Tool Tales & Unlit Trails

Since maintenance is part of riding, by definition good quality tooling makes routine jobs more pleasurable, whether adjusting the fixer’s chain tension, tweaking headset bearings or performing full-on post winter strip n’ rebuilds. However, savvy purchasing ensures maximum bang for reasonable buck. 

A decent folding workstand, wire snips, pliers, T-handle Allen keys, floor pump, tyre levers, engineers’ mallet, ring spanners, torque wrench, chain breaker and component specific equipment covers most eventualities.

Chemical assistance including biodegradable bike wash, generic maintenance and penetrant release sprays (for exorcising really stubborn/corroded parts) coupled with composite friendly greases and season specific chain lubes keep most fleets happy all year round. 

Caustic soda crystals are cheap as chips, great for cleaning blocked sinks and present the final solution when evicting sitting tenant seatposts lodged firmly in steel frames.However, it’s nasty stuff, so use outside wearing goggles, rubber gloves and cover all exposed areas of skin. 

Semi-pro headset presses and drop out realignment tooling is similarly handy, saving a trip to the bike shop when performing straightforward installations or following nasty trysts with terra firma. Entrepreneurial types could rapidly recoup their investment by charging friendly associates for such services.   

That said; much as I love watching learned sorcerers working their magic with thin walled ferrous metals, oxyacetylene kits and frame jigs aren’t prudent purchases, no matter what our egos say. Even if “re-shoring” (Where jobs return to their host nation as rising wages/living standards in poorer countries makes them less appealing) evolves from buzzword into a full-blown phenomenon, being able to blast tubing together does not maketh a small-scale frame builder.  

Genuine craftspeople will, to some extent always be in demand but while many romanticise such, few seem prepared to bear the costs. I know of a few coachbuilders charging a very modest £35per hour for their services, which is extremely reasonable when overheads are factored into the equation. However, consumers wooed by classic cars often struggle to comprehend the time involved and therefore, cost implications in reconstructing panels and similarly extensive repair.

Meanwhile, back at the tool board, even those with two-wheeled harems will seldom replace sealed cartridge bottom brackets, cassettes or indeed fixed sprockets more than several times in a given year. Therefore, there’s a strong argument favouring budget tools such as these from Lifeline. Both are fashioned from heat treated steel, offer sensible leverage and are neatly finished in a hardy satin black powder coat with serrated, medium density rubberised sleeves for comfort and control.

Now, I don’t write advertorials-thinly veiled marketing copy masquerading as critically evaluative/informative journalism (do terms such as “prosumer” ring any bells?), hence will confirm they lack the outright precision of premium grade, CNC machined examples but are accurate within acceptable tolerances and perform their respective tasks with suitable aplomb.

Generous integral handles certainly improve matters since slight mismatches are often amplified when deployed using large adjustable wrenches. Precautionary blasts of penetrant spray prior to extraction also assist and speed home very smoothly with sensible helpings of synthetic/marine greases.

Lithium preps are cheap, stout and offer decent lubricant properties. Alas, while a great choice for traditional bearings, its super hostile to rubberised components and encourages galvanic fusion between different metals. Fixed sprockets on daily drivers/winter trainers are a case in point; wrung torturously tight by beefy drivetrains and rider effort, subjected to a cocktail of slimy, salt strewn water little wonder they develop an incredibly stubborn union.

I’m prone to substituting grease for wet lubes when assembling stuff, bottle/stem/carrier fasteners being particular favourites, although this improvisation proved truly impotent-flushed away in the course of a relatively bog standard British winter. Changing ratios for balmier conditions proved a major operation several months later, thus and without exception, my sprockets are generously basted in marine/polymer grease during installation.

While the evenings are definitely getting lighter, there’s still a need for lighting and I’ve been seriously impressed by Silva trail speed elite, which might sound tame at 660lumens but is anything but. This is largely down to the marque’s system of “intelligent light”, which is a clever, simultaneous deployment of flood and spot beams in all but the lowest settings, casting a phenomenal arc without losing the detail.

Run times are pretty much on par with many 1000lumen systems, though quality of light is arguably superior, proving that optics is often more significant than numbers alone. On that note, I’m off with my trusty workhorse SLR to commence a portraiture project, so will leave you with some very fetching “Gios” blue two pac and purple powder coat effects.