Things you didn't know existed, now you need

[User]

 

[Nibor]

Master link pliers

 

[Jayaly]

A screw extractor for damaged screws. The fact that I am learning to do my own bike maintenance is not unrelated.

 

[roadrash]

cyclechat

 

[Lonestar]

Master link pliers

I've ordered one.

 

[jonny jeez]

Spray starch
Soya milk
The walking dead
Minecraft (I have managed to kick the habit but it took a long time)
Ratchet spanners
Electronic /bio passports
Airport lounge membership from my bank
Sketchup (only found it about 5years ago and its now vital to me)

 

[pplpilot]

The tv remote control app on my phone. The virgin remote is useless and refuses to control the volume.

https://www.peel.com/products

 

[fimm]

Got my mother a brush for cleaning plant pots for her Christmas (among other things) - high comedy value as it is the same shape as a toilet brush - anyway she tells me that it is a highly useful thing. Same with the fancy pot for putting all their compostable waste in for the kitchen - a distinct improvement over a manky old plastic tub!

 

[wonderloaf]

Clip on LED lights for my glasses ... got a pair from Mrs W as a Christmas present and to my shame immediately made fun out of them. Tried them out recently (privately of course) while doing some bike maintenance and bl***y hell, they're brilliant ... the light is always exactly where I want it. Made adjusting the rear dérailleur a doddle!

 

[gbb]

Spray starch
Soya milk
The walking dead
Minecraft (I have managed to kick the habit but it took a long time)
Ratchet spanners
Electronic /bio passports
Airport lounge membership from my bank
Sketchup (only found it about 5years ago and its now vital to me)

Ratchet spanners...i shunned them for years then relented. Theyre an integral part of my toolkit now.
I brought a nearly brand new Facom double ended ratchet ring spanner from the carboot a couple years ago, 19/17mm....£3 ....i LOVE that spanner

 

[martint235]

A screw extractor for damaged screws. The fact that I am learning to do my own bike maintenance is not unrelated.

I've thought about one of these. I overtightened a bolt thing holding the mudguard to the front fork and it snapped. Would it help with this?

 

[numbnuts]

Ratchet spanners...i shunned them for years then relented. Theyre an integral part of my toolkit now.
I brought a nearly brand new Facom double ended ratchet ring spanner from the carboot a couple years ago, 19/17mm....£3 ....i LOVE that spanner

I bought a set WoW I love them

 

[stephec]

Airport lounge membership from my bank

That sounds quite useful, do you mind me asking which one please?

 

[Tim Hall]

I've thought about one of these. I overtightened a bolt thing holding the mudguard to the front fork and it snapped. Would it help with this?

They're a bit tricky to use and you need to drill a hole in the broken off bolt first. As the snapped end often isn't even, that can be difficult. What is the frame made of? If it's NOT steel you can do @zigzag 's clever chemistry instead and dissolve the broken bolt out.

 

[Profpointy]

I echo the ratchet spanner comment above. Thought socket sets were fine, but the flat ratchet spanners are certainly a useful adjunct.

On the tools front the ones I really like, and hadn't previously been aware of are the facom L-shaped tubular spanners like these.
They don't seem to be anh benefit over normal spanners yet somehow they are just a little bit more handy for a lot of jobs

Also the eezee stitcher which is a sewing awl thingy for doing canvas and rucksacks and the like. Great piece of kit.

And lastly, the gas soldering iron. Just so much easier than a mains one and portable too. Especially handy is the hot knife fitting for cutting rope whilst melting the frayed ends. Much easier than using the gas ring and burnt fingers method