Some Simple Wrenching Tips

Just a few quick tips that make touring, commuting, and working on bikes easier.

Hate misplacing your tools? Make them more visible!
Hate filling your little Dualco grease gun? Add a Zerk fitting and fill it from a full-sized grease gun.
Faster rack and fender mounting for tourists or people who race and commute on the same bike.
Pre-coat your spare fasteners. Some thread locking compounds can be applied in advance -- I use Vibra-Tite myself. My touring kit includes a dozen different screws and bolts, all pre-coated with it, on the assumption that if you lose a fastener once, it's likely to try falling out again.
Keep your hands clean with Vaseline. Sound strange? If you're about to cover your hands with dirty grease, dip a finger into some clean Vaseline and rub it in all over your hands. It will fill the pores and the cracks around your fingernails, so there isn't room for the dirty grease to get in.
Dead speakers make good magnetic parts trays. Have any old car speakers around? Turn them magnet side up and put a steel plate on the magnet, and you have a magnetic tray that parts won't roll off of.

This page written by Josh Putnam. Please feel free to email questions, comments, corrections, suggestions, etc.