The quality of Park Tools
 

I have a park tools home mechanic set for a couple of years now. I have done my own auto mechanics for years and know the difference between quality tools and junk. The metal is very soft. The freewheel removal tools after two uses the splines are are rounding off . I cant even get one of them in a freewheel anymore, too bunged up. The cable housing cutters are worthless. All the tools apear to be soft and very cheaply made. I have a hard time beliving a shop mechanic could use these tools. Is there a different grade of tool they supply the pros?

^^ I totally agree. Soft and overpriced. I have had good luck with Pedros tools and Spin doctor.

I prefer Pedros over Park. Their wrenches are all given rubber grips, Park may have them too but all I've ever seen at the LBS were the plain thin metal things. The hand feel is sub par in my opinion. Much like Snap On VS Craftsman.

In terms of the freewheel tools, one reason they get rounded off is because of bad design of the freewheels. If they only make 2 small notches on the freewheel (as in some very badly designed Suntour freewheels), then the remover tool can only have two prongs... and there's a ton of stress on them.

Most of the tools I own are Performance Spin Doctor stuff. While cheap, I find that they're as strong as the Park Tools. They don't have nice beefy handles like the Park Tools though: with the crank, BB, and cassette tools you use a wrench as the handle, rather than having a built-in handle.

I own a few Park Tools though (crank extractor, freewheel tool, and lockring combo wrench), and use others at the UMD bike co-op, and I've been quite happy with them.

I use some Park Tools and some Lifu and some others. Only real difference I've found is that some of the Park Tools seem more resistent to oxidized and their finish stays more stable. I think bike parts and bike tools in general aren't as well designed as their counterparts in the home repair/auto repair/motorcycle realms. Seem like the real craftspeople are concentrated in the frame-building arena.

Pedros tools are just nice, no?

Aren't Spin Doctor tools just re-badged Lifu tools? I know that the Spin Doctor stuff is sold with a lifetime warranty, but how is Performance bike about honoring the warranty?

I've not had to use the warranty, although I suppose I could have. My roommate broke my Spin Doctor crank extractor tool, but he immediately went out and bought me a Park one to replace it :)

I have been using Park tools at the shop for 1 year and so far so good. I think they are real good. Ok the chain tool is not that good, the pin brakes rapidly. I also have some Wrench Force tools and FSA tools and they seem to be stronger than the park tools but Park design their tools to work more eficiently.

I always figured the soft metal was to avoid damaging the bike parts (more expensive than the tools)? Either way, I haven't had any trouble and have used cassette tools over and over. I have bent many a chain whip at the velodrome, though, but other than that I have been happy with them both at my house and during the year I worked at a bike shop (no special line there, same stuff as I had at home)

I have a Park cable housing cutter. While I don't know the quality of the metal they used (though it feels heavy), I feel there's much room for improvement in the design. The cutting action is like a pair of cheap scissors. :(

The other tools that I have (crank/cassette/bb/ext bearing cup/chain tool) are a mix of Pedros and Spin Doctor. I haven't found any quality issues with those; nor their hardness marking/cutting into my bike components.

Yes, bicycle tools are softer but I've never had any quality issues for the most part since they're used for wrenching on bicycles only...

That said, about half of the tools I use on my bikes are part of my automotive tools.

Can anyone compare the quality of pedal wrenches?

Well I can say that my Craftsman 15mm wrench is unstoppable for a pedal wrench and I didn't have to buy something new because I already had it. And it fits all the pedals I have that don't have a hex bolt on the ends.

The craftsman might not fit every pedal, but my point is to not go out and buy something made specifically for a bike, when you may already have the tool that will do the job.

Some of the tools are fine, The pedal wrench, bottom bracket and crank puller are ok.I fix old bikes from yardsales and that are given to me or picked up in trash and resell them or strip for parts. I need a couple more of the type of free wheel removers becuase of the varity I encounter.They do have an awfully thin wall to get pasts the axel.They are not that expensive , though only getting a few uses out of a tool is unacceptable to me. I am hesitant to order more and am looking for an alternative. The cable cutters were a great letdown . I can do better with a pair of side cutters.

I've had no trouble with any of my Park tools in the 15 years I've been using them

The cable cutters work great IMO.

Yep you can't beat a good set of Kleins

http://www.service.kleintools.com/Ma...228-8_icon.jpg

While they are not Snap-on quality, I like 'em. Freewheel extractor kinda sucks, but I think they all do. Mox is correct on design flaws

Performance honors their brand. I returned lights twice for a broken wire. No complaints, just gave me a new one.

MOX: check you email box

[QUOTE

The cable cutters work great IMO.[/QUOTE]

Mine dont. If you have had yours for 15 years perhaps they are of a better quality or design?

felco makes the best cable cutters. var and hozan and stein make great bits, but park P handles are the best allens out there... its too bad felco doesnt make real bike tools.

Wrench Force bicycle tools are made by Snap On. I've only tried their cable cutters, but I'm not impressed. They look cheap and they didn't even think of providing a way to lock them closed. I like my Park cutters much better, but even they don't work as well as Wiss compound action shears which cost much less.

you mean like dikes? (i.e. the pic above...) the reason bike shops don't use these is that you don't always get a clean cut with cables, and they smash cable housing. Pedro's makes a nice cable cutting tool which I have had for about 3-4 years now and it works great....

I've been using their tools for 15 years, my cable cutters are only about 8-9 years old though. Never, ever had a problem with them though! They still work as good as the day I bought them with the exception that the latch that holds them closed when not in use broke off.

Cone wrenches: I don't see a difference between Park, Shimano, or the store brand ones, they're all punched from sheet steel. Therefore I buy the cheapest possible. Rubber takes the edge off but still too sharp for high torque. Too short too!

BB & cassette sockets: work well but again, store brand are probably made the same so why not buy cheap? A bb tool permanently fixed to a breaker bar would be nice for really stuck bb's, but that's usually when ya put the tool in the vice and wrench the frame.

bottom line: nothing wrong with Park, but same quality is available in generics, and using better quality non-bike tools is best when possible.

I think some of the problem with bikes and biketools is spacing, there isn't a lot of room around a cone for example to get a good quality tool into. However like many others, I would rather use a generic tool, then to buy a specialty tool. If the 15mm normal wrench is narrow enough to fit the pedal I have, then I would rather use it, then go out and buy a special wrench, just for pedals. Of course that raises the question, if a normal 15mm wrench is 7mm wide, why not make the pedal nut 8mm wide, so that a standard wrench will fit. I can see cones needing a special tool, because cones need to be small, due to the space available. Actually the pedals on my MTB look like nice wide nuts on them, so a standard wrench, should fit.

Were made by Snap-On. That partnership was dropped a couple years ago.