TQ wrenches should probably work the best in the middle of their range, so you might need more than one. Electronic digital TQ wrenches, unless of high quality are suspect (cheap load cells) and all should have the batteries removed after use, and protect LCD screens from serious low temperatures. NEVER use a TQ wrench to loosen a fastener. Beside bicycles I do motorcycles, and use a TQ wrench nearly every day. I have printed out and laminated Torque Conversion Tables so it's easy to go from Newton Meters to foot pound, etc. without straining the brain with math. Mechanic's tool trucks like Snap-on and Mac and some auto parts stores usually have a tester on board. Not the same as certified, but can put your mind at ease. I love this channel.
I only use pliers, motor oil and a pump.
The damn thing keeps rolling !
lol
Pedal wrench. Old style 15mm. I'll be buried with my Eldi. If you can find one guard it with your life. Best one ever made.
Sugru, arent they out of business?
Nice outfit Russ 👍
very cool
Nice n round n ready to receive
If only you shared the tap tip a few months ago…
i thought the pic on the vid was a giant blunt
no no no, can't just show that modified bar end shifter and brush it off like that, what is going on there? need more cable pull?
Sugru..................who knew?
👍👍👍👍👍
Calling me out on never making a video. Ouch.
"kah-nih-pex" is how it is pronounced . it's german, so a hard K.
Knipex is pronounced "Nip-X", you use it to "nip" things up, as the brits say
So Russ plays with his tool and nick-nacks everyday??? 😐