Decent tools....ideally UK-made

[Blue Hills]

Are Cyclo tools still all made in the UK? A fair bit of their stuff is excellent - their pedal spanner is great. For a while they were sold by Wilco, which seemed slightly odd.

If wider afield, Slovenia I think, I like a lot of Unior's stuff - nice and traditional looking and performing. Always puts me in mind of old fashioned Italian engineering.

 

[Profpointy]

If you are not working on bikes for employment, eight hours a day, you really don't need very good tools. How many times in your life are you going to change a cassette or a bottom bracket? Top dollar tools are nice to look at, but if they don't get used you are really like a banker gazing at a £200 million painting in a bank vault.

Get good cable cutters though!

Whilst there is something in that, it's also true that a lot of cheap tools are barely usable even occasionally. Something that needs a lot of force is prone to bending or breaking, and ruining the job and / or your knuckles whilst doing it, even if only used the once. Removing a cassette (or at least a freewheel or fixie cog; not done a cassette) is a high force job that needs top quality kit even done once.

My dad is a terrible cheapskate so he'd pay a fiver for a set of spanners and I'd pay a fiver for a single spanner. The difference is I have a useable spanner and he's simply wasted a fiver

 

[Hacienda71]

King Dick in Birmingham have been around for a long time. I have an adjustable of theirs inherited from my Grandfather via my Dad dating back to the 30/40's. Still solid and reliable. Was pleased to see they still exist when I googled them.

 

[Blue Hills]

Was pleased to see they still exist when I googled them.

and possibly entertained awhile unless you have very tight settings.

 

[Hacienda71]

and possibly entertained awhile unless you have very tight settings.

To be honest I was quite surprised by the lack of smut in my search results.