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I would like to do maintenance on my 1982 miyata 310 road bike myself. What tools are necessary to take the entire bicycle apart, lube, and put it back together?

Here is what I have come up so far:

  1. Bicycle stand
  2. Hex wrench set
  3. Chain breaker
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  • @Neil and the moderators: I thought about flagging or offering to close this question. Seriously, there are hundreds of bike brands and models since 1982. Anyway, this seems like a pretty general question that might be a community question on how to overhaul an old bike. The answer by Mac is great.
    – user313
    Feb 15, 2012 at 1:52
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    @wdy - There are several "tools for X" questions on the site, but there's no harm in variations. And this one is definitely unique among them. Feb 15, 2012 at 5:26
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    An 80's bike will likely have more metric nuts than metric hex. You'll probably want an 8/9/10 mm wrench set. There are also specialized tools for the headset and bottom bracket. I have a listing of bicycle specific tools here: 802bikeguy.com/bicycle-tools Feb 15, 2012 at 17:01
  • @802bikeguy.com Thanks, I was gonna comment to ask for a list of specific tools needed for an 80s road bike. Feb 15, 2012 at 17:38
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    @Neil- I thought that the question is a bit too general and not the answer. Mac's answer is perfectly fine and works for many other bikes besides the 1982 miyata 310 road bike. I don't know if that bike needs special tools, but I would assume that it requires the same sorts of tools as any other bike from that era.
    – user313
    Feb 16, 2012 at 23:21

3 Answers 3

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It depends to what level you want to disassemble. For general cleaning your list is a good start. As you dig deeper though you'll also need:

To service/adjust drivetrain

  • Various spanners and screwdrivers to adjust cables
  • Wire cutters if replacing cables

To service wheels/hubs

  • 15mm spanner to remove wheels (unless you have quick release hubs)
  • Chain whip and a cassette tool to match your cassette to remove rear cassette
  • Cone spanners to remove and replace the hub cones
  • Spoke wrench (ensure you get a good one that fits your spoke nipples exactly, as it's very easy to damage the nipple)

To service cranks/pedals/bottom bracket

  • Pedal spanner to remove the pedals
  • Depending on the cranks you may need a crank puller
  • To remove the bottom bracket you may need a special spanner/tool

To service forks/stem/head tube

  • If it's a threaded fork, varying sized spanners to undo the nuts on top of the fork
  • If it's threadless, your hex spanners will be okay
  • Bearing cups - from the head tube there are specific tools to remove and then press them back on

As @Chef Flambe mentions it can be more economical to buy a kit containing many of these tools. This will give you a head start and you can buy the specific tools you need for your bike, as well as upgrade to better quality for the tools you use frequently.

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    The list given is great. Can't really add anything else to it off top of my head. If you go into a bike shop they will be able to order you in a complete home shop kit which will get you started cheaper than buying each single item. Then you pick up the one-offs which are specific for your bike like cassette tool. Feb 15, 2012 at 0:56
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    Yeah, good list. And of those the crank puller, chain whip, and cassette tool are the most specialized, in that hardware store tools won't do the job. And the "cone wrenches" (thin wrenches) are hard to find in a hardware store. (And It appears that a spoke wrench was omitted from the list -- get a good one that fits your bike's nipples correctly.) Feb 15, 2012 at 1:13
  • Good comments @ChefFlambe and DanielRHicks (why can't I tag two people in one comment??). I've added both of your suggestions into the answer.
    – Mac
    Feb 15, 2012 at 2:39
  • Probably there won't be a cassette on a bike from '82...a freewheel is more likely.
    – WTHarper
    Nov 25, 2012 at 13:38
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Probably should add a few spare parts/supplies to have around:

  • A spare tube or two
  • Tube repair kit
  • Spare spokes and nipples (one length for front, two different lengths for rear, unless you have disk brakes in which case it's likely the other way around).
  • Chain lube
  • If you want get into rebuilding bearings, some bearing grease, a bottle of parts cleaner/solvent, and something like a loaf pan for washing parts in.
  • Spray lube for brake/shift cables

(Anything else??)

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Besides the other things mentioned you will need:

  • Big spanner / variable spanner for releasing the headset
  • Grease

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