10 Pro Mechanics' Favorite Tools at the Albstadt XC World Cup Season Opener
World Cup racing is back on, which means World Cup wrenching is, too. Here are some favorite tools from the mechanics looking after some of the top riders this weekend.
Alvaro Dominiquez, mechanic for Trek Factory Racing
 | There are several, but maybe now the tool I most use is the new torque wrench from Bontrager. I like it because it's small, it's portable, light, and I have the options that I normally use: 0 to 8 Nm so really easy to work with all the bolts. |
Alvaro Dominiquez says he has several favorites, but Bontrager's new torque wrench stands out.
Yannick Gyger, mechanic for Nino Schurter
| Well I like gold and they're actually made out of a coating, 24-point-whatever gold. It's real, but just a tiny coating. I also used to have Allen keys, exactly the same. |
Do gold-plated tools help make a bike go faster? Probably.
Brad Copeland, mechanic for Kate Courtney
It's the little things.
| So it's called a ring-marking plier, it's actually a jeweler's tool for stamping or engraving soft metals with a date or a name, like on the inside of a ring. I use it to crimp the tips of the cables that we use on the lockouts on our bikes. It was a wedding gift from one of my good friends and a mechanic that I used to work with at a bike shop. We used to joke about this tool and how cool it would be to get it, but the cost is so high for such a silly novelty item that it's kind of not worth it. But for my wedding present five years ago that was his gift to me and I've been cherishing it ever since. I've got it for life, and hopefully for at least a little while longer we'll still actually have cables on the bike before everything goes fully electronic so I still have a few left to crimp. Then I'll just have something for my vintage bikes at home. The most used tool? For sure Abbey Tools' bottle opener at the end of every day we bust this tool out and crack a few cold ones with the boys. Maybe not the most practical tool in the box for working on bikes, but the one we enjoy the most. |
Gavin Black, mechanic for Thomus RN Swiss Bike Team
| Chainwhip tool made by a good friend, Nigel Reeve of NSR Racing. Custom made. |
Andi Pscheidel, mechanic for Santa Cruz FSA MTB Pro Team
| It's Arrowmax screwdrivers, it's out of the RC car scene. I just like the fancy look and they're super lightweight. |
"They're mainly for looks, like all of my tools," Andi joked. "I use them mainly for photographers asking for screwdrivers."
JP Jacobs, mechanic for Cannondale Factory Racing
| I believe in a good pressure gauge. Tire pressure is quite a vital key, it makes your racing. This one is a digital one. It does two decimals behind the comma and gives me PSI and bar because some riders have different preferences in what they use. It also has an easy deflate function, which is quite accurate and has been trusty since day 1. |
Tire pressure is no joke in a World Cup race.
Lewis Kirkwood, mechanic for Norco Factory Team
| I have a PB Swiss PB8451.10-100M. The handle has it written on here! It's a PB Swiss screwdriver with interchangeable bits and a magnetic holder to do so. It's easy to be able to swap between loads of different attachments, given that there's lots of different ways you need to get into things. And it's magnetized so you don't lose the bolt, particularly for the small stuff. |
Uwe Kampe, Ghost Factory Racing Team
| I don't just use it for changing tires. I use it for removing some stickers or to put the brake pistons back into position, all that stuff where you need something with plastic that's not scratching around. It happens often that we remove some stickers and make them nice and shiny. |
Sometimes simple tools are the best tools.
Peter Felber, mechanic for Specialized Factory Racing
| This is just a toothpick for a dentist. I love that tool because we use it so often -- on the shoes, on the fork, on the cassette somewhere to put mud out. It is one tool that I need all the time on the bike and for so many things. |
Jerome Alix, mechanic for Specialized Factory Racing
| So that's an Abbey Tool with torx on it and allen key. Basically, with one tool you can do a bolt check on the complete bikes, for us on the Specialized S-Works. You order it with the bits you want and they put it in for you. They have a combination of bits you can have on, so you choose which one is most appropriate for you. And that one for me is the best we can get for all bikes. Every day we do bolt checks. Every day, every time before racing. That's the best tool for that. |
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*has never touched one
Pricey either way but looks like a really nice piece of kit.
Lazy dentists everywhere, sorry for the tautology.
"The most used tool? For sure Abbey Tools' bottle opener at the end of every day we bust this tool out and crack a few cold ones with the boys. Maybe not the most practical tool in the box for working on bikes, but the one we enjoy the most."
Spoken like a true mountain biker. If ya ain't havin' fun, why bother?
I like knipex because $30 for a flat-ground socket from fox is a damn scam
Obvious marketing campaigns like seen here with simple manipulative slogans are simply unnecessary for quality stuff.
I have to tell you - I have lots of tools - many or over-hyped just like you said. Some are just possessions - I use the Knipex all the time.
Cool thing about the Knipex is I use them all the time for non-bike stuff as well. For that reason, probably at least one more size on the horizon for when I need to hold a bolt head while I tighten a nut.
While I'm not one to claim I can feel 1psi more (or less) I really enjoy low front tire. Untill it loses all support and starts to roll. That means I pay attention to that number every ride, and set it right before the trail.
My personal favorite tool is the classic blue park Y wrench I got when I started wrenching professionally 19 years ago. Still have it...you can build about 90% of a bike with one of those, especially a more consumer grade oriented machine that doesn't need a lot of fussing with torque or torx fittings, smaller sized hex fittings, etc.
I worked hard to ruin tracks on my ebike though
To Brad: You're welcome.
To remove, spray a cable tie with wd40 and slide it up between the grip and bar, rotate around the bar and slide that grip straight off.
Same principal with the fatneck holder, just using the condensation already on the outside of the beverage.
My favourite tool by far though is my motionpro T bar bit driver. They’re originally sold for motorbikes. I own three and they’re my most used tool everywhere, from the machine/work shop to my bikes and vehicles on the farm, to building drones that cost more than most people’s houses. I also have them for sockets and they get a lot of use everywhere.
;-)
you must be finally having a bit of down time (or you are currently traveling to Czech)
a lot of the places where a t25 or 4mm is needed. Such as brake calipers or shifter clamps. So many nice tools and I still end up using the same ol’ hex wrenches
My Bike
Its reeal tight
and makes everything loose
The End!