Originally Posted by
noglider
I was going to say Channel Lock but for some reason, I wanted to use the generic term. Not that it changes the type of awful $60/hour mechanic I am.
But seriously, it seems that the bigger the nut, the less of a problem pliers are. I would never use pliers on, say, a 12mm nut. But on some headsets, a 12" adjustable wrench doesn't fit. I don't have a 15" wrench, and I bet there are some headsets even too big for that. I'm not going to get a fixed wrench for every weird-assed headset, and I daresay no mechanic has done so. And I haven't ruined any headsets with my Channel Lock.
Pliers are the second worse tool you can use to work on a bike, after a vise grip... Or maybe flat edge screwdrivers trying to get to a 7mm Allen bolt because you don't happen to have that size around... I have just seen too many bolts and theads stripped and headsets irreversibly marked by the use of the wrong tools, to try to play MacGyuver around bikes. Pliers are meant to grip, wrenches are meant to twist (and you use the flat part of a wrench to measure size and the curvy one to twist)
