Neutral Support News

14/07/2024

My favorite carry-on ✈️ Reflex ratchet is 🔥 and saves me so much time on these quick work trips - it's the best tool they make, hands down. You may think people who spend time reviewing tools never use them again (probably true for most of them) but I really try to mix them in and put them through their paces. Some make it to permanent status, some don't. THIS is 💯 in my permanent rotation. They didn't even pay me to say this, but they did send me the tool a while ago 😂

09/07/2024

It's bike mechanic overload season 🥵 it can be tough, but don't forget to take time for yourself and regroup 💪 Burnout is super easy to slip into, hard to dig out! Heck, some of us are still digging from 3 years ago ⛏️ Customers can wait, bosses can wait, most things can wait for an hour or two a day - for a day or two a week - for a week or three a year. Don't let false urgency fool you into unhealthy work-life balance! Easier said than done but not said enough. Happy summer wrenching 🤘

25/06/2024

Ever wonder what kind of 🪄 MAGIC ✨ makes a torque wrench work?? Or maybe how we got to the point of using hex bolts? 🤔 Even I can admit that with this most recent video about the humble I may have fallen into a deep research hole and tunneled around some...but the result was FUN! Check it out, up on the channel now. It will blow your mind 🤯 Notable tool appearances from some good friends:

15/06/2024

Home weekends are for testing 📋 ✅ Between a long and short stint on the road, I'm finally getting back in the groove - this has been a busy bike season! I've got new content in the cooker, coming your way soon. For now, here's the next evolution of in Technicolor - future maker of Dropper Buddies, UCI Hood Alignment tools, and more....

16/05/2024

Some great behind-the-scenes fun with BikeGremlin - almost a podcast? A video interview where we talk bikes, how Neutral Support came about, and tons of other completely unrelated topics 😆 Enjoy!

Danielle sits down (digitally, thanks technology) with Relja from to talk bikes, where it all started, why the name, and more - Just a little...

01/04/2024

It may be April Fool's day 🤡 but this is no joke! Good things can come in small packages, or in this case punch high above their weight🥊New FULL over-the-top detailed review of the Bike Lift is up on the ((link in bio)). Words like "BEST" are thrown around a lot these days, but you'll definitely hear them with sincerity in the footage 🤘 This is a serious contender for anyone tired of lifting up those bikes all day every day.

A. Back-saver
B. Cost-saver
C. Space-saver
✓D. All of the above

Thanks to everyone for submitting all your great questions ahead of time!

31/03/2024

It's amazing how quickly something NEW can become part of your every day life 🤘 cassette lockring tool FTW 🔥 Good doesn't mean complicated, and simple doesn't mean without innovation - this is a good, simple tool with a bunch of thought behind it

06/03/2024

Let's goooo! If you're at - I'll be haunting the halls, be sure to say hello! Bound to be a good time

29/02/2024

I like a little chaos as much as the next person, but still love the spoke wrench organizers just the same 🤩 Magnetic, and made to either fit your (very good choice) Monolith spoke wrenches like a glove - or - bend to meet the differing shapes of your ever-changing needs 🤘 Choose your own adventure, upgrade your quality of life!

26/02/2024

🤩 Finally, the fully electric Bike Lift is in the shop, with an initial unboxing video up on the channel 🤘📽️ Hard to photograph, but easy to love - sitting directly in the shadow of those that came before. Does it live up to the hype??? Let's find out! It at least lets me keep using the best clamp ever made by 👏👏👏 Comment/DM any questions you have about it and I'll try to make sure to address them in Part 2: the FULL review.

15/02/2024

📽️ NEW VIDEO up on the channel with making waves 🌊🌊🌊 Do you know how a hydraulic disc brake really works?? SPECIFICALLY what makes the piston retract into the caliper? Being open to learning you were wrong is something I highly recommend 😅 I dealt with a few of MY blind spots on this topic through the research phase, so enjoy! 🤘

06/02/2024

🚴🚴‍♀️🚴‍♂️FYI - There's a small batch of UCI tools up on the website store, grab one if you need one! 🤙 Don't get caught with your team's hoods turned too much at the starting line 😅 ...or else!

02/02/2024

Hood Angle Measurement tool hot off the press 🔥 Four pieces, medium length print - for all your "just angled enough" needs 🤘 If you need one, I'm sure any of us 3d printing tool nerds will be able to supply...

01/02/2024

🐇 🕳️ Sometimes it's the simplest tools that open up an unexpectedly deep rabbit hole. The quest to show why things work the way they work, what we can do to adjust the unadjustable, and deeper we go... Expect to see a video about this little gem from and all the other things that go along with it soon! Just as soon as I find the ladder out 😅

16/01/2024

Some people wanted more proof that the CalipERD was an accurate measurement - so I give you MATH as the 5th ERD calculated in this comparison 😂 Didn't make it in the video, but I'd say I can live with a 0.12 mm difference (which may even be accounted for in measuring error, and I am definitely violating some sig fig rules since I don't have a reliable way to measure circumference into decimals) 🤘 Also, took way less time to just use the tool, or literally any tool made for this if I'm being honest...

For those curious - this is the old skool circumference/pi minus (2xdepth to ni**le seat) + spoke addition. It works! So if you ever just have all the tools to measure those data points and no ERD tool or desire to make a tool...there's still hope for you ✌️

I'll call this the final word, the CalipERD is RAD 👏👏👏

13/01/2024

Let's talk about wheel-build-ing, let's talk about E-R-D 🤘 New video up on the channel taking a good hard look at the NEW CalipERD - maybe the tool to end all tools for measuring ERD the easiest way possible? Check it out!!!

09/01/2024

Our production manager taking a break from watching the printer sling filament to watch the snow come down ❄️ 😺 Without the would we even get anything done? Probably not. Certainly most of it would be carried off by mice, the rest left to sit exactly in the place where we left it on the desk or bench and not on the floor or hidden somewhere unknown to us. Boring!

08/01/2024

The shop was brimming with Y2K-vibes this weekend 🤖 The upgrade to fully leave the 20th century is complete! CNC machines use a comically small amount of data to run programs, so they were still made with Floppy drives up until the early 2000's and dirt simple CPU's 💻 It turns out some seriously complicated machining can be done with incredibly simple instructions if you know how to write them 📏📐 Overkill for framebuilding and tool-making? No such thing!

03/01/2024

There's seriously nothing like the finish is achieving out of their shop - filling the void left by so many companies before them, offering sick 🤘 accurate framebuilding tools made in-house. On par or better than any Anvil stuff of yesteryear - sitting in a league of their own! And, double bonus, fully integrated with BikeCAD. Win-win-win 👏👏👏 All builders, seriously check them out. Maybe some video potential in the future 😏

31/12/2023

Two lessons to take from 2023:

🔥 Live deliberately and with purpose
🔥 Do it with good tools

Breaking out the tools reminded me of a recent visit to an old clock factory where my family is from (and where many of them worked at some point or another) ⏰ Cases of the "historic tools of the trade" all on display - TONS of Mitutoyo, probably still great as the day they were on the factory floor. Mitutoyo literally started on day one just to make the best micrometers possible, and has done it since 1934 🤯 Not to make money, though they did and still do, but to do what they did well. 👏

As bicycle mechanics, our tolerances may not be clock-tight (they definitely aren't, check out a Trek BB90) but a good, accurate tool can make all the difference in the final result and your quality of life to get there 🤘 Find purpose in whatever you do, do it well, and make sure to have some fun along the way!

Happy New Year 🎊

25/12/2023

The TWELFTH, final, NEW and very exciting Tool of Christmas is actually a tool debut! An original - The Dropper Buddy 🤘 The development of this little thing was super fun, and I hope you guys enjoy it too. Check out the video up on the channel to see more about how it works. Not all good tools are complicated or expensive, some just solve simple problems and improve quality of life!

24/12/2023

🤘 The "This one goes to 11(th)" tool of Christmas might be my favorite all year - the CalipERD. Burned by trusting published ERD too many times? Tires of playing with sticks and doing math?? (Let's face it, most.of us didn't go to school for math)... This changes everything, just measure and go 🚀 I'll be putting up a video about it shortly after the holidays so DON'T MISS IT

23/12/2023

The 10th Tool of Christmas is a real 10 out of 10! 👏 👏 👏 Tutto II Chain Tool - it's no secret how good this tool is and we don't shy away from how much we like it! I mean, if you really want to know, watch the Chain Tool Gauntlet! 💪 Support brands that support mechanics! 👊

22/12/2023

☃️ The Ninth Tool of Christmas was absolutely on the list of "best quality of life upgrades" at the shop - the 2-in-1 Inflator 💪 Small, easy to use, convenient, accurate. I have never had a compressor chuck that was the "total package" until this one. As you can see from the pic, the extra guard they sell for the guage is a MUST 😂

21/12/2023

The 8th tool of 🎄 reigns back in the budget with a tool that punches well above its size - the Prestaratchet III. With a super high-torque ratchet head in such a small package, there aren't many places these little guys can't go! 💨 Great for a motorcycle tool kit too 🤘

20/12/2023

Lucky number 7(th) tool of Christmas 🎁 the Spoke Machine. Fixes 99.9% of stock problems and lets you calculate spoke length to 0.5mm cuts 🙀 I'm sure I'm not alone in saying that I didn't have one for years, and now I don't know what I'd do without it! spoke threader is a great option too if you don't just have 💰💰💰 laying around.

18/12/2023

Is the SIXTH tool of Christmas 🎄 even a bicycle tool? Heck yeah!!! The folks understand that not all good tools for bicycle repair are made by bicycle tool companies - this Schroder Ratcheting tap set is a DREAM compared to anything you've used 🤘 Leave the threads to the people who know - and if you need.to treat yourself this season, check this kit out!!!

17/12/2023

1...2...3...4...5th 🖐️ Tool of Christmas 🎅 is small and mighty - the Pro Internal Cable Routing Tool. Compact enough to slip in an apron pocket, strong enough to pull cable through Pandora's Box 🐍 If you didn't cross enough fingers and your guide tube fails you, you're out of string, your vacuum is broken...don't panic! Grab this!

16/12/2023

Dear to our hearts, the FOURTH tool of Christmas 🎁⛄ is the venerable Tire Jack - saving lives and hands for years, seen here with the prototype of the larger tire version (which we are still anxiously awaiting!!!)

15/12/2023

((THIRD TOOL OF CHRISTMAS 🎄🎁)) It's tough to beat the 220W - interchangeable but NOT just the small 1/4" bits. JIS + swappable 1-2-3 and flat head. It's a beautiful thing! My ❤️ is not exclusive to the 220W but extends also to their other offerings (be sure to check out their electric screwdrivers too 🤩).