I've never seen an adjustable wrench that was thin enough to do many of those jobs. Maybe you could grind a standard one thin enough. A little tricky.
this post was submitted on 10 Aug 2023
8 points (100.0% liked)
bike wrench
815 readers
3 users here now
A place to ask bicycle repair questions, and for bike shop monkeys to share advanced non commercial wrenching resources (no YouTube self promotion). This is only for repair related topics.
founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS
Just to throw it out there, so you don't think something like this (2mm thickness) would work?
That probably would! Of course a whole set of cheap cone wrenches cost less. And in some cases you need to use two cone wrenches at the same time to get an adjustment right. For you that you would need two of these $40 wrenches. Still nice to know that exists. Perfect for the occasional oddball sized cone you run across if you mess with enough wheels.
I'm going to do the best of both works and pick up some Park Tool cone wrenches of the sizes I absolutely need for the bikes I currently have. And I'll also pick up one of the thinner adjustable wrenches (in a reputable brand) for some light tasks.
I don't think you can have too many tools, anyway, provided they are good quality 😂
Tools and fasteners with these thin flats are delicate, because of the high contact pressures resulting from thin wrenches. Exactly the conditions you don’t want to use an adjustable wrench for. Instead, only buy the wrenches for the parts you have, and build out your set over time. Also, I’m not sure I’d trust a normal size adjustable wrench off Amazon, much less a specialty tool like that.
That's good advice. I think I'll measure the parts I have and just order tools one at a time. The sets don't seem to save money anyway, so that's fine.
I'm a fan of adjustable wrenches, but haven't used a thin profile one at all. I think you're probably right about them being less than ideal for this application, but I may just get one for those "what if" situations.
Have you seen the knipex parallel jaw pliers? They’ve completely replaced all but my largest crescent style adjustable: https://www.knipex.com/products/pipe-wrenches-and-water-pump-pliers/pliers-wrenches-pliers-and-a-wrench-in-a-single-tool/pliers-wrenches-pliers-and-wrench-single-tool/8603180
I've got a small knipex, and love it! I may need to get a larger one like that 😁