Bike repair tools, and I guess bikes since it’s kinda the topic

[Oldandfat]

So here’s the deal. Because of super deadly and super duper contagious covid we are still locked down and anticipating the super scary 4th wave and whatever variant were are worried about now…… we dug out the bikes and decided to….. aww shit flat tires, loose bottom bracket, front hydraulic brake doesn’t work, etc…..

Finally the bikes go in next week. It’s been almost a month since I booked the appointment. It’s really backed up because of, ya know variants and such. Not the end of the world but it got me thinking I want to start looking after our own bikes. (Had I cable disc brakes I’d be back in business).

I’m fairly handy, can do car brakes/alternators, build houses (everything but carpet), fix lawn mowers/snowblowers. Rebuild carbs, etc so I think bikes are in my ability.

Problem is I’m not sure what and how many tools to buy?? I’ve figured out that Park Tools are the premier brand.
They’ve got some nice little kits, and some really nice kits that I’d be able to fix every brand out there.

Any ideas what I should be buying? Regular maintenance, hubs, chains, deraileurs,,etc.

I don’t want junk, but I’m also not interested in 10k of tools when I can can pay a couple 100 bucks every year or so for a “tune up”. But not gonna lie, a nice blue walled “park tool’ workbench would look pretty cool.

And since we’re talking bikes….. I’d like to upgrade wife’s bike. Hers is a 100 dollar Canadian tire special (our version of something maybe a small step up from Walmart?? Fleet farm light??)

I supposedly have a mountain bike (Kona caldera) but it’s confusing now.

I grew up with 2 types of bikes. “10 speeds” and “mountain bikes”. Actually 3 cause there was “bmx” bikes for the long haired cool pot smoking kids with “vanns”.

Now there’s bmx, mountain bikes, trail bikes, hybrid bikes, touring bikes, road bikes, E bikes, step through bikes (which would have been refered to ass a girls bike I think?) and so forth.

So, what to buy? I’d like to stick with Kona for no reason other than they’re Canadian. Support local, blah blah blah.

We’re not Ironman athletes and what not. We’re more “hey it’s fucking nice out let’s go for a bike ride” kinda people. We do gravel trails, no cliff diving or bombing or whatever it’s called this decade, no stump hoping, etc.

Only criteria are disc brakes (got caught in the rain 0nce with rim brakes. It sucked) cable or hydr.
And we don’t want junk. Not the cheapest and certainly were not paying more than a used Camry either.

Just a decent quality bike that allows for some light off-roading should we get really into this as we’re locked down a fourth time or 5th time for the bazooka delta tango variant.

So guys, bikes, and bike tools what say yee?

[Oldandfat]

So been at the Kona website. Looks there are mountain bikes (full suspension and hard tail), drop bar gravel bikes, and urban bikes.

Am I wrong or ok, there’s mountain bikes, and the drop bar/gravel bikes are mtn bikes with “10 speed” handles?.

Urban bikes are basically mtn bikes with zero suspension?

Some of the bikes have multiple front rings, and some have only 1 front ring (a newer trend?)

So I’m simplifying here but a bike is a bike. “Mtn” bike has fatter tires, suspension or hard tail suspension.
Drop bar/gravel is a mtn bike and if it gets skinnier tires it’s a road bike? Urban/commuter bike is simple no,suspension (more efficient riding/) with fatter tires if ya wanna gravel it up and skinnier tires if ya want a more “road” urban bike.

I lust for the days of 10 speed or mtn bike. Pick one and of that choice it’s either a dudes bike (top bar) or a chicks bike (missing top bar).

Am I missing something obvious?

[Hamburgerfan]

Depending on where you are it may be difficult to find the kind of bike you want right now. There have been supply issues worldwide and the demand is high for bikes like that.

[Oldandfat]

There’s nothing available right now, but I’m doing the groundwork so when the supply is figured out I can buy.

[Oldandfat]

Got our bikes back. Had to replace my front brake (couldn’t fix, Hayes,out of business, thanks Hayes!)

Wife’s bike maintenance/repair was more than what she paid. Almost regret not buying another cheap wal mart bike for her.

Oh well. I’m definitely investing in some tools for maintenance.

[AndrewH]

Check out Kona’s Lanai, Fire Mountain, or Lava Dome. Front suspension helps with the occasional rough stuff, decent upright position let’s you see where you’re going, and the components are “old” tech, which basically means you can still work on them with a reasonable set of tools. Spoke wrench, Allen keys, chain breaker, couple bike wrenches should be a good place to start. Tire levers to change flats and a pump with pressure gauge (more accurate than the old squeeze test).
Kona moves their HQ to the US a while ago, but they’re still cool. Good luck with your search! I managed to find a Specialized Rockhopper (another good option to consider) in February from my lbs here in TO.

[Oldandfat]

Check out Kona’s Lanai, Fire Mountain, or Lava Dome. Front suspension helps with the occasional rough stuff, decent upright position let’s you see where you’re going, and the components are “old” tech, which basically means you can still work on them with a reasonable set of tools. Spoke wrench, Allen keys, chain breaker, couple bike wrenches should be a good place to start. Tire levers to change flats and a pump with pressure gauge (more accurate than the old squeeze test).
Kona moves their HQ to the US a while ago, but they’re still cool. Good luck with your search! I managed to find a Specialized Rockhopper (another good option to consider) in February from my lbs here in TO.

My bike is a Kona caldera. When I bought it I was also considering a rock hopper. It wasn’t in stock so I went with the Kona. I think actually kona is a US/Canadian company now.

Funny, cause I’ve had other people tell me to buy my wife a non suspension bike, I.e hybrid.

I already have a pump, tire levers and I think some cone wrenches somewhere.

I think I went with hydraulic disc at the time because they auto adjust and didn’t require tinkering.

I subscribed to park tool YouTube Chanel. Been watching lots of videos, and really bikes are fairly simple.

I don’t think I’d need lots of tools, and even if I took both bikes in say every 3-5 years for tuneups I’d still be ahead.

Who knows, maybe I’ll pick one simple tune up job and buy the required tools and give it a go

[richieportly]

Buy a cheap tool set that has all the bits (cassette tool, chain whip). If anything breaks, replace it with a Park equivalent.

Get a torque wrench (they're not expensive these days) and a quality set of hex keys (Allen keys, depending on where you are).

I'm currently building my first bike for about ten years and the world of hydraulic disc brakes and gravel groupsets has me in a spin.

[Oldandfat]

Buy a cheap tool set that has all the bits (cassette tool, chain whip). If anything breaks, replace it with a Park equivalent.

Get a torque wrench (they're not expensive these days) and a quality set of hex keys (Allen keys, depending on where you are).

I'm currently building my first bike for about ten years and the world of hydraulic disc brakes and gravel groupsets has me in a spin.

I already have a 1/4”, 3/8”, and 1/2” torque wrench. Was actually thinking of one of the smaller park tool kits. There’s one in the 300 dollar range that looks like it’s good for tune ups. I can always add tools “as needed” or not depending on the repair rate.



300 bucks and it includes the book I was gonna buy for 30 bucks, so really the kit is 270 then. Looks like it has all I need??

[richieportly]

Oh I forgot about the blue book.

It's waaaay better than the other Blue Book. Much more useful.

If 300 bucks is in your budget, then hell yeah.

[Oldandfat]

What was the other not as useful bluebook?

I can swing the 300, and easily justify the cost. I’d make it back in 2 “tune ups”. I also have an ultrasonic cleaner.

[richieportly]

What was the other not as useful bluebook?

Starting Strength: Basic Barbell Training 3rd Edition by Roscoe P. Coltrane.

[DoctorWho]

Two more blue books:
Kellys Blue Book
The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation

[Root]

I bought a Park Tool multitool that I carry in my saddle bag. It's basically a swiss army knife of allen wrenches in common sizes, plus a few more things. Couldn't tell you about more intensive tools.

For bikes, I went looking for a hybrid bike last summer. Something fast on the road, but also good for gravel roads, two tracks, etc. Found absolutely nothing locally in bike shops or second hand, but found exactly what I wanted on a couple 'direct order' sites. I bought a "Strada Express" bike in the '1By 1x11' variant (there are other gearing options available for lower prices.) It was a hell of a deal for the quality bike and components you get, and it's just awesome to ride. Just ordered another one for the wife that hasn't arrived yet.

http://www.bikesdirect.com/products/mot ... r-road.htm
https://bikeshopwarehouse.com/cgi-bin/B ... rodID=2798

The websites look like 1990's viruses and they're organized horribly, but the bike I got is great, much cheaper than comparable bikes with big brand names (they're all made in Taiwan, ultimately), and my customer service experience has been surprisingly good. I recently crashed the bike I bought and bent the fork back, and a service guy responded right away to my email and ended up sending me a replacement fork (carbon fiber upgrade!) for $90 shipped. My local bike shop installed it for $15.

Of course, you don't get to try it out for size or function, and you have to do some easy assembly yourself. Nothing requires more than an allen wrench. And I think a lot of models are on a little bit of a back order, and they don't make it easy to figure out which are available or not. But if you can deal with that stuff, the bike you get for the price can't be beat.

[Root]

I subscribed to park tool YouTube Chanel. Been watching lots of videos, and really bikes are fairly simple.

I used this vid to adjust my derailleur. Really well made content.

[omaniphil]

The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation

Fun Bedtime reading there!

[Oldandfat]

I subscribed to park tool YouTube Chanel. Been watching lots of videos, and really bikes are fairly simple.

I used this vid to adjust my derailleur. Really well made content.

It really is a fantastic YouTube Chanel. It’s brilliant. Sell tools. Show people how to use tools. Sell even more tools. Kinda like what Home Depot did.

[DoctorWho]

The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation

Fun Bedtime reading there!

How else are gunners supposed to recognize each other?

[Oldandfat]

I bought a Park Tool multitool that I carry in my saddle bag. It's basically a swiss army knife of allen wrenches in common sizes, plus a few more things. Couldn't tell you about more intensive tools.

For bikes, I went looking for a hybrid bike last summer. Something fast on the road, but also good for gravel roads, two tracks, etc. Found absolutely nothing locally in bike shops or second hand, but found exactly what I wanted on a couple 'direct order' sites. I bought a "Strada Express" bike in the '1By 1x11' variant (there are other gearing options available for lower prices.) It was a hell of a deal for the quality bike and components you get, and it's just awesome to ride. Just ordered another one for the wife that hasn't arrived yet.

http://www.bikesdirect.com/products/mot ... r-road.htm
https://bikeshopwarehouse.com/cgi-bin/B ... rodID=2798

The websites look like 1990's viruses and they're organized horribly, but the bike I got is great, much cheaper than comparable bikes with big brand names (they're all made in Taiwan, ultimately), and my customer service experience has been surprisingly good. I recently crashed the bike I bought and bent the fork back, and a service guy responded right away to my email and ended up sending me a replacement fork (carbon fiber upgrade!) for $90 shipped. My local bike shop installed it for $15.

Of course, you don't get to try it out for size or function, and you have to do some easy assembly yourself. Nothing requires more than an allen wrench. And I think a lot of models are on a little bit of a back order, and they don't make it easy to figure out which are available or not. But if you can deal with that stuff, the bike you get for the price can't be beat.

Bikesdirect is painful to,surf, lol.

Did,you,assemble the bike yourself? Or did a bike shop? If you did, was it,difficult?

I’m interested in assembling a bike. Looks like it’s be fun and rewarding

[Root]

I bought a Park Tool multitool that I carry in my saddle bag. It's basically a swiss army knife of allen wrenches in common sizes, plus a few more things. Couldn't tell you about more intensive tools.

For bikes, I went looking for a hybrid bike last summer. Something fast on the road, but also good for gravel roads, two tracks, etc. Found absolutely nothing locally in bike shops or second hand, but found exactly what I wanted on a couple 'direct order' sites. I bought a "Strada Express" bike in the '1By 1x11' variant (there are other gearing options available for lower prices.) It was a hell of a deal for the quality bike and components you get, and it's just awesome to ride. Just ordered another one for the wife that hasn't arrived yet.

http://www.bikesdirect.com/products/mot ... r-road.htm
https://bikeshopwarehouse.com/cgi-bin/B ... rodID=2798

The websites look like 1990's viruses and they're organized horribly, but the bike I got is great, much cheaper than comparable bikes with big brand names (they're all made in Taiwan, ultimately), and my customer service experience has been surprisingly good. I recently crashed the bike I bought and bent the fork back, and a service guy responded right away to my email and ended up sending me a replacement fork (carbon fiber upgrade!) for $90 shipped. My local bike shop installed it for $15.

Of course, you don't get to try it out for size or function, and you have to do some easy assembly yourself. Nothing requires more than an allen wrench. And I think a lot of models are on a little bit of a back order, and they don't make it easy to figure out which are available or not. But if you can deal with that stuff, the bike you get for the price can't be beat.

Bikesdirect is painful to,surf, lol.

Did,you,assemble the bike yourself? Or did a bike shop? If you did, was it,difficult?

I’m interested in assembling a bike. Looks like it’s be fun and rewarding

It's a pretty terrible site, but the bikes are legit.

It came in a box, just disassembled enough to fit. I just had to put the front wheel, handle bar, and seat on. Maybe pedals, can't remember. Easy peasy. The tires even had a reasonable amount of air in them.

Assembling an entire bike would be really fun, with the right tools and instruction.