4th hand cable puller

[AlanD]

Hi there,
I'm looking to buy a cable puller and Park Tools do a very attractive one , also called a 4th hand, at a not so attractive price.
However, looking on Amazon, I see that they are advertising something almost identical by XLC for £13.44.
Does anyone have one of these? Is it money well spent or is it a cheap imitation? I don't expect to use it more than a few times a year.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/XLC-Cable-Pulle ... ble+puller
Thanks, Alan

[Steve O'C]

I have one of these, or something very much like it. Although it works fine I have to be honest and say that after the first use I have never bothered to use it again and I seem to manage OK without it.

[Valbrona]

It is not until you actually buy one of these before you realize you don't actually need one of these.

[thirdcrank]

I had the Park tool one, and I may still have it. I can't remember if I passed it on to somebody else. My Park Tool Third Hand has definitely been passed on. That says something about their usefulness or otherwise. I'd say that tools of this type were very useful with earlier styles of brakes, where you had to set the shoes then pull the cable as tight as possible to remove all the slack to give the levers a chance. I've no experience of modern centrepulls but dual pivots don't seem to need this treatment.

Re the actual question posed, it's hard to compare just from pics, but while there's nothing wrong with the Park Tool, IMO it's over-priced: we've a thingy for taking the tops off jars and bottles etc., made from the same relatively thin metal which was a fraction of the price, but bike-specific tools tend to be much more expensive than general stuff anyway. If you want one, the Amazon one should be OK and if not, they have a straightforward returns policy.

[Philip Benstead]

I had the Park tool one, and I may still have it. I can't remember if I passed it on to somebody else. My Park Tool Third Hand has definitely been passed on. That says something about their usefulness or otherwise. I'd say that tools of this type were very useful with earlier styles of brakes, where you had to set the shoes then pull the cable as tight as possible to remove all the slack to give the levers a chance. I've no experience of modern centrepulls but dual pivots don't seem to need this treatment.

Re the actual question posed, it's hard to compare just from pics, but while there's nothing wrong with the Park Tool, IMO it's over-priced: we've a thingy for taking the tops off jars and bottles etc., made from the same relatively thin metal which was a fraction of the price, but bike-specific tools tend to be much more expensive than general stuff anyway. If you want one, the Amazon one should be OK and if not, they have a straightforward returns policy.

I find the third hand work well on brompton brakes and i find it good for dual pivots as well. but does not work on canties

[AndyK]

I have the Park Tools one and use it quite often - it's very handy for getting the spacing right on V-brakes and cantis in particular. However it's poor quality - there's enough play in the pivot that gear cables slip down between the two plates and get wedged there, which is a shame because the other useful place for it would be the fornt derailleur. It's not half as good as the cheap one I bought decades ago (and lost, alas).

So if you're going to buy one I'd recommend saving some cash and not buying the one that's had a premium slapped on the price just because it's painted Park Blue.

[Brucey]

I have a tool like that in my toolbox. IME it doesn't always work and even where it does, the time taken to reach down and pick it up is usually greater than the time saved by using it, so it mostly gathers dust.

cheers

[scottg]

The Hozan 4th hand tool works wonderfully for putting on zip ties.
A hemostat with serrated teeth is good for pulling derailleur
cables snug. A bar clamp is works for squeezing brakes together,
when installing cables.

[gregoryoftours]

I would no way bother with the Park one, I can't see how on earth they can justify the price compared to other ones. I've got a really cheap one, I do occasionally use it, but the best use as the last person posted is to pull zip ties really tight - It's great for that!

[LWaB]

When I was a mechanic, the Hozan 4th hand was heavily used. A wonderful piece of kit.

[pete75]

No connection but one here for a tenner viewtopic.php?f=32&t=98904
Am intrigued as to what the third hand is when using a fourth hand tool

[LWaB]

A third hand tool clamps the brake pads onto the rim.

[pickerd1]

I have a non-Park Took 4th hand tool, I think it's draper, and it works fine.

[pete75]

A third hand tool clamps the brake pads onto the rim.

Interesting. So you need one of those devices as well as the 4th hand tool. The pair of them seem like solutions looking for problems.

[gregoryoftours]

A third hand tool clamps the brake pads onto the rim.

Interesting. So you need one of those devices as well as the 4th hand tool. The pair of them seem like solutions looking for problems.

Nah you don't need both - third hand tool is more old skool was used more for caliper/centrepull brakes -

if you clamp the blocks onto the rim you can fiddle around with the cable clamp with your hands.

4th hand achieves similar thing in a different way by pulling the cable and holding it in place while you fiddle about with the cable clamp. I do think that 4th hand can be quite useful especially on brakes with heavy spring tension.