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If that’s your approach, then you’ll appreciate that we’ve ordered these by general priority. The other benefit of a kit you assemble yourself is you can buy it piecemeal, over time. But: those kits only draw from a single brand’s offerings, and may include tools you don’t really need, either because they’re general tools you already have (like an adjustable crescent wrench) or because, like cone wrenches, they’re just not as essential anymore. Those are a fine option, especially if you want to simply buy one time and not worry about it. Speaking of price: you can find ready-assembled tool kits for around or less than the cost of the picks we have here. These are rarely the only item in a category, and oftentimes the choices are broadly similar in quality. We picked one item in each category, based on which types of tools we end up reaching for the most often. We also talked to mechanics about what tools they use every day, which brands they trust, and consulted consumer ratings for each item from several sources. Many of these products, we use regularly in our own shops and at Bicycling. The 18 tools we’ve collected here should handle almost anything a home mechanic will want to attempt. For some of these repairs, it’s still best to take your bike to a qualified, experienced professional.

There are a ton of single-purpose tools out there that can be quite handy for specific repairs, but most of us will never need a headset press or a hydraulic brake-line cutter, for instance. This collection of tools is intended to help you set up a home workshop that’s capable of tackling roughly 80 percent of the maintenance and repair work any bicycle needs. Join Bicycling All Access for more gear tips How We Picked In some cases, they’re more affordable than tools from cycling-specific companies in others, we picked them because they do broader duty than some cycling-specific options. Tools from large, general-purpose tool companies can fit the bill in some instances, and we’ve included several of them here. They don’t have complete offerings, however. You can also find tools from a number of other brands that make parts and accessories, like Topeak and Bontrager. They all make quality tools that will serve you well for years, or even decades, to come. Three of the best are Park Tool (which essentially invented specialized bike tools), Pedros, and Feedback Sports.

Thankfully, several companies specialize in making only cycling tools. You’ll find their repair stands in almost every bike shop. These tools often aren’t expensive, but using the proper tool is the difference between a quick and easy maintenance session and an extended interlude of cursing, bleeding knuckles, and possibly damage to pricey parts. Those can be useful, but bike-specific tools exist for a good reason: many parts on bikes today require specialized tools to properly service. You may already have a tool kit at home that’s well-stocked with items like wrenches, sockets, and screwdrivers.

But modern hubs often use cartridge bearings without adjustable preload, so increasingly these sit on the pegboard unused. Cone wrenches, for instance, with their thin wrench flats for adjust hub-bearing cones, used to be a vital tool even for home mechanics. For years, these were found primarily on disc-rotor fixing bolts, but today we see them in stem bolts, hydraulic disc brake calipers, and broadly across many components from SRAM. Not to be confused with torque, Torx-head wrenches are also more ubiquitous, as partsmakers are using the star-shaped bolts more widely than ever. A Torx head has more points of contact and is less likely to round out.

Cool bike workshop