KNIPEX mini-pliers

[Ajax Bay]

sometimes compromises are made ...

I appreciate you have an enquiring mind, Matt, but I reckon this thread is a compromise you could have avoided. And if these comments are not 'constructive' so be it.
Noone in their right mind would carry this 5" long tool for on-the-road bike maintenance, 'just in case'. If you have hexagonal headed nuts or bolts (as you have on one bike aiui) then carry a light spanner for each size (and consider replacing with allen or torx key headed bolts and eliminating free nuts, or would that degrade the bike's Eroica' status?). And off the bike, as @gbb has opined "this is not the proper tool for the job."
I carry a 10mm 2" spanner for my mudguard stays (because it's entirely likely I may need to adjust on the road). It weighs about 25g is packed alongside my 2 safety pins and an effective chain tool (which is not shoved up a bar end).
As a side note, that this thread and a 'plastic zip is stuck' thread are current is depressing for 'Bike Repairs and Maintenance'.

 

[matticus]

or would that degrade the bike's Eroica' status?

Good point, NOW you've got me worried - can we take modern tools on Eroica events??

---

What people on these kind of threads may not realise is that I DONT CARE who has 5,6, 8, 9, 10 or 3mm bolts on their bike.
I am asking for knowledge and/or experience OF THIS SPECIFIC TOOL.

I can then assess for myself when, where and how often it may be useful to me. I know that sometimes people mean well with their advice - I know, I've done the same often enough - but it can get very tiresome. For one thing, it doesn't need 10 people to give the same off-topic opinion (basically saying - "You shouldn't have started this thread, dear boy."); in addition, there are internet types who CLEARLY know nothing about the actual question, and have NO INTEREST in knowing; because their way is best, and will always be thus. Those people should mainly keep their traps shut, or go and bluster in their garage. Alone.
If someone said "I tried that new aero stem (or mini-pump, or portable bottom-bracket extractor), but it failed (or they didn't use it in 40 years)" etc, then that is appropriate advice.


If someone asks for a spare carbon aero stem spacer bolt thingy, I don't reply that no sensible bike would need such a thing; I keep my mouth shut.
If people ask for flights advice, I don't preach about climate change.

In Heaven, I am sure that Forum Threads will have a "Make Off-topic Answers Visible? Toggle button"

 

[Blue Hills]

Another way of looking at it...at an apprentice school, youd get a rollicking for using an adjustable spanner, as an extension of that, youd probably get thrown out for using water pump type pliers like these. I have two sets at work, they rarely ever ever get used, only as a last resort on stuck stuff and pipework and I'm not sure I've ever used them to undo a nut. Proper tool for a proper job...and these are not the proper tool for the job. (Imho)

bahcos are excellent. Fine if used carefully.

 

[Pale Rider]

Adjustables could have a place on a bicycle with different sized hex nuts.

I would be inclined to go for a traditional knurled wheel type.

Bahco as mentioned by @Blue Hills are a decent make, and I have a couple of own brand B&Q ones at the caravan, including a stubby one, which work reasonably well.

However, the head means access to some nuts can be difficult making the job fiddly and time consuming.

Better than nowt if stuck beside the road.

 

[Ajax Bay]

Anyone used these? Seen recommended as an adjunct to on-bike multi-tool.

They are like an adjustable spanner, with an added pliers function.

I am asking for knowledge and/or experience OF THIS SPECIFIC TOOL.

Chat. Chat! useful onceinabluemoon Venn diagram
@andrew_s - since you are the only contributor which Matt acknowledges has 'added value' "only took 15 posts to find someone who actually knew anything"- as a matter of interest, have you used / got knowledge and/or experience of Knipex "Mini pliers wrench Pliers and a wrench in a single tool"? How much did you pay for it?

 

[gbb]

Anyone used these? Seen recommended as an adjunct to on-bike multi-tool. (I think the idea is to carry allen keys + this, avoiding spanners, and ... well I'm not really sure of the advantages!) Holds nuts without slipping from 23mm down to ... er tiny?

View: https://www.amazon.co.uk/86-03-125-plastic-Blister/dp/B00I8N282O

https://www.knipex.com/products/pip...wrenchespliers-and-wrench-single-tool/8603125

Not cheap - £39 - but appears to be a precision tool. Claims to be.

Just to annoy you . The original question, anyone use these ?
Yes, i stated i have 2 pairs. Not knipex but a pair of Bahco and a large pair of Vice Grip ones, both good quality . I still wouldnt use them instead of a spanner unless absolutely neccessary.
The make doesnt matter, Knipex, Vice Grip or Bahco, they are all good quality, they all work on the same principle.
Your original question stated they were 'precision'. Precision in manufacturing, certainly NOT precision in undoing a nut, they can be prone to slipping, they can be difficult to get into small spaces, they can potentially damage a nut far far easier than a spanner.


You asked an opinion, you got several, some (maybe even mine) not what you were looking specifically for...thats the glory of the internet forums, you have to accept you'll get a raft of opinions and answers.
You obviously are not sure, so listen to what people have to say, digest and make your own mind up.....chill mate, we're all trying to be helpful

 

[Pale Rider]

they all work on the same principle.

Just to be clear, I was referring to the type you set with a knurled wheel, the advantage being you are not relying on hand grip pressure to grip the nut.

It's also possible to get a better fit on the nut.

All the gland nut type pliers have only a few settings, the fine tuning is done by moving the jaws with the grips.

When I were a lad, this type of plier was not seen as an adjustable spanner, and as you said, if you were caught using them as such you were in for a very non-woke traditional apprentice bollocking.

 

[matticus]

You asked an opinion, you got several, some (maybe even mine) not what you were looking specifically for...thats the glory of the internet forums, you have to accept you'll get a raft of opinions and answers.
You obviously are not sure, so listen to what people have to say, digest and make your own mind up.....chill mate, we're all trying to be helpful

So, the Free Speech argument; that cuts both ways. People can post any answer on the internet - and I have the right to give my opinion on those answers. If you're talking bollox, I might point that out to you. Fair enough? 👍

Anyway, for those of you trying to be helpful (ALL of you), thankyou x

(I hope the rest of you never have the right tool when you need it, and get dropped on every hill by ebikes.)

 

[Blue Hills]

some people recommend cycling for its calming effects.

 

[matticus]

some people recommend cycling for its calming effects.

Are you not feeling calm, Mr Hills?

You could try cleaning up some threads - worked for Robert Pirsig.

 

[Ajax Bay]

I hope the rest of you have the right tool when you need it, and get groped on every hill

FTFY - eyesight going . I just see what I read.

 

[ColinJ]

You could try cleaning up some threads - worked for Robert Pirsig.

Wasn't he completely bonkers though***?





*** Apologies for the 1970s-style description. It was the 1970s when I read 'Zen and the Art...' and I was pretty bonkers then myself!

 

[matticus]

Wasn't he completely bonkers though***?

Yeah, I think that was the other thing I learned from the book.

 

[ColinJ]

Yeah, I think that was the other thing I learned from the book.

I quite enjoyed the book but found it hard-going. I'm not sure that I would read it again...

 

[andrew_s]

bahcos are excellent. Fine if used carefully.

And Knipex 8603 are better than Bahco adjustables.

Chat. Chat! useful onceinabluemoon Venn diagram
@andrew_s - since you are the only contributor which Matt acknowledges has 'added value' "only took 15 posts to find someone who actually knew anything"- as a matter of interest, have you used / got knowledge and/or experience of Knipex "Mini pliers wrench Pliers and a wrench in a single tool"? How much did you pay for it?

I've got the 180 mm version, which opens wide enough for a threaded headset locknut, and was obtained when a regular headset spanner like this https://www.tredz.co.uk/.Tacx-Headset-Spanner-32mm_110320.htm
started to round out the corners of a reluctant locknut.