Question on possible tool business

[oldpotatoe]

Originally Posted by Rebel_Biker

Thank you all for the comments.

The rental business is probably dumb, and the economics would be tough anyway.

I do think a BB tool could work if done correctly. Someone, or company, needs to address that the PF BB does not allow the home mechanic to change their own bearings, which is an item that wears down. Almost all race frames have some kind of PF BB to account for the wider BBs. Even Pinarello is slowly going in that direction.

The home mechanic should be able to perform basic maintenance on their bike. I think a BB change is basic maintenance.

Well, ask around to your cycling buddies and ask them the difference between English and Italian threading. See how many know.

[zzy]

Originally Posted by Rebel_Biker

And if I had a Vecchios and you as a mechanic, I would probably not rent the tool set. But if I lived in NYC, which I did for over 15 years, I would rather do the work myself, especially is I am performing a complete bike prep. The variance of quality across shops in NYC was tremendous..

This is so true, and it's so frustrating. You never know who's actually doing the work on your bike, a skilled senior mechanic or a kid who whose only experience is fixies and low end road bikes who they hired to do assemblies. I do my best to support local shops and have been burned because of it. I've been wrenching for over a decade so I've learned a thing or two in the process. My favorite horror story is finding a 1" Alpha Q fork brand new (rare as hen's teeth). I take it to my local shop and ask if they have a Park CSB-1 blade and know how to do carbon steerers. The guy literally rolls his eyes at me, takes the fork and walks away. He brings back the fork and a huge chunk of the opposite end from where he cut had splintered off. I was furious. He said that was normal. I explained to him how to properly cut a carbon steerer (have two cuts meet, or at least using masking tape). The manager get involved and offers to replace it. I tell him what fork is and he just sucks air thru his teeth and apologizes.

OP - While I like the idea, the tools will be easily damaged if misused, and the cost of shipping will be prohibitive. What we really need are more well-equipped bike co ops. Especially here in NYC.

[Rebel_Biker]

I agree with a well run coop. And NYC could support one, but most other cities could not.


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[CaptStash]

Originally Posted by Rebel_Biker

Thank you all for the comments.

Someone, or company, needs to address that the PF BB does not allow the home mechanic to change their own bearings, which is an item that wears down.

What am I missing here? I bought a Park BT 30.3 for $40. Not a lot of dough. A hunk of threaded rod, some nuts and washers, and I can install and remove BB30 and SRAM 30's to my heart's content.

I do like the idea of a universal tool. Seems like the only differences would be the sizes of the fittings used to press the bearings in and pop them out.

CaptStash....

[Rebel_Biker]

Originally Posted by CaptStash

What am I missing here? I bought a Park BT 30.3 for $40. Not a lot of dough. A hunk of threaded rod, some nuts and washers, and I can install and remove BB30 and SRAM 30's to my heart's content.

I do like the idea of a universal tool. Seems like the only differences would be the sizes of the fittings used to press the bearings in and pop them out.

CaptStash....

That is one way to handle a press in and removal. However, that wont remove any press in 24mm bearings. So, if your next bike is a bb92, you need another tool.

I would also like to address the use of BBT-90.3 for removal. Banging out bottom brackets from an all carbon BB shell does not seem right to me. Enduro has an excellent tool but it is $100 and they only come in specific BB standards.

If I can gauge how big of a demand and at what price point, I can start to build some prototypes. My father in law is an oil and gas exploration and drilling engineer and this would be right up his ally. But I don't want him going crazy developing CADs if there is little chance of a production run.

Thank you CaptStash.

[SPOKE]

Rent the tools to prep a Ti frame to someone that "believes" that they know what they are doing and see what happens.......😁

[rwsaunders]

These two gents are in the bicycle tool business. Perhaps reach out to them to discuss the challenges and rewards of heading down this path.

http://www.abbeybiketools.com

http://farrframeworks.com/farr-tooling

[Rebel_Biker]

Originally Posted by rwsaunders

These two gents are in the bicycle tool business. Perhaps reach out to them to discuss the challenges and rewards of heading down this path.

http://www.abbeybiketools.com

http://farrframeworks.com/farr-tooling

thank you

It will be interesting to see what we can come up with. My father in law has used the machine shop he uses for his work to manipulate a couple of my tools to make them work better and other uses. One thing we did was add a spring tension to the BTS-1 so we could get the torque needed to face with that tool.

I know we could build an incredible tool, the question is can we make it affordable and is there a big enough market. I would focus on how to evenly tension out the PF cups while protecting the carbon BB shell.

[Rebel_Biker]

Originally Posted by SPOKE

Rent the tools to prep a Ti frame to someone that "believes" that they know what they are doing and see what happens.......😁

Agrees. I hear the forum member loud and clear that the expensive tool rental business has too much liability on both sides.