Park Tool Home Mechanic Starter Kit with Big Blue Book of Bicycle Repair 4th Edition

The purchase of this tool kit was to use as a base for maintaining a 1990s bicycle. While the tool selection is of good basic quality, with accurate dimensions, it most likely will not be the only tools one will need to properly maintain a bicycle. For instance, this kit does not include cone wrenches, headset wrenches, bottom bracket tools, crank pullers, nor headset wrenches. Some of those tools can be replaced by normal mechanics tools if one already has some but for those people who do not have such tools, this kit will not satisfy the necessary tools needed for routine maintenance of servicing a bicycle, such as repacking and adjusting bearing sets. This kit does have enough tools to check for worn chains, clean cassettes and chain rings, adjust brakes, saddle height, and handlebars, change tires, etc. As for the quality of the tools themselves, they are good basic quality of Park Tools. Sturdy, accurate, hold up well to reasonable use; the hallmark that bicycle mechanics have come to expect of Park through the decades. A couple of the tools here could stand to have a grippy handle of plastic, silicon, or rubber like others have (in particular the chain whip) but as a basic set of tools, they work as expected for what they are. The included tool case is strong plastic with simple cups in the lid to hold small parts. I suspect that over time the plastic hinges and parts cup clips will probably break but if not abused, they should last a good while. The case is small but large enough to hold the included tools as well as any others you may wish to add. The latch is metallic for both halves, which is good, but is anchored in the plastic case. Again, with careful use, this should last for a good amount of time. The kit also includes a large book from Park Tools on how to perform maintenance and repairs for a wide variety of components across many years and models of bicycles. If one is familiar with the series of videos on YouTube on bicycle maintenance from Park Tools, this book goes into a bit more detail for each procedure. It also includes appendices for dimensions on popular components through the decades; a great reference for anyone attempting to find info on a long discontinued part that fell out of production before the age of Google. Also, the pages of this book are coated to help prevent damage to them from slightly greasy or oily fingers turning the pages. That is an unexpected benefit. Overall I think this is a good value for the money. Purchasing each of the individual tools would exceed the cost of this kit. On top of that you get the decent case and the very helpful book. Some additional tools may need to be acquired depending upon your bike's maintenance need, but this is a good start.