Ham-fisted mechanics or rubbish tools for consumers ?

[103Alex1]

Am getting a bit fed up with having to go to the bike shop to get help doing basic jobs on my bike. LBS tightened the Shimano replacement pedals I fitted to my Agattu having greased the threads when I took it in for a 1st tune... before admitting that they did not use tools which had torque gauges on. "We've been working on bikes for years and know how tight they need to be from experience". Hmmmm....

I have decided to move to 2-sided clipless pedals from one-sided ones as I always have SPD shoes on these days. So try to get the pedals off and guess what ? Won't budge a millimetre. Using a pricey Cyclo Tools pedal spanner which cost me £12 too.

They over-tightened them so they can untighten them (which I'm sure they will but it really is a waste of my time). I am monumentally hacked off and having been stung for about £50 labour when I put the bike in there (supposed to be the best shop around) won't be back if I can possibly avoid it. When things like this happen you realize that you are better off getting decent tools and doing things yourself.

As usual I initially didn't know whether to blame myself, blame them or blame the tools. But the metal on the pedal spanner is already dented so I think it's a load of rubbish as clearly not a case of not enough force being used. Probably needs a WORKSHOP-spec spanner with more leverage. Meaning you wind up back at a WORKSHOP if you try to do anything yourself and don't have trade-spec tools.

Reminded of 90% of the gardening spades you buy nowadays which I go through at a rate of about one a fortnight before the metal bends when my trusty old shovel that has been going for years has been lent to someone else. A lot of money for basically throwaway junk.

I think the cheap £30 toolset from Halfords is going to go back too - and I am going to try to get some tools that are up to doing basic jobs and will last longer than a season. Adding it all up, I'm about £80 down in the last week on various tools, none of which inspire me with confidence that they will complete the jobs they were bought for - and if they do will be in a fit state to use again. Even if I spend twice as much and the tools last me 5 years it's money well spent. In time, frustration-avoidance and "buying twice". I may well be back for some tips on decent tools shortly after my experiences over the last few days !!!!!

 

[Scimitar]

Halfords Pro range gets good reviews from many semi-pros and keen users. Ok, might not be the top sniff as good as Snap-On but those whom I've heard praise it are also S-O users, so have some basis of comparison.
Also, have a look at the Aldidl tool sets - I've bought a few spanner sets from them and have no real complaints - again, as an ex-pro S-On user myself, I know what good tools are and these aren't rubbish. They're pretty capable tools for general home or diy tasks.

 

[103Alex1]

Halfords Pro range gets good reviews from many semi-pros and keen users. Ok, might not be the top sniff as good as Snap-On but those whom I've heard praise it are also S-O users, so have some basis of comparison.
Also, have a look at the Aldidl tool sets - I've bought a few spanner sets from them and have no real complaints - again, as an ex-pro S-On user myself, I know what good tools are and these aren't rubbish. They're pretty capable tools for general home or diy tasks.

I'll take a look. Bought this as managed to get it for £28 with the on-line purchase / collect-in-store offer :

http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_storeId_10001_catalogId_10151_productId_522915_langId_-1_categoryId_242558

... but the cassette lockring tool and chainwhip combo in it failed to tackle the cassette on the 2nd hand Trek I acquired [bike shop wound up using a much more robust whip and a 10" adjustable spanner to shift it - I now have a 10" JCB spanner from B&Q]. Now I'm stumped on the pedal wrench from the shop I got to shift the cassette lockring - and has not been up to the first job thrown at it (don't think it is long enough to deal with over-tightened pedals).

The kits are definitely much cheaper than buying individual tools - it just really winds me up to have specifically bought a pedal wrench which I was told was a decent one and finding at the 1st hurdle it's taken a hammering and completely failed to do the job.

If you are maintaining your own bikes you can make sure things are shiftable, workable and kept well-maintained - that's perhaps the best goal to work towards. My deficient tool issues so far have come from 1st work on a bike bought from someone else and dealing with things my LBS have had their hands on.

The cracked chainguard hidden beneath the mounting screw that bolts it to the frame near the hub I discovered shortly after getting my Agattu back from entrusting LBS with adjusting the back wheel before I learned how to do it myself mad was another nail in the coffin of having your bike "worked on". £35 to replace the guard which I couldn't cope with the likely aggro of taking up with them. Needless to say the fixing didn't hold up for long with inevitable vibrations and the fact that securing the rear wheel requires a hefty chain ... sheared mid-ride in heavy traffic. With the lead times on replacements, not wanting to cut it away, spent the whole of the Festive season riding around with the chainguard mount area glued to itself with marine bonding compound - superglue lasted about 2 days before having to be re-applied on my hands and knees outside the supermarket. I was ... hopping .... My illusions of there being wise old experienced mechanics working on my bike were shattered when the kid with the spanner in his hand who appeared to return my bike was probably about 19 and his supervisor was off riding bikes. £20 an hour ? Grrrrrrrr ..................

 

[jackhandy]

Tip - Don't apply superglue on your hands & knees - It's a b*&&€r to get off & can lead to Cleckheaton Cramp

 

[shemozzle999]

You didn't damage the spanner by trying to undo the pedal in the wrong direction i.e. left hand thread? My Cyclo pedal spanner has never failed on me.

 

[Jeremy]

You didn't damage the spanner by trying to undo the pedal in the wrong direction i.e. left hand thread? My Cyclo pedal spanner has never failed on me.

That's a classic, and very easy, mistake to make with pedals! Even now I have to think which way to turn pedals to unscrew/screw them on, as I can never remember off the top of my head which crank has the left hand thread and which the right hand thread...................

 

[jackhandy]

.......... Got the teeshirt

 

[Deleted member 4366]

The cracked chainguard hidden beneath the mounting screw that bolts it to the frame near the hub I discovered shortly after getting my Agattu back from entrusting LBS with adjusting the back wheel before I learned how to do it myself mad was another nail in the coffin of having your bike "worked on". £35 to replace the guard which I couldn't cope with the likely aggro of taking up with them. Needless to say the fixing didn't hold up for long with inevitable vibrations and the fact that securing the rear wheel requires a hefty chain ... sheared mid-ride in heavy traffic. With the lead times on replacements, not wanting to cut it away, spent the whole of the Festive season riding around with the chainguard mount area glued to itself with marine bonding compound - superglue lasted about 2 days before having to be re-applied on my hands and knees outside the supermarket. I was ... hopping .... My illusions of there being wise old experienced mechanics working on my bike were shattered when the kid with the spanner in his hand who appeared to return my bike was probably about 19 and his supervisor was off riding bikes. £20 an hour ? Grrrrrrrr ..................

Time to to stop all this self-pity and pour your feelings out for this guy.

I was asked to look at a motor for a well-known bike shop. They took the bike in for a puncture repair. During the repair, they noticed that the disc was loose, so they tightened it. I don't know the full history, but the screws are too long or a spacer is missing, so when you do the screws up, the motor jams. Somebody's run it like that, so thescrews have milled off the clutch rivet heads. They couldn't figure out what was wrong, so sent it to me. They didn't pack it properly, so the wires got cut after the axle came through the side of the box and it was dragged along the ground on the axle/wires.

So, guy is expecting his puncture fixed and now he has a damaged clutch, cut wires and a stripped disc thread in his motor, all of which are very difficult to repair. I have the motor here now waiting for a decision.

 

[Old_Dave]

If its on the left then undoing is to your left, if it's on the right then undoing is to your right....

Or is the other way round


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[neptune]

Left hand thread on left pedal- Right hand thread on right hand pedal.

 

[Deleted member 4366]

If its on the left then undoing is to your left, if it's on the right then undoing is to your right....

Or is the other way round


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Is that with the bike upside-down?

 

[dmcgoldrick]

Park tools....invest......

regards

 

[103Alex1]

Park tools....invest......

Never been disappointed with other stuff of theirs. Sounds like a plan.

Tip - Don't apply superglue on your hands & knees - It's a b*&&€r to get off & can lead to Cleckheaton Cramp

You didn't damage the spanner by trying to undo the pedal in the wrong direction i.e. left hand thread? My Cyclo pedal spanner has never failed on me.

No .. I had the Youtube videos and the bike manual going, and checked 3 times before turning a spanner !

Time to to stop all this self-pity and pour your feelings out for this guy.

I was asked to look at a motor for a well-known bike shop. They took the bike in for a puncture repair. During the repair, they noticed that the disc was loose, so they tightened it. I don't know the full history, but the screws are too long or a spacer is missing, so when you do the screws up, the motor jams. Somebody's run it like that, so thescrews have milled off the clutch rivet heads. They couldn't figure out what was wrong, so sent it to me. They didn't pack it properly, so the wires got cut after the axle came through the side of the box and it was dragged along the ground on the axle/wires.

So, guy is expecting his puncture fixed and now he has a damaged clutch, cut wires and a stripped disc thread in his motor, all of which are very difficult to repair. I have the motor here now waiting for a decision.

Always good to have things put into perspective. I do feel very sorry for him. Sounds like he might be better off just starting again with a new one .. and investing some time watching a 'how to repair a puncture' video !!

 

[amigafan2003]

I've used this toolset for years - some of the nicest bike tools I've used - inc Park tools. Compliments my Britool auto tools I have.

As for pedals - with the bike stood upright, move the pedal to the front (3 o'clock if looking at it from the side), place the pedal spanner on the flat with the spanner parallel with the arm (so facing the rear of the bike). Now lean the bike against a wall and place one foot on the pedal and the other on the end of the spanner - push down on the end of the spanner with your foot.

never failed to remove a set of pedals using this method - no matter how tight or rusted they are.

 

[103Alex1]

I've used this toolset for years - some of the nicest bike tools I've used - inc Park tools. Compliments my Britool auto tools I have.

As for pedals - with the bike stood upright, move the pedal to the front (3 o'clock if looking at it from the side), place the pedal spanner on the flat with the spanner parallel with the arm (so facing the rear of the bike). Now lean the bike against a wall and place one foot on the pedal and the other on the end of the spanner - push down on the end of the spanner with your foot.

never failed to remove a set of pedals using this method - no matter how tight or rusted they are.

That's a very nice looking toolset - but way too expensive for what I can afford. Especially as a couple of torque wrenches are about £150 on top of that - it's the cost of a couple of sale bikes in all ! Basically, add in some vices, clamps etc and you're having to spend £700-odd to get a set of bike tools to be able to build / maintain your own bikes and to last. That's a heck of a lot of money on top of a couple of bikes

Bike shop produced their pedal wrench which looked like this :

Wiggle | Pedros 15mm Equalizer Pro Pedal Wrench | Workshop Tools

I shifted the pedals no problem with it using exactly the same method as I tried at home but they were very tight. So 1 1/2 hours of sweat and frustration leading to failure with a £12 cyclo tool - or less than a minute with a professional tool. I think I answered my own question ...

Never take your bike to a bike shop if you want to be able to maintain what they work on afterwards unless you are willing to fork out for industrial strength and spec tools like a professional shop uses.

Better off just getting everything able to be maintained yourself using reasonable priced stuff and staying away from bike shops if you can possibly manage it !

On the up-side, the new pedals feel great and nice not to have to think about which side of the pedal you're on when you clip in. Not the prettiest or lightest, but I got them for £40 which was a bargain :

http://www.tredz.co.uk/.Shimano-M647-SPD-Pedals_11600.htm

 

[superDove]

Rent a workshop?

The London Bike Kitchen: a DIY workshop where you can take care of your own bike

 

[103Alex1]

Rent a workshop?

The London Bike Kitchen: a DIY workshop where you can take care of your own bike

Interesting - never saw that before - it's a clever idea actually, but I guess only viable in places like London with a big demand and lots of people with no space at home !

 

[eddieo]

Got a too kit from lidl a while back......I used to work on the tools years ago as a spark so not entirely unfamiliar.....but most of the contents a complete mystery!lol

 

[Deleted member 4366]

That's a fantastic idea. It's great that they have expers on hand as well for when things get tricky, and to remind you about left-hand threads etc. I wonder if they have stuff foe welding and/or brazing.

 

[103Alex1]

Got a too kit from lidl a while back......I used to work on the tools years ago as a spark so not entirely unfamiliar.....but most of the contents a complete mystery!lol

Are they any good, Eddie - and are they geared at bicycle application or a general household kit ? T-shaped hex/torx and stuff like that are useful on bikes but seem to be missing from a lot of basic kits.

A lot of the Aldi / Lidl stuff is as good as a load of things you buy for 3 times the price !!!