Home mechanics servicing older bikes with cup and cone bottom brackets.
Older cup and cone bottom brackets use an adjustable cup on the non-drive side with small pin holes in its face. This pin spanner drops its pins into those holes so you can turn the cup and set the bearing preload precisely.
It is a basic, inexpensive workshop tool that makes the job far neater than using a punch or pliers, which tend to damage the cup. Use it together with a lockring spanner to hold the adjustment once it is set.
Made for BB cups
Pins locate in adjustable cup holes.
No damage
Far kinder to the cup than a punch or pliers.
Simple
Inexpensive tool for a common vintage job.
Tool
Great for
Maybe not for
Check the pin spacing against your cup before use, as adjustable cups vary.
Set preload, then lock
Snug the adjustable cup until the play just disappears, hold it with the pin spanner, then tighten the lockring. Recheck that the axle turns smoothly with no play.
