I've acumulated so many tools. My daily grind consists of a combination of Park, Shimano, Pedro's, and Craftsman. I used to not like the Park cable cutters either, but now I always reach for those over the Shimano and Felco's. As far as cone wrenches go, I'm about ready to grind down some Craftsman open ended wrenches, can't they make something better.

It has crossed my mind, too. The long, fully polished combination wrenches would be really nice. The 15mm already makes a great pedal wrench.

Park tools work fine for me. I have little experience with other brands, but from what I've used, they seem similar. Regarding freewheel tools, are you using the axle to keep the tool in there tight? I use QR skewer to clamp it on there. I was able to use a 2 prong suntour that was rounded with no problem.

Decided to invest in a basic set of tools for my bike, and park just charge way too much for what is essentially a very cheap part.

Went with a budget brand - Sette. http://www.pricepoint.com/detail/145...--21-Tools.htm

We'll see if they're any good.

That was correct when Trek first introduced the Wrench Force brand but I don't think it is any more.

The phrase "but they're good enough for professionals" might be stretching the rubber band of reality a bit far, but you should find the tools quite useful for home use provided you haven't got advance technology stuff like disc brakes and such to deal with. Lifu and, I think, Nashbar, have very similar sets, probably all sourced from the same Taiwanese factory.

They don't say "by Snap On" anymore. They say "engineered by Snap On". I suppose they're made the same place as most Trek bikes are now made.

Anyway, the one I have was made by Snap On and it's not a well-made tool. I've always thought that Snap-On tools were overrated.

Do you have the CN-10 cable and housing cutters? I use them, and they are the best I've had. One of my favorite tools, as a matter of fact, since they work so well.

Mine did as well ...
 

My Park free-wheel extractor also rounded out fairly quickly. I had bought a Lifu kit off Pricepoint and people told me not to use the stuff because it was junk. They were 100% WRONG.

Big Blue is a marketing campaign, not reality. There were a couple of real stinkers in that Lifu kit, but overall the tools were better designed than the Park equivalents.

a) The freewheel extractor is a socket attachement with a set pin. The socket allows you to actually put some pressure into the spline so that they do not come free and round. This is the most likely reason (in my opinion) for the rounding Park freewheel removers. I've had no rounding with the Lifu tool plus you do not need a $20 wrench to operate it that you will not use for anything else. You only need a good socket and many folks have those lying around.

b) Chain Tool - The Lifu Chain tool has a hollow back screw that allows you to set the chain in place AND completely push the pin out VERY easily.

Park's spoke wrenches also need updating as they only bite on 3 sides as opposed to all four. They are quality parts, but they're inferior to Pedro's spoke wrenches.

I also own a cheap Minoura truing stand which is WAY better than the park consumer stands.

BTW, Soma steel core tire levers are AWESOME!!!!!

I gotta say though, the nice thing about park is they're in MN and I can go over there and get a spare part, for say a truing stand, and they won't charge me much at all, and they're willing to e-mail me or call me about it.

Yes what I called side cutters are also called dikes. My park cutters make a mess out of the cable housing.

Yes they are the Cn -10. I feel I am fairly profencient with hand tools having spent 31 years as a welder and an assembler plus doing most of my automotive work.Maybe I need mote practice with them. The only cable housing I have cut have been top of the line shimano. It sure messed up the ends.

Yeah i dont expect shop tools. But i think they're suitable for someone like me that only uses them lightly.

One trick I'm wondering... for tools, maybe buy from a generic Taiwainese company all the tools that you can possibly think of using, and use them. The tools that you use a lot and wear out, replace with a sturdier brand.

I personally buy Park tools, partially to support their good website on fixing stuff, partially to support local shops, and partially because when trying to figure out what went wrong with a mechanical job [1] I did, having high quality tools means I just have to worry about my technique, not tool choice.

[1] Well, if you can call a pedal replacement a mechanical job... Its a trivial thing, but having a good pedal wrench and grease makes sure that its done right.

[QUOTE=Dirtdrop]They don't say "by Snap On" anymore. They say "engineered by Snap On". I suppose they're made the same place as most Trek bikes are now made.

Anyway, the one I have was made by Snap On and it's not a well-made tool.Ummm, I'm Curious How many Snap-on tools do you have? You obviously do not have a good relationship with a vendor.
I have well over $35,000 of Snap on tools & nary a complaint.
I don't believe there are any other BRANDS that are spec'd better(incl. Mac tools)
Their boxes are the best there is, period!

Bike cable cutters don't work well on brake (i.e. spiral wound) cable housing and ****s are better for this use as you can get the both edges of the cutter between adjacent spirals and cut them cleanly. You do need to file the cut end to get them smooth and square.

****s are a very poor choice for cutting the inner wires and STI/Ergo type shifter housing as they crush the strands rather than cutting them cleanly. This is the job where dedicated cable cutters, including Park's, are really superior.

A note on who makes your tools. I inspected a forging factory in a city where I used to work several times. They forged wrenches which they had marketed under their own name since the 1920s, but the manager who showed us around also mentioned that they made tools for a number of other companies, the names of which he was not allowed to reveal. So unless your wrench is made in China, it's probably made by one of a few manufacturers here in the States where they stamp MAC, Snap-On, or Craftsman (or others) on tools that come off the same line.

:beer:Yep, just spec's

All I can say then is they they should not call them cable cuters then.

In my orignal post I said the the park freewheel tool is junk , the ones with the multiple splines and most posters agreed.

You guys realise there are two spline patterns that are the same except for depth, right? Park makes both, the Shimano is shallow, there is another (Falcon, I think) that is deeper. The Shimano tool will fit and then strip out. I have two of the Park Shimano tools and between them they have seen more than a 1000 freewheels. Might just be technique.

I've never been particularly impressed with these "made by xxx" claims on various products. Just because something is made by a particular company, even in the same factory, it doesn't necessarily mean they are using the same materials, manufacturing tolerances, and quality control as the high-end stuff. It seems like more of a marketing gimmick to me.

Having said that, I have a few Wrench Force tools and have had good luck with them (I especially like their 4-sided spoke wrenches), but there's nothing magical about them.

Any tool is magical in my hands...heh.