The One Tool That World Cup Mechanics Can't Live Without?

 That's exactly how I remove mine. Plastic coated so it doesn't mark the paint.

 Surprisingly no one brings Brian Lopes.

 Pedro's tire levers are straight up the best ones you can buy.

 you guys make Syndicate mechanics sad by bringing up tyre levers...

 Cause they don’t want to get punched @chyu:

 @chyu: They asked for FAVORITE tool , not BIGGEST tool.

 @SnowshoeRider4Life: Tyre. English word, and that's how you spell it.

 AvE fan, eh?

 WD40 is life and Danny Hart knows it (big sign on his helmet)

 I don't know - duct tape fixes most of my electrical issues.

 @beeekilbee: not sure if joking, but duct tape glue conducts electricity... Be careful

 @Mngnt: Haha, thanks for the tip, but yeh, I was joking : )

 @Mngnt: ditto. Used it on a computer as a kid, to hold a bios battery in on a motherboard. Fried that sucker rather quickly.

 @Kainerm: Haha! get yer safety squints on.

 @Mngnt: I didn't know duct tape glue conducted electricity, but I always have electrical tape so I never used duct tape on energized circuits. PB is a wealth of knowledge.

 @expat: safety squints engaged, mother on speed dial, TWO condoms and filtered thru a cigarette

 Exactly, and if you can't remove it with the hammer, get a bigger hammer!

 I just saw the guy on the trail I sold my bike too. He was happy with the bike (he should, it was pristine!) but was complaining about the linkages creaking… and WD40 didn’t fix it!! I give up...

 Duct... or duck?

 @BryceBorlick: Duct.

 @Tuckandroll: or a drift punch

 what is a duct tape hammer?

 I balanced wheels in high school automotive class. As for bicycles, I'm not very picky, rode with a huge flat spot forever on my mountain bike, my commuter bike rims are irreperably bent like wet noodles. Depends on the person, in my opinion if you want to be good at biking, "just ride your bike" is the answer. If you ride a shitty bike 8 hours a day for a year, you'll do way better than fussing 8 hours a day for a year.

 @allballz: Riding DH you can easily get well over 30 and the World Cup guys are doing that all the time now (AVERAGE speeds for the top riders at Leogang are over 30 mph) however, I do agree that it is a World Cup/Pro issue - unless you're trying to get an extra time advantage it seems like a lot of extra work for the average bike and probably expensive if you paid a shop to do it.

 think some of the wheel balancing issues are now coming from 29ers (bigger wheel so more chance to feel any unbalance) and also the faster jump sections of track aka fort bill motorway and Leogang motorway. The solution to it on Sam Blenkinsops bike is really elegant with the little brass weights

 Some wheels and tyres are just fkd and wobble as hell. Saw different things at my friends workshop. That does make a difference on a bigger wheel, especially for air time.

 @AC1987:
Trying to balance anything with knobs is a futile exercise.
I'd hate being the mechanic asisgned to that rider
.
I'd be bald within the first week

 Always start a shed session with a Yorkshire brew.

 No love for an Earl Grey?

 @steve-sxt: No sir........I suggest you refrain from using such foul language as well tsh.

 So which's more popular, coffee or tea, in Britain???

 @okavango: Which is needed most, water or air?

 @steve-sxt: totally an earl grey man here

 @okavango: honestly we chug coffee as much as anyone.

But certain situations require tea and tea only

 I love this. I recall reading a report from Rowan Sorrell back when he was still racing WC DH. They were racing in Canada and were getting a bit stressed out because they couldn't get any proper cup of tea. I love you Brits for that. But I know you hate me. Because I drink green tea. With no sugar, no milk. Sorry for that.

 @vinay: We don't hate you, we just look on you with the gaze of a wise man looking down on a fool. Seriously though, i did the whole green tea thing for a month once due to sleep issues caused by coffee and long working hours. Its ok, but a decent cup of Yorkshire Tea fixes whats wrong with everything.

 @steve-sxt: It's been known, but not a go to.

 No, you’re doing everything right haha

Throw in duct tape

 Hahaha. I thought the same.

 I picked up a guitar feet nipper that is awesome for flush-cutting zip ties. Super cheap, and it’s plier sized so it looks and feels like a proper tool.

 The plier itself you can go and buy. I have one and it is a super handy tool. No more adjustable wrenches for me. Will have to look into that special shock shaft mod now

 Holy shit, seriously! I've spent hours, no days googling every possible combination of words searching for what is basically the Knipex Shock Shaft Pliers. In KS's tutorial video of how to disassemble the seat post, their mechanic uses what he calls soft jaws to grip the inner shaft of the seat post and they are nowhere to be found online. Pedro's doesn't make them. Park tool doesn't make them. No plumbing supply store sells or even knows what I'm talking about. Grainger has nothing like them. McMaster-Carr, no luck there. Home Depot...nope. When I explain what I'm looking for ppl either direct me to " soft jaws" for a bench vise or have no clue what I'm talking about. Hell, even KS has no clue what I'm talking about even after I cut and paste the link to THEIR OWN TUTORIAL VIDEO. Those are the closest things I've seen yet to do exactly that job of holding the inner shaft tight and not mar it while removing the actuator assembly. Gawd I hope I can find these somewhere as the others are impossible. Though I haven't checked with the mechs at my LBS to see if they can order them for me.

 @lightsgetdimmer: this is the one. www.knipex.com/index.php?id=1216&L=1&page=art_detail&isMobile=&parentID=1368&groupID=1500&artID=2939

 That isn't the actual vide for the air tube though is it?? It's only the pliers themselves?@thestraightline:

 Hmmm auto correct! I meant vise/ clamp. @thestraightline:

 @lightsgetdimmer: Drill a block of aluminum and cut it through the hole, you have a shaft holder any size you need. looks like they made saddles to fit the jaws of those slip joint pliers.

 @lightsgetdimmer: Any halfway decent fabricator can probably make you some. Also you can just use a Knipex plier alongside the RS or similar shaft clamps but the clamping force may not be enough. rockshox, fox, etc all make shaft clamps which is typically brass or aluminum clamps with pre-drilled holes.

 @thestraightline: Thanks for the link! I just wish I could find the tool actually used in the KS video but it's impossible. I could probably fab up some of the clamps for the pliers you know but kind of a P.I.T.A.. I'd much rather save my time resourcing the material and a shop to do it and purchase the actual tool. I mean, couldn't be more than $$30 bucks right? I don't have a bench vise so using tubes and wood blocks and such to hold the shaft in place is not really possible. I just want to find that tool!!!! hahaha, the search continues........

 @lake-st: yeah but i'm not really shop set up to do that kind of work. No bench vise, no band saw, no drill press, etc. And I don't really want to spend my time sourcing a shop and the material to do it so........i'll keep searching

 @oilpathsuspension: yeah, I do have a buddy who owns a welding shop so I could go that route but.....i'd rather just buy the tool refered to as "soft jaws" and be done with it. Call me lazy but I can't be the only one looking for that tool. It's really ridiculous that it can't be found anywhere and no one knows what i'm talking about when I ask companies that make bike mechanic tools. haha, oh well

 @lightsgetdimmer: I'd definitely look at getting a vice if I was you, they're super handy for loads of jobs. Get a folding work table and a clamp on vice if you don't have a work bench.

If you have a vice you can use a golf club vice clamp to grip narrow fork/seatpost shafts:
www.ebay.co.uk/itm/RUBBER-VICE-CLAMP-FOR-GOLF-CLUBS-SHAFTS-NEW-Black-FOR-GRIPPING-REPAIRS/181243147858?hash=item2a32eef652:g:HkQAAOxyJX1TC3O4

 @dingus: dude, my garage is so full, I have no room for a folding workbench even. Yeah, sounds strange but I'm one of those guys that actually parks their car in their garage. Straight up, with all the my gear in it's place, skis, snowboards, 5 bikes, camping gear out the a**, winter car tires, tools boxes, I could go on, there's no room. I've got shit hanging from the ceilings even! haha, good lookin' out on the golf club vise clamp though. I have seen those before and they seem like they would work great at not marring the shaft. Thanks!

 Get a G-Clamp, a couple of short pieces of wood and the golf clamp, ghetto mini vice. Only requires one square foot of space for operation.

 www.tftuned.com/tf-tuned-10mm-air-shaft-clamp-for-fitting-luftkappes/p3333 will they be of any use?

 @lightsgetdimmer: search for an axle vise, the one in the KS video is something they had made up. Park Tool have one.

 @lightsgetdimmer: calm down you’re going to be okay.

 @lightsgetdimmer: if it's the tool I believe you are talking about then the mechanic in the KS video says it's custom made.

 @lightsgetdimmer: "Soft-Jaws" are just a slang term for Axle/Shaft Clamps. Here's Park Tool's

www.parktool.com/product/axle-and-spindle-vise-inserts-av-5?category=Hub%20%26%20Axle

Barnett's

www.bbinstitute.com/store/tools/bbi-universal-shaft-clamp-set-detail

They're called "soft" because the alloy is softer than the steel of the vice and hopefully the material you're clamping to.

 Pro wrench here. Knipex are the best, no doubt ????

 @hampsteadbandit: yuuuup

 @oilpathsuspension:
Quit playing with your shocks and just go riding nobody needs their shaft clamped bud it’s all about the red knob anybody says different and they’re just tryna cause trouble for no reason.
Set it.
Forget it.

 @hampsteadbandit: knipex for the bike and truck, channellocks for everything else

 Pliers also function as excellent core removal tools.

 Peaty's Products are bringing out some new valve caps that have a core remover built in. Quite a neat solution IMO.

 Same here, then I drilled rims for shraeder valves and much easier now to add air and stans

 it is harsh and will eventually fuck up the part the bearing rides in.

 put your bike on a stand, loosen the axle, remove the caliper and balance away!

 So now we all know you’re 12

 Nipples...not just for babies ( • )( • )

 A hand grenade?

 maybe cuz some of them work on coil shocks more

 oops wrong comment to reply to

 Evidently not, Trudeau

 At least one. Jule Palm, Canyon Young Gun. You'd have to wade through a sea of images of the srampagne of beers on Vital to find hers. We've a lot of young guns in our schools in the States, but that's just a ricochet. Also, Bruni's bike is too small for him.

 You don't want to know kind of Dolphin produce is in that mug.

 Nope. Ignorance is bliss on that one!!

 Guys at work thought I was nuts for using a razor blade one day when I misplaced my flush cut snips. It took more time, but I was also the service guy that would be living with the cut hands any time I had to work on that control panel in the future. Same thing with zip ties for number plates or any zip tie on my bike of my wife's bike.

 @Greenday9261: used a razor blade once to cut a zip tie off. Shaved a piece of brake line off too. Expensive oops.

 There are tools for cutting cable ties. They work really well:
www.lawsonproducts.ca/catalog/search-results.jsp?_dyncharset=UTF-8&_dynSessConf=724037411133609808&question=cable+tie+installation+tools&_D%3Aquestion=+&questionSaved=ty+rap&%2Fatg%2Fstore%2Fprofile%2FSessionBean.searchSiteIds=lawson_ca&_D%3A%2Fatg%2Fstore%2Fprofile%2FSessionBean.searchSiteIds=+&%2Fatg%2Fcommerce%2Fsearch%2Fcatalog%2FQueryFormHandler.searchRequest.docSortOrder=descending&_D%3A%2Fatg%2Fcommerce%2Fsearch%2Fcatalog%2FQueryFormHandler.searchRequest.docSortOrder=+&%2Fatg%2Fcommerce%2Fsearch%2Fcatalog%2FQueryFormHandler.searchRequest.multiSearchSession=true&_D%3A%2Fatg%2Fcommerce%2Fsearch%2Fcatalog%2FQueryFormHandler.searchRequest.multiSearchSession=+&%2Fatg%2Fcommerce%2Fsearch%2Fcatalog%2FQueryFormHandler.searchRequest.saveRequest=true&_D%3A%2Fatg%2Fcommerce%2Fsearch%2Fcatalog%2FQueryFormHandler.searchRequest.saveRequest=+&%2Fatg%2Fcommerce%2Fsearch%2Fcatalog%2FQueryFormHandler.searchRequest.pageSize=30&_D%3A%2Fatg%2Fcommerce%2Fsearch%2Fcatalog%2FQueryFormHandler.searchRequest.pageSize=+&%2Fatg%2Fcommerce%2Fsearch%2Fcatalog%2FQueryFormHandler.search=Search&_D%3A%2Fatg%2Fcommerce%2Fsearch%2Fcatalog%2FQueryFormHandler.search=+&searchExecByFormSubmit=true&trail=SRCH%3Acable+tie+installation+tools&_DARGS=%2Fglobal%2Fgadgets%2Fsearch-form.jsp.searchForm

 Useless without PZT-2

 Wondering the same thing.
"Sorry you have to carry your bike down the hill in a bag for this race, the only tool I have is this hole punch. Number plate looks boss tho."

 When you ask the same question several times over, it makes for better copy if they give you different answers.... if everyone said, Allen keys and pressure gauge every time, it would a pretty boring segment.

 Ball end hex is a fast way to wear out a head head bolt. The tolerances are so loose with the ball of hex wrench, your always putting forces against flat edges of the bolt ar angles. Plus, you can't consistently torque things, even hand torque is more inconsistent when the wrench is at weird angles all the time.

 @GTImkIV: but its on the short end, so not meant for torquing...

 @GTImkIV: You spin it in and out with the ball end if necessary. You don't break it loose or torque it down.

 @drunknride: Good point

 @mm732: well ya, but still.

 I named my oldest son Hex for the same reason

 I found out that they can be stripped the hard way.

 Mechanic trivia: Allen is a brand of tools. You could buy Allen combination wrenches and Allen hex wrenches. Even an Allen “crescent wrench”. If a friend asks you to pass him a Allen wrench pass him any of your tools made by Allen.

“You wanted a hex wrench? Why didn’t you just ask for one?”

 What are Knipex parellel pliers really good for? I hear people say in magazines about how great they are, but I can’t for the life of me figure out what I’d do with them.

 @sevensixtwo: They replace the need for wrenches and work much better than normal adjustable wrenches. They are great if you need to limit the tools you bring.

 Great for the likes of Reverb collars / seal heads etc that could potentially round off with conventional wrenches.

 @sevensixtwo:

The mechanism gives it a high clamping force, in addition to even pressure applied by the jaws since they're not pivoted at one point but instead slide up and down. You need to to try one out to see what the hype is about! Worth every damn penny! Oh and the Knipex mini bolt cutters - Ohmygaaaaahhh so gooooood

 @sevensixtwo: It’s like having a perfectly on size wrench for any application where you’re presented with two parallel surfaces to wrench on. I dunno, I’m a machinist by trade and I use them constantly at work, where before I had an entire drawer dedicated to all the different sized spanners I needed. Knipex also sells a lock ring plier kit that’ll change your life.

 @sevensixtwo: like others said, super versatile. Quicker to size perfectly than an adjustable spanner, it has a basic ratcheting mechanism, and big size adjustability. I use it everywhere, from plumbing to truing wheels. Great father's day gift for mechanically inclined, but a bit spendy.

 @sevensixtwo: off the top of my head: Pedal lock nuts. Fork top caps. Cassette tool. Presta valve core. Caliper bleed nipple. Brake lever hose nut. Headset/pressfit bottom bracket/cartridge bearing installation.

 @acali: Also awesome for most bladed spokes.

 Great tools shit warranty unless you buy $10,000 a year from them, they will tell you you misused them, I had screw drivers worn out no warranty they had a small electrical burn half way up the shaft, pliers broken squeezed to hard should have used a different tool, it goes on and on,

Mastercraft I have regular sockets used on impact warrantied NP broken allen keys NP 3/8'x1/2" adapters same no questions no bill, best was a vise probably 30yrs old just a smile and here you go a new one.