Wheels Manufacturing BBTOOL [Rider Review]

Our "Rider Review" article series features the honest reviews from verified purchasers of Worldwide Cyclery. They contain the photos, thoughts, feedback & overall review you are looking for. 

We all love nice components on our bikes. But, it's best to install those nice parts with nice tools to ensure a easy and safe install. Wheels Manufacturing offers some of the best bottom bracket tools. Our friend, Nick, has been using the Wheels manufacturing BB tool. See what they think! 

Overview

Initially I was cheap and bought a bottom bracket wrench instead of this socket, and I immediately regretted it. The main reason I chose this socket was because it has both 16-notch bottom bracket sizes that I have on my bikes (44mm and 48.5mm), versus others that only provide one size. It’s also much better than a regular wrench since gives you the ability to use a ratcheting torque wrench when tightening it, which significantly speeds up installation time and ensures that your bottom bracket is properly torque. I’m still happy that I have the standard wrench as I can use it to torque the wheels manufacturing thread together bottom bracket that I replaced my pressfit bottom bracket with, due to creaking. As an aside, this is something I would also highly recommend if you run into creaking issues with a pressfit bottom bracket. I have a strong dislike for fiddling with primers, retaining compounds, and any other schmoo (shameless AvE reference), maybe it’s because I’m getting older - my eyesight, and therefore my patience, just aren’t what they used to be. Make sure to double and triple check your dimensions, and don’t hesitate to call the team at Worldwide Cyclery should you have any questions. They know what they’re talking about.

Continuing on with the review, the tool also comes with a 3/8” to 1/2” adapter. As per usual per usual with wheels manufacturing components, the quality is excellent. I’ve used it a few times and the anodization has only minimally worn (see image). It seems that the anodization and material may be softer than the bottom brackets that I’ve used this one, which is great since it does not cause any wear on the anodization of the bottom brackets. Putting a little bit of grease on the interface most likely helped a bit with this.

Final Thoughts

When installing a bottom bracket using this socket, make sure that your torque wrench can measure torque in both directions. I initially used a standard automotive torque wrench but I quickly realized that there was no torque limiting in the non-standard direction, luckily before breaking anything. Park tool’s TW is a great tool for this if you don’t already have one.