Our shop has a range of fixed cup spanners (sorry, wrenches) which are used for various jobs. Most see little use now thanks to the ubiquity of cartridge BBs, but they still get wheeled out for the big jobs.
1. Tacx. The T handle screws in from the back side of the cup. Useful on Campy & 90% of Japanese fixed cups. The very strong, replacable head takes a beating. Ours are about 15 years old. When we first got them we carried a line of bikes which were always supplied with under-tightened fixed cups. Every one was dissasembled and tightened properly with a Tacx. No more problems.
http://www.tacx.nl/
2. J.A. Stein fixed cup tool. Rarely used but invaluable, it clamps a regular fixed cup spanner spanner (I like Sugino best) onto the cup, but is useable only with the BB spindle in place.
3. Raleigh fixed cup tool. Not made by Raleigh at all, but found in shops where Nottingham's notorious fixed cup are common. This is BIG bolt with a nut brazed on about an inch down the thread. Once the adj. cup, spindle and balls have been removed the bolt is inserted through the fixed cup from the left side and a second nut screwed down tight against the cup. The biggest spanner in the shop (a 15 inch Cresent wrench) is used on the bolt with a smaller spanner holding the nut. With trial and error the bolt is tightened until everything bites and the fixed cup turns.
Others will no doubt find their own favourite methods and tools, but the ones described above have been found to work in a shop which has been successfully repairing bikes for some seventy years.
Michael Toohey Rangiora New Zealand.
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