Best Tools I Ever Bought

[jim haseltine]

In common with a lot of British stuff, Cyclo tools suffered from lack of investment during the 1970s with the product range being reduced and quality nose-diving so I was more than slightly pleased to see that under the ownership of Weldtite things were turned around. When I had a need for a <5Nm left hand drive torque wrench all I could find were items in excess of £500 which for a one-off job was beyond my budget but then I spotted a Cyclo 1/4" with a design which allowed me to easily reverse the head. 30 quid later the job was completed and I also had something more accurate to use on my bikes other than 60-odd years experience of "that'll be tight enough".

 

[Canuk]

'That'll be tight enough', I've spent many an hour removing pedals after people attacking them like this!

 

[Canuk]

Do you have a link for the 1/4 inch above?

 

[jim haseltine]

https://weldtite.cc/products/torque-wrench-1-4-drive-2-24nm-with-tools
It's model BF06355. Some places advertise them as 3/8" but they're wrong.
Remove the two plate retaining screws, turn the ratchet body over, replace the screws and you have a left-handed torque wrench with a capacity low enough to meet the rating for the retaining nut on a turbo charger compressor wheel.

 

[jim haseltine]

Whilst I'm about it, a Phillips multi-tool, possibly 70+ years old. Stamped 'PHILLIPS MADE IN ENGLAND' and what might be a patent number but it's so battered that it's almost impossible to read.
The whole thing, showing clockwise, combined adjustable cup pin spanner, lock ring spanner and screwdriver, pedal spanner, stem & seat bolt spanner, combined brake nut spanner and tyre lever. Body of the tool has track nut sockets, front on one side, rear on the other.

There's also a spoke key

Closer shot of the tyre lever

Detail of the pin spanner, lock ring spanner and a flat blade screw driver

Somewhere around I've got some old King Dick brand spoke keys of different designs but they're the sort of thing I'll not find until I'm looking for something else.

 

[Canuk]

I've seen one of those at a bike jumble and walked right past it

 

[Canuk]

Thanks for the link, that's a very decent tool for £59.99

 

[jim haseltine]

Same wrench is available in a Halfords outer (still stamped 'CYCLO' though) for £40
https://www.halfords.com/cycling/bi...lfords-torque-wrench-with-sockets-701767.html
From some of the reviews it appears that some people aren't aware that torque setting of most torque wrenches operates in right-hand drive mode only. Having written that, Halfords 'Advanced' range 1/2" drive torque wrenches have a 'push through head' design which means they work in both directions - and they're good too, I've owned a couple for 40 years and they've rarely failed calibration. Pity the lowest setting is 20Nm.

 

[Glug]

I finally bought a bicycle torque wrench last year.
I was using my car/motorbike one which is 10-150ftlb, right hand drive only.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0D2H9HF16?ie=UTF8&th=1
£30ish, 5-60Nm, left and right operation

Haven't found any issues yet.

 

[Canuk]

This is a pretty odd, perhaps hand made tool for Campagnolo C Record type headsets