I have been looking at buying a kit as it seems I am buying some individual tools lately and paying through the nose. I am tempted by some of the cheaper house brands but reluctant to pull the trigger as the adage "you get what you pay for" usually rings true with tools.

I don't think I will ever build a bike, but I would like to do most of my own maintenance. I have a FS mtn bike and a road bike for me, same for the wife and a couple of kids who are just riding junk for now until they get a little older. I can take the wobble out of a wheel and replace a few spokes but major work will go to the shop.

I currently have:
Bike stand
cheap truing stand
spoke wrenchs
chain breaker
cassete removal stuff (whatever its called :flipoff2: whip?)
Assorted allen wrenches
tire levers

I know I will be duplicating some of what I already have by buying a kit, but I think it wis still worth it. What should I get? Do I take the chance of buying a house brand?

Park tools are nice.

I'd buy them for home use.
At the shop we have a huge collection of tools.
PArk was the standard for a long time

then we became a Trek Dealership and for a while the Wrench force tools were made by SNAP-OP :D That was nice. I must say that those tools were the best I have used and to this day they look brand new even after years of use in the shop.

I am trying the TACX tools now They are odd but work nice.
I would Stay away from the off brand stuff.

I have had my eye on the Pedros tool set but I'm not sure I'm ready to try them yet.

Park stands and truing stations are nice because you can get replacement parts for them :D

My tools are a mixture of Park and Pedros. Obviously the Park tools are excellent quality. I've been pleasantly surprised with the quality and feel of the Pedros tools. Like you, I'm a bit skeptical at first, but I bought a crank puller and some cone wrenches, now I'm lusting after their master mechanics tool set. I also have a Wrench Force crank puller, It's been a decent tool, I didn't know anything about them when I bought it, just needed an ISIS puller, and I've been happy with it.

Park and Pedro's are both good, i have an XTR chain breaker which works excellent (it's CNC'd instead of cast)...

Buying tools is like anything else, there is no one brand that has the best of every thing. Pedros and Park both have bitchen tools, but they also manufacture some real crap. The best is to check out what each brand offers for each type of tool. I would avoid a large kit, you don't save that much money and you get a lot of stuff you don't need. The majority of tools in the kits can be obtained at sears for way cheaper. The only real "bike" tools you need are chain breaker, casset tools, bottom bracket tools, crank pullers, cone wrenches, and spoke wrenches. Most anything else can be bought or made outside of the bike shop which is always cheaper. :grinpimp:

we mostly use park and some wrench force tools at work. they hold up pretty well. Do not buy the cheap tools. most are junk!

Campagnolo are THE tools to buy!!!!

If you have about $5000.00 to spend......

i was a park fan for years and every shop i have ever worked in had them. i like the others am starting to use pedros, the chain tool is one of the finest i have seen. i dont know about buying the sets, they come with lots a cool stuff but you may never use a lot of it. might cost more to buy individual tools but you get what you need.

I have had great experiences with Park in the past but like you I came to a point where I wanted a full tool set. For me that time was when I quit working in a shop where I had full access to everything. I chose to get the Pedros "Master Tool Kit". Although somewhat pricey, after having it for a year I feel it is well worth it. There is a new version for '05 that has even more for the same price. I did need a few tools to compliment the kit in order to cover all the bases but the simplicity of being able to just grab the case and go is priceless. I used to have to pack my tools for traveling and now it's a slam dunk. The quality of the tools is also top notch and leaves nothing to be desired.

PEDROS MASTER KIT (http://www.pedros.com/frames/tools.html)

Although the suggested retails $650 you can find it online for around $550 or so.

Park tools have never let me down. I worked in bike shops for 8 years and I used a lot of Park and Wrench Force tools. I never used Pedros tools. You can get a master set, but if you piece a set together yourself, I think you save a lot.

To tear down your bike for maintenance, the following tools are what I have (I may be forgetting a few)

-Cassette tool
-Chain whip
-Chain Break tool
-Cable/housing cutters
-cresent wrench
-crank puller
-Bottom bracket tool
-spoke wrenches
-allen wrenches
-metric combination wrenches

You already have a few of these tools, you can use your auto tools for the metric combination wrenches and cresent wrench.

If you get a master kit, everything you need should be there for the most part, but I think you will spend more money than just buying the rest of the tools on the list above.

Got most of the bike specific tools from United Bike Tools, the other stuff is just Craftsman. You get what you pay for.