Life In The Saddle

In my Workshop Focus series, I have so far considered Essential Workbench Tools  and Intermediate Workshop Tools ; in this post things get advanced—with wheel truing and building. It took me quite a while to pluck up the courage to give wheel truing/balancing and then wheel building a go; they are certainly two tasks that take quite a bit of time and skill. As with most workshop jobs though, wheel tuning is something that is far easier with quality tools. With this in mind, I opted for the Feedback Sports Pro Truing Stand and the Master Wheel Building Kit from Unior Tools .  The Feedback Sports Pro Truing Stand Wheel building is an art, yet the Feedback Sports Pro Truing Stand is almost a work of art in itself.  I developed a bit of a lust for this anodised red stand the moment I set eyes on it. The quality, durability and performance of the products from the American brand Feedback Sports are second to none. The Pro Truing Stand has a unique ...

In my first  Home Workshop  blog piece, I wrote about  Essential Workbench Tools  that every bike mechanic should have; whether you are new to cycling or an experienced home workshop enthusiast. In this second piece, I look at the next set of tools in the spectrum—those required to perform 'intermediate' level maintenance on your bike; such as fitting new cables, cassettes, chains, and bottom brackets. These are recommendations for products that I would add to your wish list as you become more confident at servicing your own bicycle. Workstand – Feedback Sports Sprint Workstand A workstand is a vital investment as you increase your volume of home bike maintenance; it makes jobs far easier and will save your back from constant stooping.  I reviewed the Feedback Sports Sprint Workstand  in 2013, and it has remained in my workshop to this day. It folds up super small, it is made of lightweight non-rusting aluminium, and I am a great fan of...

If there is one tool type that should feature in every home bicycle workshop, it is a T-Handle set. This seven-piece set from USA brand Feedback Sports is faultless in its quality and design and will be a true companion for a life of bike wrenching. The Feedback Sports T-Handle Tool Kit comprises of seven T-handle wrenches: hex keys in 2.5mm, 3mm, 4mm, 5mm, and 6mm; then a T25 TORX key wrench. This set should cover you for almost all jobs on a modern bicycle. The complete set is housed in a professional looking TPU coated water-resistant case for easy transportation and storage; the case also has room for a few other tools that you might want to take in your must-have toolkit. The professional level tools are made from S2 grade stainless steel, which is incredibly durable even with daily use. Feedback Sports are so confident of this quality that they offer the product with a Lifetime Manufacturer's Warranty. Certainly, all other Feedback Sports products I have used to date ...

A chain keeper is a simple but extremely useful little gadget — designed to hold your chain tight and secure during transport and servicing; avoiding unwanted paint chips to your bike's chain stays. The new Feedback Sports Chain Keeper is a great example of the must-have accessory. I used to have a homemade chain keeper device made from a piece of plastic tube cut to the drop-out width, with a quick release skewer through the centre. It did a decent job of holding the chain taunt when washing and transporting the bike, but it looked pretty homemade and it didn't work with bolt-thru axles. The new Feedback Sports Chain Keeper Device is a significant improvement over my homemade bodge. You mount the device to the right hand dropout of the bike by either slotting it into a quick-release style drop-out, or with a 12 mm bolt-thru axle you use the neat adapter that expands inside the recess left when you remove the axle. Once installed, the chain keeper device holds the chain t...

Back when I was racing for the Isle of Wight team, we used to have these funky little fold-up rollers to warm-up on. They were a bit basic: you removed the front wheel, and clipped the fork to a strut, then the back wheel sat on two mini rollers. They were a bit basic, but they were a lot easier to transport than normal rollers. They certainly did the job, even if your back wheel did occasionally stray off the rollers... I have never seen those little "flip-out rollers" for sale anywhere, though. Then last year, Feedback Sports released the Omnium Warm-up Trainer . Instantly, it appealed. The Omnium looked like a set of "flip-out rollers", upgraded. Portability and practicality So, why would you buy an Omnium trainer rather than a set of traditional style rollers like the Tacx Antares , or a turbo trainer? The main reason is almost certainly going to be the portability and practicality offered by the Feedback Sports Omnium. With the rollers on the Omni...

For an enthusiast cyclist a work stand is unquestionably a good investment. Even if you don't do a lot of your bike maintenance yourself, a workstand provides a safe and stable platform to place your steed in for tinkering, washing and fitting new parts. If you haven't got one, put it on your Christmas list! Many workstands clamp around the seatpost of the bike, suspending it above ground so that you can easily work on it and rotate the drivetrain and wheels freely. However, with an increasing trend in bike manufacture for firms to create aero seatposts and carbon seatposts that are more vulnerable to damage when subjected to clamping stresses, many mechanics both professional and at home, have decided to opt for bottom bracket supporting stands instead. These stands work by you removing the front wheel and locking the bike in place on the front fork. Your bike then sits on the bottom bracket, without any unusual clamping or straining of the frame. Bottom bracket suppo...