Campagnolo Tools

One of the great things about classic, vintage bikes and time-tested components is being able to take care of them yourself. Classic cup and cone ball bearing hubs, headsets, and bottom brackets require a certain amount of maintenance, but that maintenance is not difficult, and the components can potentially last longer than their "maintenance free" sealed bearing counterparts. And for me, working on bikes is just part of the allure, and a great way to clear my head. Maintaining a bicycle can be almost therapeutic in a way. I remember reading Robert Pirsig's Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance -- which Pirsig himself explained wasn't really meant to be a primer on Zen Buddhism, nor was it very helpful in understanding motorcycles. But I believe that bicycle maintenance, on the other hand, might really be a path to enlightenment.

When it comes to maintaining a bicycle, of course, the right tools are important, and unfortunately most of the necessary tools aren't available at the local Sears, Lowes, Home Depot, or even your old-fashioned family-owned hardware store (the one with the creaky wooden floorboards and that awesome smell that seems to be a mixture of sawdust, gear oil, and plumbers putty). Cone wrenches, headset spanners, bottom bracket tools, 3rd and 4th-hand tools (for brakes), freewheel and cassette removers, crank pullers and more -- all are needed for basic bicycle maintenance, and available only from the bike shop. Look for bicycle-specific tools today, and one will mostly find tools by Park or Pedros -- fine tools, no doubt -- but the most sought-after tools for classic bike enthusiasts and retrogrouches are the ones made by Campagnolo of Italy.

The Holy Grail - as shown in one of Campagnolo's
old catalogs. A place for everything,
and everything in its place.

In addition to making virtually all of the components needed to build a complete bicycle (except stems and handlebars, interestingly), Campagnolo also made all the tools necessary to build and maintain the bicycle -- including the thread-cutting tools and alignment tools needed to prepare a new frame set to receive components. The tools were available individually, but the ultimate collection -- the holy grail -- was the full kit which came packed in a beautiful wooden case.

These full tool kits were available with cutters for either English or Italian threading. Find a complete kit in the case today (used!) and expect to pay several thousand dollars. As I was writing this, I spotted one on eBay, brand new -- the cutters still had wax on them from the factory -- listed for over $5000. I've seen just the wooden cases, devoid of any tools whatsoever, sell for $500 or more.

I don't have the full kit. (Sigh).

I do, however, have a pretty nice collection of individual Campagnolo tools -- most of the tools for basic maintenance, minus the cutters needed for frame preparation. I use them regularly. Let me take some time to show some of the tools I have, use, and love.

Headset and Bottom Bracket Spanners (from top): BB pin spanner and headset combination; BB lockring spanner and headset combination; BB fixed cup and pedal wrench combination.

A really useful set (from left): Offset seatpost and saddle wrench (for adjusting Nuovo Record 2-bolt seat posts and the tension bolt on Brooks leather saddles); T-wrench (6 mm allen/8mm socket -- really useful for many components); 5mm allen wrench (often called the "pregnant" wrench); Pedal spanner (for pedal dust caps and locknuts); Chainring bolt spanner (to hold the back of chainring bolts while tightening with the 5mm allen wrench); Cone wrenches - two each, 13/14 combination and 15/16 combination.

An interesting mix: (from top left) C-Record hub dustcap remover; Spoke wrench; "Special Brake Spanner" (that's what it's called); Pedal bearing cone spanner (that's a hard one to find -- but nice to have!); Pedal dust cap tool; 17mm/23mm combination spanner; And crank removing tools: One-key release crank puller (with allen wrench); and pin tool (for removing the one-key release bolt, as well as certain dust caps); Crank puller; 15mm crank bolt wrench -- aka Peanut Butter Wrench. Legend has it that the crank bolt wrench took on its "culinary" use with bike racers who were travelling to races and needed to improvise when preparing quick meals on the road. I don't know if anyone actually ever used one to spread peanut butter, or if they just thought it looked useful in that way. All I know is that it is also really useful for tightening or loosening axle nuts on track hubs.

Headset tools (from top): Fork crown race setter; Head tube bearing race remover; Fork crown race remover.

Wheel dishing tool (top) and Derailleur hanger alignment tool. 

Great tools, all of them. I managed to get a lot of mine when an old bike shop, Al's in Cleveland, was going out of business after about 40 or 50 years. I had gotten to know the owner, Al, in the last few years -- he had a reputation for being pretty "gruff" and not the friendliest guy in the business, but I think he took a liking to me. When he was closing up, I bought a bunch of his tools -- some brand new, some used. I've been filling in gaps and adding to the collection over the years keeping my eyes open on eBay for the tools that I'm missing.

Last but not least: I'm not just a fan of great classic bikes -- I also love good wine. When work is over and it's time to relax, nothing pulls open a bottle of red better than Campagnolo's specially designed and built cork puller. Much larger than most, it stays perfectly centered on the neck of the bottle, and the specially designed screw cuts cleanly into the cork without breaking it. The bolts that hold the two arms are Campagnolo chainring bolts. A nice, collectible piece that comes packed in a classy wooden box. Yes, it makes very nice, easy work of pulling corks. An indulgence, but one I had to get.