Halfords Bikehut Toolkit Offer - any good?

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SkipdiverJohn

Deplorable Brexiteer
Location
London
Since recently getting back into cycling, I need some more up to date tools. Back in the days when I rode bikes before, everything at the budget end had cottered cranks, most bikes had chains with a master link, and you could strip and rebuild them using ordinary household/car tools.
The MTB's I've recently acquired all have cotterless cranks, endless chains, and I can see me soon needing to get freewheel clusters off for cleaning/lubrication too. So I need some things now that I didn't need for working on the 1980's and older stuff I grew up riding.
Halfords are offering their Bikehut kit for £50. What I would like to know is is this a genuine reduction offer, or just creative price manipulation to make it seem like a special deal? i.e. put price up temporarily then reduce it again to make it look like a deal? Will this kit do what I need in respect of getting off Shimano freewheels and dismantling cotterless cranksets and BB's for regreasing the bearings? I don't want to spend silly money on pro-quality tools for what will probably end up being annual overhauls, but I don't want cheap rubbish that won't do the job either. I've got plenty of regular car type tools, it's bike-specific ones I'm out of date on.
 
I only have one bike hut tool, a cable cutter IIRC, it was OK. But I doubt the quality of each piece is as high as the likes of good names like park tool. I would prefer to invest in quality tools, buying them as I need them to spread the cost. Higher quality tools pay for themselves over time. The minute one of these tools breaks, or wears, or rounds a bolt head, you'll have to discard it and the box will be useless for storing the replacement. So I avoid these 'kits' for that reason, instead storing mine in a cheap plastic box and wall mounting the stuff I use regularly near a bench.

It doesn't look like a bad deal to me, but half the tools I wouldn't use on my own bikes, so you'll have to question how regularly you intend to use each of these. Also the torq/hex wrenches look terrible, like you get from an ikea flat pack.

You're better off spending a bit more and just getting decent hex/torq wrenches and cable cutters, then adding the other tools as you need them to do more advanced stuff like BB replacement, headset pressing, chain whip, cassette tool etc
 
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An alternative would be look to see if there is a community/coop bike workshop in your area, often times you can go in and use their tools for free, possibly in exchange for helping local kids/young adults learn some skills. Or borrow a friend's garage :smile:
 
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SkipdiverJohn

Deplorable Brexiteer
Location
London
As a bare minimum I need to be able to get cotterless cranks apart and break chain links. I've also put my old thin headset spanners away somewhere that's so safe I now can't find them. I don't like to be messing around begging and borrowing tools, much prefer to have what I need available to use at all times. Will have a look at Aldi, they often do good value household tool special offers.
 
Yes, but cycling specific tools often only sold once or twice a year, so you'll be lucky to find them until the next sale. You will be ok with their torq/hex and spanner sets though!
 

cyberknight

As long as I breathe, I attack.
The Bikehut kit is decent quality, but the price is unjustified. Similar and perfectly workmanlike kits sell in Aldi for £15.
Tools look very similar too .
 

mjr

Comfy armchair to one person & a plank to the next
The toolkit in the OP seems to be lacking any C spanner or pin spanners (for some loose ball BBs, rear hubs and head sets), or freewheel extractors or head set cone spanners but has some other nice inclusions like dust cap wrenches and master link pliers that the £15 Aldi ones haven't recently. If you only need one or two of the omissions and haven't already got many of the inclusions, it looks reasonable. Otherwise, I'd consider the oft discounted IceToolz kit.
 

Ajax Bay

Guru
Location
East Devon
Leaving aside basic stuff which I'm going to assume the OP has (screwdrivers + and -, allen keys, socket set, adjustable spanner (large), pair of pliers, tyre levers), and also noting that the OP has modern bikes (so no 'C' or pin spanners required) these are the tools that a cycle tool box needs (first draft - cue others suggesting other 'must have tools'):
[In order of need for regular maintenance and NB OP has "got plenty of regular car type tools")
Cable cutters
Chain tool (NB speed of drivetrain compatible)
Cassette lockring tool (for whichever cassette you have ie S or C) - likely OP has freehub not freewheel
Chain whip
cone spanners x 2
pedal spanner
Crank puller
BB cartridge tool (20 spline)
Spokey TM spoke key
Headset spanner
Edit: added Crank bolt spanner (Hollowtech II, & Truvativ GXP, FSA Megaexo) and anything needed for the type of disc brakes rotor fitting the OP has.
 
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mjr

Comfy armchair to one person & a plank to the next
and also noting that the OP has modern bikes (so no 'C' or pin spanners required) [...] OP has freehub not freewheel
You may be right, but I'll believe what the OP's written about freewheels and regreaseable BB bearings (which tend to use C or pin spanners, not only 20-spline cartridge sockets, although there are a few which do) until there's reason to think otherwise. Bikes are still sold with both, even if the glitzier ones have moved on and I remember the OP's hello message.
 

mmmmartin

Random geezer
FWIW my experience has been that cheap tools are usually a total pain and when you buy a decent bit of kit you soon forget how much it cost. One example is cable cutters: cheap Pedro ones were OK but not very good: Park Tool ones in a sale are splendid and work perfectly every time.
 
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