Bike Repair

Tools for Possibilities: issue no. 136

An accessible bike manual

Zinn and the Art of Mountain Bike Maintenance

I’ve been using this book for over a year and so far haven’t found anything it doesn’t cover when it comes to maintaining my bike. Zinn includes lots of step-by-step instructions with clear illustrations. I was a complete novice prior to reading this, and now it’s nice not having to run to the bike shop for every little thing I need fixed. It gives me confidence to tackle things I normally wouldn’t attempt. — Rob Lewis

• Chains
  A bike chain is a simple series of links connected by rivets. Rollers surround each rivet between the link plates and engage the teeth of the cogs and chainrings. It is an extremely efficient method of transmitting mechanical energy from the pedals to the rear wheel. In terms of weight, cost, and efficiency, the bicycle chain has no equal, and— believe me—people have tried without success to improve on it for years.
  To keep your bike running smoothly, you have to take care of the chain. It needs to be kept clean and well lubricated in order to transmit your energy efficiently and shift smoothly. Chains need to be replaced frequently to prolong the working life of other, more expensive, drivetrain components because a chain gets longer as its internal parts wear, thus contacting the gear teeth differently than intended.

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Essential bike maintenance tool

Park Team Race Stand

Bicycles need routine maintenance to perform safely and efficiently. But without a bike stand you end up kneeling in a contorted position on the cement floor of your dimly lit garage. And this torture, on your knees and your back and your elbows, which no knight of the Inquisition had the genius to invent, is what causes many of us to abandon bicycle maintenance, and eventually our riding.

Serious riders get the idea. But for the rest of us more casual riders, a bike stand, let alone a Park, seems like a ridiculous expense. After all, a bike stand does nothing more than hold your bike firmly at a height and angle that is convenient for you while you work on it.

Until you’ve used a bike stand, it’s hard to communicate what a difference this makes. Your bike now moves, easily, to a position that is convenient for *you*, rather than the other way around. I think I’m an average primate, and the fact is, I’m not going to do jack squat unless it’s easy. And that’s what a bike stand does for bicycle maintenance. Once you remove the physical agony from the picture, working on your bike becomes something you actually look forward to. Would you believe that I actually enjoy cleaning my bike now? Well, you shouldn’t, because that’s crap. But I do keep my bike clean. I do regular maintenance and make significant upgrades to my bikes; all because I know that the bike I am working on is firmly held and at an angle and height that lets me work in comfort. It’s such a small thing, but it makes such a huge difference.

The Park Race Stand was designed to be portable, but without sacrificing strength or stability. It’s equally at home in your garage or in the field. It’s moderately heavy, and a bit ungainly. Getting it in and out of your car is not difficult, but it ain’t enjoyable either. To give the unit its strength and stability, it doesn’t really fold. Instead you just lift it up and the legs sort of drop downward by themselves. There are heavy plastic clips to secure the legs, but a Velcro strap does a better job.

A bike stand is a *transformative* tool. It really changes the experience of working on your bike, and the Park Race stand is the best. — Verner

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Handiest bike tool

Park Tool AWS-1

Peer behind the service counter at most bike shops and you’ll see a Park Tool workstand. There’ll be a waist-level tool tray on the stand, and unless it’s already in the hands of a mechanic, the triangle-shaped AWS-1, which features a 4-, 5- and 6mm hex wrench, will likely be one of a handful of tools resting in the tray.

While many general tools are too general, this one is specific and functional enough for excellence. It’s useful enough to be taken for granted, one of my hallmarks for a real Cool Tool. So many maintenance and repair jobs on bicycles involve these three hex wrench sizes that it’s easily the most used tool in the shop.

Details that make this tool great include a grip-friendly ball in the center (I own an older version without the ball, and it’s not as comfortable to hold and also provides less leverage) and color-coded rings at the base of each wrench, so the user can quickly choose the correct size.

I still use my Craftsman T-wrenches when I need a hex with more leverage, and particularly on an 8mm crank bolt, which the AWS-1 doesn’t cover. I also use a great set of Pedro’s L-wrenches with a ball end on one side for offset access. But the convenient Park Tool AWS-1 is so much my mainstay that it doesn’t ever get put away. The company’s website also hosts an array of helpful repair how-tos. — Elon Schoenholz

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Solid state bike tool

Park Tool MT-1

I’m sure most roadside bicycle repair multi-tools do their job, but for me the MT-1 is the coolest. Not only does it do the job better than most, its design is so simple, it’s so small and lightweight, so ingenious that it has to qualify as a cool tool.

Park’s MT-1 is made out of nickel-plated investment-cast steel, weighs next to nothing, has no moving parts, and yet has all the functions one needs for most emergency bicycle repairs, from adjusting derailleurs to tightening crank bolts. Because the shafts are so short and the lever longer, the MT-1 provides superior torque to tools such as the previously reviewed Crank Brothers Multi-19, or a standard folding hex, such as Park’s AWS-9. Unlike folding tools such as the Multi-19 or AWS-9, the MT-1 has no retaining bolt that can come loose over time. And because the thin MT-1 has such a low profile, it can fit in tight places, including small saddlebags.

It also offers 8-, 9- and 10mm socket wrenches, which are commonly used on rack and fender hardware, as well as older brake bolts. Overall, the MT-1 is simpler and more usable than the Crank Brothers tool. Though it does have fewer functions, I find the ones the MT-1 does have are all I need for road riding that doesn’t involve a long-distance expedition — and they work better. Perhaps the only thing wrong with it is that it isn’t blaze orange; I forgot mine in the grass the other day after a quick tune-up, which I might not have done if it had been painted an obnoxiously bright hue. — Andrew Wilson

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Cable adjuster

Fourth Hand Tool

I always knew there had to be an easier, smoother way to change cables on my bicycle or Lambretta. Previously tightening a brake or clutch cable on my old scooter involved fumbling with a vice grip or begging someone to hold the cable taught while I clamped down the adjustment screw. Enter the 4th hand tool. This little beauty grabs one side of any cable you are adjusting. Squeeze the grips and it clicks locked at the distance you are aiming to adjust! — David

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Walnut-sized hex set

Topeak Mini 6

This incredibly compact, bike-oriented multi-tool has five different sizes of Allen wrench plus a Phillips screwdriver head, all of which folds up into a little pod about the size of a walnut. Sometimes I’ll carry it in my pocket or toss it in shoulder bag; mostly I keep it in the under-seat pouch of my bike. It really comes in handy for quick adjustments: raising the seat height, tightening the rear view mirror, adding and removing accessories, etc. Because it’s so small it doesn’t give enough leverage for really tight nuts (you can’t remove a handlebar stem with it), but by extending the tools on the opposite side of the one you’re using you can get a handle that’s effectively 2.5 inches long, which is enough for small jobs. It also works well as a keychain fob, though at 58g it’s slightly on the heavy side. — Dylan Tweney