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Equipping the Bike - what's the best gear? Anything to do with the bikes equipment, saddlebags, etc. Questions on repairs and maintenance of the bike itself belong in the Brand Specific Tech Forums.
Photo by Andy Miller, UK, Taking a rest, Jokulsarlon, Iceland

I haven't been everywhere...
but it's on my list!


Photo by Andy Miller, UK,
Taking a rest,
Jokulsarlon, Iceland



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  #46  
Old 3 Feb 2013
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Agree about the Halfords Pro stuff, not to be confused with their bargain-basement stuff, which is of very variable quality.

I've never been able to afford top-flight tools (Snap-On etc) but have always followed the 'best you can afford' mantra. I look in my toolbox, and the battered old things that get used again and again and never seem to let me down mostly have 'Draper' written on them.
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  #47  
Old 3 Feb 2013
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Me too, BDZ. I don't know whether it still holds true with Draper's "almost top quality", but I always found them to be be about twice the price of the 'bog standard' cheapos, but probably 5 times the quality... Whereas the Snap-On, etc. were probably 10 times the quality but 20 times the price ('wet-finger-in-the-air' estimates, of course).

The other one was Kamasa, 20-odd years ago, which actually were almost the same price as the 'cheap crap', but the high quality only applied to their German-made tools - which were packaged similarly to the ever-more-prevailent Taiwan-made (I think - may even have been Japan) line which was a very pale imitation.

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Originally Posted by BlackDogZulu View Post
...
I've never been able to afford top-flight tools (Snap-On etc) but have always followed the 'best you can afford' mantra. I look in my toolbox, and the battered old things that get used again and again and never seem to let me down mostly have 'Draper' written on them.
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  #48  
Old 4 Dec 2013
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halfords also do a stubby ring and open ended socket set, takes up less space n still pretty good.
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  #49  
Old 1 Apr 2014
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Hand tools for our trip, not RTW but about halfway. These will do any minor roadside repairs and punctures. Both bikes have had a full rebuild and we know them inside out. If we break it then well tow each other to a town and fix it there at a garage. Draper quality tools, old adjustable spanners are the best, look for ex engineering/marine company ones if you can.

Consider using hex head bolts, Allen keys are a lot lighter than spanners/sockets.

(Non-hand tools are electric pump, pressure gauge, tape and adhesives etc)
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