Cris: To have everything in one convenient carrying case is good. However, I sense there are a number of tools in each kit that are rarely used and therefore you wouldn't need duplicates. You may wish to consider only one kit and then supplement with the more frequently used tools such as cone wrenches (13 and 15), cog brushes, etc. You can probably get a good price on the non-bike specific tools such as socket wrenches (highly recommend the deep reach). I recently purchased a rather complete set of wrenches (Allens, sockets, and box/open) from the area Costco for about $10. If you have some system in place at the end of shop to quickly verify a tool is in it's right place, such as pegboard with the tool outlined on the board. I am not familiar with SuperB tools, but it sure looks like they are trying hard to be a Park Tool knockoff. Therefore I would be suspicious of the quality of these imitators. Have you tried working with a local bike shop to see if you can get the Park Tools at a super discount? Bruce
--- On Wed, 7/2/08, Cris Shirley cgshirley@gmail.com wrote: From: Cris Shirley cgshirley@gmail.com Subject: [TheThinkTank] cheap tools? To: "The Think Tank" thethinktank@bikecollectives.org Date: Wednesday, July 2, 2008, 7:21 PM
Hey, Our shop is buying tools for the first time (before people would bring their own and share with others). Any suggestions? We don't want to break the bank. There is some stuff on ebay for $60-120 that are nice sets: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=200234719525... http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=380040067217... then a Parks Tools set for $200-270: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=200234011069...
I was thinking start with a set like this and then buy individually as we need more specific tools. But what about quality, it sounds like tools get stolen a lot, so it might be best not to squander our money on nice tools that will be stolen/lost after a short while (first time I went to a bike collective I accidentally walked off with their tire levers in my pocket and they couldn't work on tires for a week or so).
Cris
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