Welcome to another episode of Berm Peak Express, I'm Seth and
today we're going to be doing something a little different
but kind of the same. Last week we went through ten tools
that are not screwdrivers kind of uncommon tools in the shop
that you may not have heard of. but this week we're just going
to be going over my ten favorite tools and they're not
the most useful tools, they're not the best tools. They're
just the tools that I really enjoy using. Biking is a leisure
activity. So when you work on your bike, it should really be
part of that. A whole bunch of them are made by Park Tool, but
This is not going to be a Park Tool fest actually the first
one is made by one of their competitors. The Pedro's Tire
lever. This has a cult following this is one of the
best tire levers out there. Plenty of people have tried to
copy it. It just never stacks up to the original. I use these
mainly on mountain bikes and because they're really stout.
they're really good for getting a tire off and because they're
totally plastic, they're really good for not scratching a rim
or damaging the tire. Like any good tire lever, the Pedro's
levers have the little spoke hooks that you can hook it in
place take your hands off of it and use another lever to pop
the tire off and if you have a few of 'em and you want to
store 'em in your bag or something they just snap
together on the Pedro's logo, which I really like. Every time
I pick one of these up I just feel like I'm using a
really good tool and so it's one of my favorites. So my next
favorite tool are these little guys here. We've been through a
few different pairs of 'em 'cuz we damage the blade or whatever,
you're using it for something you shouldn't. If you talk to three
different people, they're going to call this three different
things: side cuttersk, flush cutters, zip tie cutters. Park
calls them ZP5's. I guess that somehow stands for zip
tie, but if you want to cut a zip tie really really close to the
edge without a little sharp piece sticking out these are
the best things to do it with and they're really really flush
almost to the level of cuticle clippers. You can trim your
nails with these they're so precise. I always keep them out
on the wall. They're always on hand for whatever it is I need
to trim down. I just really enjoy using them. So my next
favorite bike tool is not technically a bike tool, but
it's very useful in a bike shop and that is the Maglite Solitaire.
Having any sort of flashlight in the bike shop is
really useful when you're looking into a frame or the
lighting is kind of not quite right where you need to see
something. but I really like this flashlight in particular
for a few reasons. One, it's really easy to operate with one
hand, you turn it on by twisting the head of it and
then you turn it off by twisting it the other way. The
other thing is one AAA battery is what powers it and it powers it
for months or years, and then you just change it. Now If you
go online to buy one of these, it's really easy to
accidentally buy the old incandescent version. It's like,
you might as well be holding a candle up to see what you're
doing. It's terrible. I would never recommend you buy the
version with the incandescent bulb. Definitely go led. The
Maglite, one handed, smooth easy operation. It's just fantastic
So the next tool and I think this is a lot of people's
favorite bike tool is the three-way hex. These are just
amazing because not only are they useful, they're ergonomic.
So when you hold on to it, you have perfect grip. They're not
for every job on a bike because sometimes they hit into things,
but for quickly adjusting a derailleur installing a pedal
anything like that they give you plenty of torque and they
just feel really good in the hand. Now, there are a variety
of these three way Tools. I like the AWS seven the best
because it has T25, which you use all over
bicycles. It also has a five millimeter and a four
millimeter so the biggest variety of tasks this one can
accomplish. So you usually can't get by with just these you're
going to need a full set of hex wrenches, but I enjoy using
this and therefore it is one of my favorite tools. So this next
one I only started using recently and honestly sometimes
I'll just reach for a hand tool for the things I use this for
but this guy right here is really really useful. It's an
electric screwdriver made by Skill. It's really small and it
was only twenty bucks. Now, it's not variable speed, but it is
two way and it's not powerful enough to damage anything so
you can actually use this on a bike to let's say, take the
bolts out of rotors really quickly and not have to worry
about stripping anything out, so I don't only use this on
bikes. I use it in the house too, and I have a little set of
bits adhered to the side of it so that I can grab whatever I
need when I need it. I would say everybody should have this
in their kitchen drawer or in their bike shop if they fancy
power tools for working on bikes. So the next tool that I
really like using a greasy toothbrush. I have these laying
all over my shop and they're all loaded up with grease
because when I grease up the threads on a pedal I do it
with this and if you've ever used a tube of grease, you know
that often times you just take the tube apply it to the
threads or whatever you're going to be using and then it kind
of spreads itself. But with this it just spreads so evenly
you get every spot and it's really satisfying. I don't know
if it's necessarily better, but I certainly like doing it that
way. Another great thing about the greasy toothbrush is that
if you run out of grease or you leave your tube of grease
somewhere else, you can harvest a little bit of it by just
brushing really hard and get down to that old grease. That's
still stuck in there. In any case greasy toothbrush; not
expensive. You probably have a toothbrush laying around, try it.
So the next product I mainly only use to work on brake
levers and so it doesn't get used a lot. But when I do, I'm
like man, that's a good tool! The Park MWF-1 and Park MWF-2
I don't know what MWF stands for... metric flare wrench.
There's an opening on the end, so you can get it around the
hose and then when you put it on the nut it just kind of
stays in place and so it's a pleasure to use. A metric flare
wrench you can put it in the same cup that you put your
screwdrivers and stuff in, works amazing. So my next favorite
tool is my Snapon pick. It's got that little "S" on it, which
means it's really expensive. The thing that I use picks for
most is getting dirt out of the head of a hex bolts so I can
stick a wrench in there and turn it, but it's also good for
getting little pieces apart pulling on things, I have a
variety of other picks here. The ones that Park Tool makes
to Craftsman to even this nylon gun pick. Park Tool makes a
great pick, It's even got a magnet on the end. It's
arguably more functional than the Snapon ones. It
certainly cost less, but the handle just has a really good
molding. The perfect shape. A lot of people have tried to
copy it and they just never quite get it right. If you feel
like spending like sixty bucks on three picks, they're the
best ones out there in my opinion. So my next favorite
bike tool is the trusty Persuader. Park makes two
mallets. This is the smaller one, and it's the one that I
use all the time. It's got a metal end for really banging on
things and then it has a nice plastic end that doesn't scratch
things up and as you can see I've used this in quite a bit.
of course, the plastic gets all chewed up and that's because
it's getting chewed up and not the thing that you're hitting
Now If you've never worked on a bicycle, it may sound strange
that you would need a mallet, but there are times when
something is a little tight and needs to be persuaded. One
example of when I use this mallet is when I'm putting a
crownrace or a star nut on a steerer tube. Now a mallet is hardly a
new and novel tool, but I really like using this one. I
love the rubber handle. I love the exact weight that it is.
Often times out of laziness. I find myself using it for things
that you probably shouldn't like tightening a vice a little
bit extra. So my little mallet, I take every opportunity I can
to get some use out of it. So these are Park Tool's scissors
the SZR-1, but these are not my favorite scissors. These are
the ones that are made by Milwaukee and these are so
powerful that there's actually a little picture of a guy with
a safety glasses on they want you to use those when you're
operating these scissors. What I use them for most is opening
up packages to be perfectly honest, but these are really
hardcore scissors. They're hardcore like scissors used to
be and they're really precise hardened steel not going to get
all messed up super heavy, super durable and every time I pick
'em up. I'm like damn these are a nice set of scissors! So the
next tool is actually kind of broken. There's a nice little
crack going down here and a little chunk missing. So what
I'm going to do is take this glue and we're going to apply
some here and we're just going to keep kind of putting the
glue in there with the air compressor just blow it in
there. Yeah. this is going to be stronger than it was when we
first got it when it's done. even with this chunk taken out,
we could just fill this all in with JB weld and then get it
like perfect. Okay. So our glue has finished
drying Kevin's a little skeptical that this is going
to work. I think it's going to be fine so the Travis tool by
Rogue Hoes. It's kind of a hoe with really sharp edges. This
triangle takes away a lot of the metal that you would
normally not use and so when you're swinging it around it's just
really efficient. If you wanted to cut some bench over here,
take a little layers off the top and it just cuts right into
that loam and you can really get a lot of work done quick
with it. Now as you saw before we glued this back together,
I'm going to have to replace this handle. Kevin was really
skeptical that it wouldn't be strong enough like this. So
Kevin we're about to make you a believer in wood glue. The
crack isn't there anymore. I'll give you that. It's a big
monster over there. It's pretty sharp. It's holding are you a
believer in the Titebond yet? before it was fixed it was like it
was shaking and you're losing a lot of force. I guess I'm a
believer. It didn't take that long really still a fan
favorite. If I had one tool to use it'd be this one. So those are my
ten favorite tools that I use in the bike shop—probably not
what you were expecting, but this is totally subjective.
These are the tools that I enjoy using most. So let me
know what tool you enjoy using most and if people upvote your
comment, it's going to mean they agree with you and it'll
make you feel good. If you enjoy videos like this, make
sure you subscribe to Berm Peak Express, If you want to see us
building trails, subscribe to Berm Peak our main channel and
most of all thanks for riding with me today. I'll see you
next time.