nipple shaker or tray

made this for wheel builds. toss nipples in, shake. now all your nipples are lined up. i use a straight pick to stab the nipples and start em on the spoke.

campagnolo chainring bolts

campy chain ring bolts are tough to remove once they are corroded. the t30 side of the bolt has a lot of surface area for corrosion. the best way i have found to remove these is the clamp a t30 torx in the vise and use an impact screwdriver. set the crank on the t30 wrench and use the impact screwdriver with the biggest flat bit you got. should free it up. i have used an impact gun on the t30 side but it can strip out. the t30 on the crank arm gets the impact gun or normal wrench. i use a pick to pick out the anti tampering plug

crank puller

tired of cranking hard on the crank puller? crank seems seized on? use the crank puller as usual, when you build up a lot of pressure and tension give the crank puller a good hit with the hammer. should loosen the crank right up

drywall screw

another trick for pulling out jammed ferules in shimano road levers. brake ferules inside a shimano road lever is a no no. if one is stuck then grab a drywall screw to pull it out.

screw starter for starting nipples

use a screw holding screwdriver to start nipples in double wall or deep rims. ullman d-2 or kd 2282 are good choices with a magnet on the other end for fishing cables. ebay or amazon are good places to get them. under 10 bucks. i also use the straight pick to start nipples.

cleaning out bottom bracket threads

head to the plumbing section at the hardware store and grab a wire brush for cleaning out 1 inch copper pipe. buy the cheap one with the twisted wire handle. chop the handle off and chuck it in your drill. use this to clean out bottom brackets. run the brush through then wrap a towel or rag around and give it another spin. squeaky clean now

Fork/Stem transfer tool

copied this from efficient velo tools. when you need to do some fork work just pop the top cap off and slam this tool on top of the steerer. holds the stem and spacers in place. no more dangling bars and kinked housing. made from an old stem and a steerer tube cutoff piece. end of the steerer tube is tapered for easy insertion.

self extracting cranks

some self extracting crank caps are left hand threaded and this prevent the cap from coming off when pulling the crank. for normal right hand caps give it a shot of lube under the cap before you pull the crank. this lubes it to fight the friction between the bolt and cap. this helps to prevent the cap from coming off

barke cable

crap pic

housing ferules

we stock 5mm derailer and brake housing for the most part. 4mm shimano housing is used occasionaly for the newer finicky shimano 10spd stuff. 5mm ferules come in two flavors, one for brake and one for index or derailer housing. brake ferules are low quality and should be avoided. i only use the derailer style ferules for the 5mm housing. give your ferules a quick squeeze between the thumb and index finger to check the quality. the brake ferules will just collapse. derailer ferules have thicker walls and bottoms.

front brake or fork shuddering

getting shuddering while slowly going down a steep or bumpy road while applying the front brake? check your headset adjustment

disc brake squeel

noise can come from many factors. a good bed in is the first line of defense. grease the back of the brake pads. i use a thin smear with my finger on the backing. be careful to not get any on the pad material or rotor. does not work on oil soaked or contaminated pads. for contaminated pads douse it in alcohol and set it on fire or torch em, or get replacements. .

screwdriver tip camming out?

if the tip is caming out make sure your screwdriver tips are in good condition. if the screw head is getting chewed up dip the screwdriver in some carbon assembly paste for some extra traction.

securing housing under bar tape

here is a quick way to secure the housing to the bars before taping them. uses 1 piece of tape. 2-3 wraps in the corner, then loosely wrap towards the stem finish of with 2-3 wraps at the end. works great. pic is not great but hope it helps

cables without weld cut ends

cables without weld cut ends are much harder to thread through a shifter. most cables have weld cut ends these days but some cables are double ended. for cables without weld cut ends, take the cut end to the grinder and shape them for easy insertion. twisting slightly in the direction that the cable is wrapped also helps

brake ferule in a shimano shifter body

you know someone puts a ferule/housing cap in the shimano shift body when they are not supposed to. now how do you get it out? easy, grab your easy outs or screw extractors and pop it right out. works like magic

blob o grease, like glue

rattling noise in the frame or rims? cant or don't want to get the offender out? inject grease through the water bottle bosses or in the rim. shake until noise stops. great for when you drill out rivnuts

shifter tune up in a can

bike looks new under the dust? shifters not working too well? the grease inside the shifters probably dried and and turned gummy. grab some wd40, liquid wrench or similar product and hose the inside of the shifter down. for older trigger shifters push the thumb lever upwards a bit and it will catch most of the time.

presta air chuck

this is what i have at work. its from united bicycle supply. pretty easy to make at home too

removing pedals without wrench flats

high end pedals don't have wrench flats. the pedals can be a bear to remove with a allen wrench even if you have a long one. my favorite tool for this job is the bent handle flex ratchet(also called a spark plug ratchet), a 6 in extension, and a socket bit in 6 or 8mm depending on the pedal. bent handle for chainring clearance(AWESOME). long length for leverage

rear derailer adjustment

first step is derailer hanger alignment. you can find the rest of the instructions elsewhere

non striking pry bar to striking conversion

picked up this mac 28in pry bar on the side of the road a while ago. handle was cracked on the end from the previous user striking the handle all the way through exposing the steel. i pushed the handle about 1/2 way off the shaft and gave it a quick buzz with the circular saw to cut the cracked stuff off. hammered the handle back flush. looks better and functional now.

golf ball file handles

read about using golf balls as file handles on the internet a while back. passed some golf balls on a commute home so i picked them up for some files that needed handles. drill a hole in the ball and bang it on. epoxy if you must.

park tns-1 or star nut setter repair

no need to order the set screw to replace your bent up one. remove the old set screw. grab a disc brake caliper mounting bolt or v brake mounting bolt. these are usually hardened. i know for sure that avid cps bolt are hardened. screw it in the star nut tool and cut off the excess with a hack saw. clean up the thread with a file or on the grinder. good as new and ready for service. for future repair just stick the stub in the vice and twist, should come right out

keep bits and screws in place

use a piece of plastic bag to keep your bits in your tools. prevents the bit from falling out. good for starting socket cap hex screw too. wrap some plastic around your hex key and stick the screw on, now the screw wont fall off. works like a screw holding screwdriver. you can also do the same with bolts and sockets. to remove the original bit from the torqkey i heated it with a lighter and pulled with my knipex pliers wrench

why so long specialized?

get your act together

trek portland wheels and hubs

just overhauled the hubs on my portland. quality is about deore level. polished cones. the wear track on the drive side rear cone was a a little off axis. i suspect the freehub or cone is not perfectly straight, axle looked good. front hub could have gone till the end of the season but i expected that. drive side rear cone was pretty dirty and showed the most wear on the cone. non drive rear cone had the same cleanliness level as the front hub. the wheels are holding up just fine straight and true

rubber pad for clamp arm

cut up an old tire and zip tie it to your clamp head on the repair stand. keeps the saddles scuff free. pic also shows what i keep in my work tray at all times. cable end crimps. grease tub. boshield t9. pedal wrench. 5mm t handle is for adjusting fd height/rotation and cable pinch bolt. yellow pin spanner for 1 piece cranks. t9 can has the patented never loose your straw attachment. take a piece of tape and create a tether for the straw. even if it falls off the nozzle it is never far away.

temporary bar tape clamp

use your park pin spanners to clamp on to bar tape. great for when number 2 calls, answering the phone, tending to walk ins, eating etc. you know you don't pull those pin spanners out much anyways

quick and dirty 4th hand tool

i use this "trick" to pull the slack out of cable systems. pinch end cap/crimp with thumb and middle. use index to push brake arm and pull the slack out. rarely do i pull out the real deal. i use the real one on bmx u brakes or brakes that have a lot of spring tension

hauling with the trek portland

hauled this tool box about 5 miles on flat ground. avg about 8-10 mph. got it home just fine. paid 7 bucks for the box and 2 tools. good ol made in the usa. the box is made by metal box and cabinet corp (MBC). they used to make boxes for snap on long ago

spray can straw

prevent loss of the little red straw from spray cans. wind it around the rim of the can. i also keep a stash of straws around from used up cans

trek mt220 fd cable routing

hey trek can you fix this. route the fd cable properly. i have been seeing this on mt220s for over 3 months and yes they know about it. stop using the crappy RD with the plastic washer on the mounting bolt too, it comes broken and i bet you love doing the warranty on them. ok done ranting

knipex pliers wrench

get yourself a set of these bad boys. the 10 inch size will be the most versatile if you only get one. parallel jaw pliers. the jaws always stay parallel unlike other smooth jaw pliers. good for gripping seized spokes, threaded headset adjustment, 1 piece cranks, and more

bontrager hard case tires

not impressed with these tires on the trek portland. got 3 flats already. big chunk of glass the rear and two slow leaks in the front from unknown causes, the debris probably got knocked out. the gutters in the roads are still a mess from the winter but i try to avoid riding in the gutter as much as possible.

modified cone wrench for disc hubs

this is for locking down the cone and lock nut on the disc side of the hub without removing the axle. file or grind away the sides for clearance on the disc bolts and put a 15 degree bend to clear the other bolt under it. to bend it stick it in the vice with the open end facing up and put an adjustable wrench on it to bend it. to use it lock down the disc side and flip the wheel over to adjust from the other side

trek/gary fisher marlin

clear sticker/packaging film under the crown race. good job trek

specialized crosstrail rim tape

cheap rim tape and poor qc. that flap was sticking out of the mounted tire

trek portland hub update

so i looked into the hubs some more, namely mine. the older porland's did indeed have a 130mm hub. the 2011 rear hub is 135mm OLD. i just measured mine today. so trek does indeed get a clue, sometimes

trek portland hub

hey trek why did you use a 130mm OLD disc hub? 135mm disc hubs are readily available and some 29er wheelsets would make a good set of wheels to thrash on.

presta valve extender tip

there are 2 types of valve extenders. one is a glorified straw and the other requires the removal of the valve core, threading the extender and rethreading the core on the extender. the one that requires core removal is far superior. if you are using the straw type give the lock nut of the tube a crimp before putting the teflon tape and extender on. the crimp prevents the lock nut from spinning down in the worst moments.

screen for oil bucket

we keep a bucket around for oil. it is mostly used for fork oils. got tired of dropping parts and fishing them out of 5 gal bucket half full of oil. take some window screen and loosely secure it around the top with zip ties(big band around the rim). prevents loss of parts and a good place to drain dampers and lowers while you clean the uppers.

take care of your tools

its winter time here in new england. the shop slows down to a crawl. we got plenty of time on our hands. now is the time to inventory your tools and order any new tools that you may need. it is also time to maintain your tools. chain tool, crank puller, ratchets, etc should be cleaned and lubed. for the park hanger alignment tool i pull out the inside shaft and clean and grease it. the grease provide a hydraulic buffer between the shaft and tool. this reduces play and gives smoother operation.

crows foot cone wrench

this is for working on fox fit dampers. torque wrench on a cone wrench. plug in a park cone wrench and turn it 90 degrees so you don't have to do any calculations.

snap rings

square edges of the snap ring should face the snap ring pliers. the snap rings wont fly off and get lost on the floor anymore. one side of a snap ring is rounded from the stamping process and the other is squared off, easy to see by eye and feel

extend the life of your park dag 1

if you have a older park derailleur alignment tool you will find that the alignment boss is quite large. the large boss interferes with the smaller hangers on many new road bikes. a quick fix is to grab a axle washer and slip it on over the stud. this will reduce the diameter of the boss and give you some room to work with. for example trek madone hangers and the DAG 1 dont play well but slip on the washer and its good to go. the pic above is for illustration. the washer i have is larger than normal and the tool is the newer DAG 2