bicycle tools

What bicycle tools you will buy will very much depend on the types of jobs you are willing to tackle. If you will only envisage repairing a puncture and adjusting bicycle brakes, then screwdrivers, spanners and allen keys found in a typical toolbox will do. However, if you want to tackle other bicycle repairs, then you will need some more specialist bicycle tools such as cone spanners, bicycle workstands, bicycle chain splitters etc. The rest of this article provides an overview of some of these bicycle tools.

As the name implies, this is essential for splitting bicycle chains, the design of the bike chain splitter makes it quite intuitive to use. Without one of these, the is no reliable way of joining and splitting a chain from your bicycle.

Cone spanners are thin spanners with typical heads ranging from 13-16mm. These spanners are used for adjusting hub bearings, therefore you need two, one for each side. Compared to other cycling tools, these are relatively cheap.

Chains can quickly pick up the dirt, dust and grit from the road which combined with the chain oil forms a nice grinding paste. Therefore it is essential to keep the chain clean to prolong the life of the chain and gears. There are two main options for cleaning a chain, one involves some elbow grease, a toothbrush and a tray, the other is specifically design chain cleaners. The chain clean makes the job a lot easier, and as we all know the more easier the job, the more often it is likely to be done.

A useful piece of kit which greatly helps when working a repairing and maintenance of a bicycle is a dedicated bike workstand. This allows you to securely support the bike at a height off the ground and allows pedal,wheels etc to be quickly rotated into position. Workstands can vary a lot in price range from deluxe professional models to basic, get the job done stands.

For more information on bike stands follow this link bicycle workstands

These spanners are especially useful in removing stubborn pedals. The typical pedal spanner construction are thin to allow it to slot between the pedal and pedal crank arm, 15mm head to fit standard pedal and long to allow extra leverage.

If you are serious about fixing and maintaining your own bicycle, rather than purchasing each tool individually there are many pre-made bicycle toolsets for every price range. After the initial outlay, these tools will pay for themselves time and time again.