Tired of pin tools slipping off or snapping the pins, damaging your precious aluminium super or c- record cups? Here is the answer! We developed a 6pin adjustable cup tool that will suit Mavic, Campagnolo, Gipiemme, Ofmega, Sugino, Suntour,… bottom bracket cups.
The idea came after we worked on the Mavic headset tools. As we were going to order a batch from the laser cutter I decided to make some more tools. A special lock ring spanner and this 6pin tool were the results of playing around in CAD (for much longer than initially anticipated).
The final result.
Laser cut from 3 pieces stainless steel (AISI 304).
Why exactly 3? The minimum diameter of a laser cut piece has to be at least the thickness of the plate, otherwise we will get funky results and lose accuracy. And as the pins are M4 we need 3.3mm holes for tapping.
We found out the hard way that a 3mm tool was not nearly stiff enough, 9mm on the other hand is as solid as it gets.
After tapping, sanding and brushing they are comfortable and most of all they look nice on your tooling wall.
The tool features 2 patterns: one for the Mavic bottombracket 600, 600RD, 610RD/URD, 616RD. and one for all Mavic wheelsets and hubs. The only one that we have found so far that doens’t fit is a unicorn TT front hub that requires smaller diameter pins.
The other pattern fits all Campagnolo standard cups. So ofmega, Gipiemme, Sugino and some other Japanese cups will fit aswell.
This DOES NOT fit TA specialités and Stronglight cups (the ones I’ve got at least)
how to properly use the tool
First, you have to properly lock the tool into place
The easiest way to do that is to clean the cup of any debris to begin
Use a tooth pick for example to really clean out the holes
Then wiggle the tool into place, if it doesn’t fit. Don’t worry, you might not approach it straight or the pins are out of centre.
As the pins are machined on a lathe they are technically not 100% centred, so you might need to turn some of them a little around until they fall into place.
if that’s all set up you can continue to lock the tool into place, one genius move is to use a drive side cup and use it as a spacer to push onto the pins and keep everything nice and secure
Things to look out for while using:
Clearance! Think twice before you fix the tool into place, it might fight you back
Using the tool at an angle can bend the pins faster than when they are properly aligned and tightened.
But wait, there is more!
To add that extra bit of “oumpf” you can add 1 or 2 1/2″ ratchet wrenches for more momentum to break that rusted son of a free out of the frame.
For some reason I broke the pins, now what?
The pins are made of 12.9 m4 bolts, the highest class bolts you can find.
They will fit other original tools like Sugino, Shimano, Tackx etc. (even some from AliExpress)
They cost 24 euros for 6 replacement pins or if you just want 2 to fix your old tool you can buy those too.
Got some old Campagnolo tools you want new pins for?
No problem! We have got them too, They are made from 12.9 M5 bolts and will fit the old Campagnolo tool. If you haven’t got them yet I recommend swapping them out with the original ones before you destroy those on a stubborn cup.
Pricing
6-pin adjustable cup tool: | €45 |
6 replacement pins M4 | €24 |
2 replacement pins M4 | €8 |
2 replacement pins M5 (Campagnolo) | €8 |
How to buy
For as long as our webshop hasn’t launched we ask to send us a message.
We need to know:
Item(s) you want to buy (hoods, tools, brake pads, bar tape, bikes, Campagnolo parts,…)
Your full name, address, Tel number, VAT number (if you run a business and need an invoice (for EU citizens))
We will get back to you with an estimate in shipping costs and VAT (for EU citizens)
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