You can build wheels without a nipple driver but it's a lot more fiddly & will take longer. Most nipple drivers look like a screwdriver with a bent shaft. That kind is a hand tool & usually costs about the same as, or sometimes less than, the Cyclus one being reviewed, which is about £25. Anyway, I like this particular tool for a few reasons. It's a bit quicker (& less tiring!) to use than a hand tool & the quality seems good. More importantly though, if the spoke lengths you're using aren't exactly precise, the pin is adjustable for depth so you can still get the tensions fairly accurate.
Once you get the feel of using the tool you'll often find that the wheel starts fairly true just from the initial tensioning before you do the final finishing off with the spoke wrench.
So far I've built about 4 or 5 pairs of wheels with this particular tool as well as being used on a couple of wheel building courses. There's been no damage or wear so far despite the fact that nipple drivers work by essentially slipping out of the slot in the nipple when the pin hits the end of the spoke.
So, if you know how to build wheels & you know what a nipple driver does, this one is a good one. That's about it!
This one is sold under the Cyclus name as well as Sapim & possibly others. It's less 'essential' than the other on, but it does speed things up & all but prevents the annoyance of a spoke nipple dropping inside the wheel rim. The wire loop just grips the nipple so you can thread it onto the spoke nice & easily. Where it gets more vital is if you're building wheels with deep section rims. It might seem a bit pricey for what it is at £15 or £16, but I'm guessing they don't sell in huge numbers.
Having used one for a good while now I'd not want to be without it. Apart from a bit of extra speed, anything that helps keep a bit of a routine & order to wheel building is a good thing. The wire loops are held in with a grub screw & spares are available, but mine hasn't needed any yet & doesn't show any signs of getting tired.
[edit]...the day after poasting this the body of the tool cracked! Seems like it was a manufacturing fault rather than a design fault. The tool's been around for a while so I'm guessing it's not a common problem[edit]
Spoke keys or wrenches
No need for a full review of these, but if you're after a spoke wrench for workshop type use you really want one that grips the spoke nipples with as much support as possible. Good ones include the Sapim which is my choice. It grips all 4 sides with a diamond arrangement; Park do some good ones but spend the couple of quid more to get the '4 sided' type. The cheaper ones just have a 'u' profile which has more risk of rounding off the nipples; The one by Newton, also sold as Wrench Force is a multi-size design which grips on 4 sides the same as the Park. I also use this, but these days I tend to leave it in my Camelback as the multi-size design means I won't get caught out if someone on a skills course or guided ride needs a wheel sorting.
Green Oil is run by Simon Nash who developed the original Green Oil wet lube whilst at Southampton University. The wet lube does everything that any other wet lube does except that it's made from completely natural ingredients. It's also very reasonably priced.
There're plenty of info on the web, but if you didn't know, bees are in decline. This is a problem mainly because of the free work they do. As well as all the honey, bees polinate lots of food crops. It's been worked out that you'd need around 1000 people to do the work of 1 bee.
Endura Stealth Jacket 07/08 – the first waterproof soft-shell I know of. Great bit of kit, breathes reasonably well even though I sweat almost as soon as I start riding... It's got a thin fleece lining, so I wouldn't wear it on warm days, but the rest of the time it's quite versatile. You can wear it with just a base layer, or if it's really cold with a mid-layer as well. 2 sets of vents make it cool enough as you get warmer. Only a chest & back pocket, but this has been enough for me so far. The back pocket will hold just enough to get by on short rides where you may not want to take a backpack. It's still going strong & still 100% waterproof. Newer versions have more pockets, so even better. Only regret is that I went for red instead of my usual preference for dependable black! The blue looked quite good but wasn't in stock at the time
Endura Venturi eVent jacket & trousers – eVent seems to live up to the hype. The theory is that it breathes without body heat. It's as or more breathable than most other materials, but feels better than some when you get a bit cold. Also seems reasonably tough & hard wearing. I recently did put a small tear in the knee, but this was a heavy fall with a huge pack on ...gaffer tape required! Well thought out, 2 side pockets plus a back pocket. Still waterproof after 2½ years & has only been re-treated 'just in case'.
Comments for the jacket as for the trousers. It has more pockets than the Stealth. Great jacket, shame I stupidly lost it...
Reason for this is that the waterproofing is down to a layering system rather than a membrane. If it loses it's waterproofing a bit you just re-proof with Nikwax TX10 to bring back the performance. The smock design might not suit everyone, and there is only a chest pocket & a kind of one piece hand-warmer pocket accessed through the side vents, but I always have plenty of space somewhere, so lack of pockets hasn't been an issue for me. It's still a warmish garment for cycling, so can be worn with just a base-layer, but if it gets too hot the afore-mentioned side-vents allow for a fair bit of cooling. Not really for the summer, but the rest of the year it's great. First impressions were that the sleeves were on the short side for biking, but in practice this hasn't been a problem. The Velcro cuffs seem to do a good job. The other difference with Paramo is the feel, their stuff is really soft to wear
5-10 Impact High/Low '06 – most people know how good 5-10 shoes are. They use tacky rubber, same as climbing shoes on the soles, so they grip flat pedals like nothing else. Only thing to add is that they're still going now with no signs of giving up. The newer ones are synthetic uppers, not heard any negatives about this so far. The main reason why I have 2 pairs is that at the time there seemed to be some doubt as to whether they would keep making them, so I ordered a second lot. They proved so popular that it looks likely they'll be made for some time into the future. The Lows are a bit more comfy, I have weird feet with angular bony bits that make the left shoe slightly less comfy on the High's. I found the High's could be waterproofed reasonably well with Grangers or similar. 
If they do get wet, dry them out fairly soon, as almost every shoe other than the clip-in types have a midsole made of compressed & glued cardboard, or something similar
howies merino base layers – many reasons why I use these; they're still reasonably warm if they get wet, they breathe better than anything else by a long way, they never smell bad like synthetics, they keep you warm in the winter & cool in the summer. The merino fibres are naturally resistant to bacteria & they can absorb a lot of liquid before they feel damp. howies merino is about as good as it gets, so there's no hint of itchiness
Rixen Kaul Klickfix Mini Map Holder – the Klickfix system is used to attach various things to the handlebars, but the map holder is the only thing of interest to me. The map holder is great, helps avoid missing a turning because you have the map in sight all the time. It's made of folded perspex & is A6 size. I use Memory Map & then laminate the maps. Satmap seem to have borrowed the same attachment system for their GPS unit. The mount rotates 90 degrees to fit bars or stems. The similar Polaris MapTrap is a bit cheaper & has an identical looking map holder. Not sure if it's as versatile in fitting though. I reckon I'd struggle to fit it around a bike computer & light as easily as with the Rixen Kaul version
Middleburn chain rings & RS7 cranks – lightweight cranks with a lifetime guarantee! The RS7's are guaranteed for dirt jumping & DH! If you want to go even lighter they do the RS8. Still guaranteed, but not for jumping & downhill. Mine are ISIS, they also do square tapered & were working on an x-type. Many will be put off by ISIS bottom brackets, as there have been some bad ones. In my experience the good ones outlast external BB's by a fair bit. Current one is a Superstar, it's made like the old Shimano square taper cartridge BB's, which is a good thing. See the 