Park Tool's AK-5 will start you on the road to tool obsession

Building a bike tool kit is fun. In fact, it’s a bit more than fun; it’s kind of addictive. It’s basically a constant search for tools that do what they do better than the version you currently have, even if that means buying 18 different chain tools and spending one fun afternoon exhaustive comparing and contrasting them. Just us? Oh.

Anyway, to get on the never-ending carousel of tool ownership, you need to start somewhere. The easiest way to start is by buying a basic tool kit, since buying tools individually when you’re starting from scratch is both expensive and time-consuming. That way you can get all the basic tools you need – and probably a nice box to store them in too – with minimal effort. Then the fun of getting all those extra tools you need (or want but don’t really need) can begin.

Knowing that everyone has to start somewhere, Park Tool has just updated their mid-tier tool kit to the new AK-5. You can go one lower with the SK-4 starter tool kit, but the AK-5 contains a few useful tools that a lot of riders will need and is definitely worth the slighter larger investment.

To start off, you get a set of HXS-1.2, which are your classic L-shaped hex keys, basically the most essential tool any cyclist can own seeing as the vast majority of the fittings on a bike use these sort of things. But Park has also included the super useful AWS-1 three-way hex wrench as well as a TWS-3 three-way torx wrench that has T10, T25 and T30 heads for those non-hex wrench bolts that your bike might use.

On top of that the kit also has a chain tool (vital), cassette tool and lockring tool (also vital), tyre levers (you can never have too many), cable cutters (very useful), chain checker (you need one of these), rotor truing tool (a must if you run disc brakes) and a selection of other things including a dummy hub (perfect for bike cleaning) and spoke wrenches (which you don’t need until a wheel goes wonky, and then it’s essential). Basically for most of your day-to-day – and some less frequent jobs too – the AK-5 is a perfect starter tool kit or upgrade kit for most wannabe home mechanics.

Of course, once you have this one you’ll immediately want to add some more niche tools to it. And that’s where tool’s like these come in. It’s a slippery slope, we did warn you at the beginning…