Brand
Ellinghaus & Dickmann, Wuppertal
ELDI is the abbreviation of two names and the short form of a claim: tools that professionals earn their living with. What we know about the brand is written here. What we cannot substantiate is not.
Wuppertal-Elberfeld · Bergisches Land
Origins
Behind ELDI stands the Eldi Werkzeug-Compagnie Ellinghaus & Dickmann of Wuppertal-Elberfeld, in later years based in Remscheid-Lüttringhausen. The Bergisches Land region had been the centre of the German tool and hardware industry for centuries, and Wuppertal, Remscheid and Solingen shared suppliers, hardening shops and skilled workers. In this environment a range emerged that focused from the start on one segment: special tools for bicycles, mopeds and motorcycles.
The F8 catalogue
The oldest record we hold in the archive is catalogue F8 from 1955. It carries the title "Special tools for bicycles, mopeds, motorcycles" and lists the range of the time: offset ring spanners in chrome vanadium steel, double open ended spanners, spoke nipple spanners in several forms, taper pliers, water pump pliers, headset pliers, mudguard punch pliers, pedal spanners, tyre bead spreaders for changing tyres, and pliers for pulling off handlebar grips.
One sentence from the catalogue describes the brand's position better than any later advertising: ELDI was "already a byword for quality for many years". So the company already saw itself as established in 1955. The catalogue does not give a founding year, and so we do not give one either.
The design principle
The range available today comes from later decades and is aimed at the moped and mokick generation: Zündapp, Kreidler, Hercules, Puch, KTM, DKW, Rixe. One detail runs through all the pullers, which ELDI described as its unique feature: the hardened pressure pin that sits loosely on the pressure screw. It does not turn with the screw as it is tightened. The shaft it presses against is not worn away. That sounds small, but it decides whether a crankshaft stub is still true after the tenth flywheel change.
Today
The ELDI brand belongs to the MotoMobilityGroup (MMG), which also includes Racing Planet, Moped-Garage, Scooter Center, Scooter Attack and PePe Parts. A large part of the range is NOS, New Old Stock: tools that were made in the factory, never sold and never used. That makes them a workshop tool and a piece of history for the collection at the same time.
What this website is
A datasheet archive, a tool finder and a work of reference. Not a sales platform: you will find prices and availability in the shops, and every datasheet links there. All details on threads, dimensions and vehicles come from manufacturer data; the application notes are based on workshop practice and do not replace the vehicle manufacturer's own instructions.
- 1955Catalogue F8 "Special tools for bicycles, mopeds, motorcycles", Wuppertal-Elberfeld. Source: velopedia.online, document 1892.
- 1960s to 1980sRange for the moped and mokick generation: flywheel pullers, sprocket holding tools, clutch pullers, degree wheels, toolkits.
- Register of companiesThe company is registered twice: "Eldi Werkzeug-Compagnie Ellinghaus & Dickmann" in Wuppertal (Wuppertal Local Court, HRA 8602) and later as "Eldi Werkzeug-Compagnie Ellinghaus & Dickmann GmbH & Co. KG", Dreherstraße 6, Remscheid-Lüttringhausen (Wuppertal Local Court, HRA 18107). The company is inactive today. Source: register extracts via northdata.de and firminform.de.
- TodayBrand of the MotoMobilityGroup. Original stock via Racing Planet and partner dealers.