Tool kit recommendation please.

[simmi]

I have recently bought a ribble road bike with a shimano tiagra groupset, I intend to do all my own work on the bike be it maintenance or up grades.
I am a complete novice on bikes but I was a mechanical maintenance engineer so should have the skills to do it.
As far as I can see park tools are to cycling as snap-on are to motor mechanics, but don't think my budget will stretch that far.
I was hoping someone could please recommend a tool kit which would cover most cycle tasks and not cost the earth say upto about £100.

 

[slowmotion]

You just don't need top quality Park Tool stuff unless you work on bikes every day. That's hard for me to say, being a complete tool freak! Try Lidl or any of these...
http://uk.shopping.com/lidl-powerfix-bicycle-tool-kit/products

 

[Banjo]

I tend to buy tools individually as I need them . If cycling is a life long interest not just a passing faze then good quality tools will be a joy to use and probably last a lifetime.

For instance I got a park tool bottom bracket wrench to change my bottom bracket.It cost about £20 but if the shop did the job for me the labour would have cost more so I dont look at it as a dear spanner but as a cheap repair.

I also have a parktool mini chain splitting tool after breaking a cheaper variety.

 

[simmi]

Have found this on amazon http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0067I5F40/ref=oh_details_o02_s00_i00
Great reviews and at half price, only have 4 left so going to get in quick!

 

[simmi]

Glad I got in quick, now saying all gone

 

[Banjo]

looks a good assortment of tools there. Hard to judge the quality

 

[guitarpete247]

+1 for the Lidl set when it comes up. They may not be the best quality but I've found them all good enough for my needs. I will replace and buy extra tools as and when I need them, or they wear out, like cable cutters and chain wear indicator. A good chain splitter is useful. I have used the splitter in the Lidl kit, and it did the job, but feel I want something better soon.

 

[Peteaud]

+1 for the Lidl set when it comes up. They may not be the best quality but I've found them all good enough for my needs. I will replace and buy extra tools as and when I need them, or they wear out, like cable cutters and chain wear indicator. A good chain splitter is useful. I have used the splitter in the Lidl kit, and it did the job, but feel I want something better soon.

Ive got the lidl kit and for the cash its good, although the chain splitter broke on the 2nd time i used it.

 

[festival]

A quality set of allen keys, a good torque wrench and assorted bits, good track pump and quality cable cutters is almost enough to get you started
Don't skimp on the above and you have covered most jobs other than when you need a specialist tools.
On most decent modern bikes you probably won't need spanners or screwdrivers.

 

[simmi]

The first Job is going to be changing the cassette, so figured it would be cheaper in the long run to buy a tool kit rather than folk out the odd £10 - £20 each time I needed to do a new job.

 

[simmi]

My new tool kit http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0067I5F40/ref=oh_details_o02_s00_i00?tag=vglnk-uk-c61-21 (and stand http://www.amazon.co.uk/Folding-Cyc...sr_1_2?s=sports&ie=UTF8&qid=1354089575&sr=1-2) arrived yesterday, for the money I paid for both I am very happy.
I have used the stand already to give the bike a good clean and lube.
The tool kit has many, many tool (a lot of which I have no idea as to their purpose, so look out for a up coming thread, "what the heck is this for!") and the quality is better than I was hoping.
Once I have used a few of them I will give a review.

 

[chewy]

I was thinking of buying the same stand as you, being as it is a very cheap stand that seems to get very good reviews.


However, my LBS has a very nice stand for double that - do I pay out or risk wasting money for a 'bargain'.

What's your thoughts on the quality of the stand Simmi?

What's the general consensus on the cheaper stands? I do a reasonable amount of bike repairing but am not running a full time business out of it (not yet, anyway )?

 

[simmi]

I was thinking of buying the same stand as you, being as it is a very cheap stand that seems to get very good reviews.


However, my LBS has a very nice stand for double that - do I pay out or risk wasting money for a 'bargain'.

What's your thoughts on the quality of the stand Simmi?

What's the general consensus on the cheaper stands? I do a reasonable amount of bike repairing but am not running a full time business out of it (not yet, anyway )?

For my own personal use the stand is more than good enough.
I was rather surprised by the quality of it in fact.
The main body is made of quite a heavy gauge tubular steel and with the feet out is very sturdy.
The only part that the jury is out on is the clamp it seems sturdy enough, but time will tell.
I try to clamp the bike as near to its balance point as possible to put the minimum strain on the clamp, this way it should last me a life time.

 

[chewy]

Bit the bullet today and ordered the more expensive stand from the shop.

Will post pic's when I receive it.

 

[chewy]

Old thread update (apologies).

Been waiting for the workstand to come, and no luck from the suppliers.

So rang around a few shops...and one had the fold-able version of the original one that I ordered for £95.

However Halfords had http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/..._productId_525683_langId_-1_categoryId_228853

With the 20% online discount (which you can always get in store if you ask!) and my 10% British Cycling discount, it comes out at £80.

Went and had a look at the Halfords one and was so impressed with what I saw that I bought one.


I plan to overhaul the commuter over the holidays so will let you all know how it fairs!

Just thought I'd update the thread, and add some praise (ish) to Halfords from this site ...as we're usually pretty critical of them