Hozans 4th hand tool is better

Hits cable cutters are better

Pedros external BB tool is better

Shimanos chain tool is waaaay better

EVTs axle clamp is better

EVTs workstand heads are better

EVTs Der hanger alignment tool is better

...

Just a few

I've been using the same pin in my Park chain tool for 15+ years, but I got sloppy and broke it recently. I bought a set of replacement pins and the first one lasted less than a month...

Other than that, I haven't had any problems with their tools.

I have never liked the Park derailleur alignment tool... Campagnolo's classic tool is simple and elegant and all I need,

My Wrench Force cable and housing cutters put Park cutters to shame.

Sugino cone wrenches are second to none... Park's cone wrenches are made of cheese.

My chain whip is a Suntour.

park lockring wrench is awful. hozan is 10x better.
park cable cutters are kinda wimpy. felco & shimano are much better.

Cable cutter- Hozan, Pedro's, Felco are all superior.
Pedal wrench - Hozan' is a better design, but the Park works well.
Lockring wrench -- If you ever use a Hozan lockring plier or an old Var
you'll never go back to those ridiculous lockring spanners.
Spoke wrench -- Good tools, just badly overpriced compared to Avenir.

These are a few that come immediately to mind.
I'm sure if I rooted around at the coop or in my
garage I could come up with some more.

I see Park as following the GM business model:

We dominate this market through history, brand loyalty,
and distribution. Why should we really try very hard to
provide a quality product when we are selling so much
product and making money? Look where it eventually
got General Motors.

For an excellent example of Park in the 21st century,
look at this:https://www.amazon.com/Park-Tool-Mast...546342&sr=1-10
which I bought one of and promptly returned as an
overpriced POS.

Or this:https://www.amazon.com/Park-Tool-Prof...4546342&sr=1-5
with which I replaced it, but had to look at three
different ones out of the box to find one that
was not defective.

I would paraphrase this by changing may be to is.

Whenever tools are mentioned on this forum, particularly
if someone takes a shot at Park, an acrimonious debate
usually ensues.

For the record --" if nominated, I will not run .."


Postscript: I recently popped for a set of Cyclus
BB thread taps and tool from here:https://www.dotbike.com/bottom_bracke...campaign%3dDAC

Here is the Park equivalent:https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_no...+tap&x=18&y=24

In fairness, having used both, the Park is a more
substantial tool. It does not work any better.

Including shipping from the UK, I paid less than
half of the Park price-- and mine had both the Italian
and standard taps included. With Park, the Italian
taps will cost you another 250 bucks.

Incidentally, I received rather excellent customer
service from dotbike.com.

I do not anticipate any problems with such a tool
that are not user error induced, so Park's noted
customer service comes at a substantial premium
in this case.

How about the Shimano cable cutter? Or Sugino BB tool for the vintage stuff?

Park CT3 chain tool is excellent by the way.

I have a mix of tools, some of the critical ones are Park tools, many of the basic ones are much cheaper brands.

What issues did you have with the CT-4.2, we had one at my last shop and the few times I used it it worked exceedingly well.

Price, lack of any discernible improvement
over the CT-3, lack of a relieving shelf, and
the fact that on the one I bought, the pin
was bent off center right out of the box.

i have a home made pair of lock ring pliers and use them every chance i get. better than spanners including the hozan. im with you on the gm business model too. their distribution through qbp makes it very easy to source. if i cant get it through qbp i generally dont bother looking elswhere unless i really want or need it

Most of my bike tools are Parks and I've generally been very satisfied. Now, I'm just working on my own and a few friends' and family's bikes so they aren't in daily use but they do a good job when I need them.

Park's older chrome plated double end cone wrenches were certainly substandard but their black oxide finished single end wrenches fit very well and do a fine job.

My CT-3 chain tool has been indestructable as has the BB-2 bottom bracket tool.

One pleasant surprise has been a few tools I got from Performance under their "Spin Doctor" brand name. I have one of their Campy bottom bracket/cassette lockring tools actually made by Lifu and it is very precise and easy to use. I also have a Spin Doctor steerer tube cutting guide and it also functions very well at a much lower cost than the Park or other brands. I've used it to cut several Cr-Mo and carbon steerers and shorten a few MTB-length seatposts to road bike length and it does a very accurate and clean job.

However look at the price. Most people aren't going to shell out that kind of money for tool used occasionally at home. The issue (for example mlamb01's PCS-10 workstand) is about what the consumer is willing to spend. The PCS-10 is only $170 and it works about like you'd expect from a cheap tool. The PCS-3 is as good as...and probably better... the EVT workstand head for about the same cost. mlamb01's problem with the TS-8 truing stand is similar...he got what he paid for. The TS-2 is a much better and far more expensive tool.

I'm not necessarily defending Park on all of their tools but, over all, the ones I own have all been of very good quality...but then I didn't buy the least expensive to begin with. Pay once of good tools or pay twice for crappy tools.

I agree with cyccoummute "I'm not necessarily defending Park on all of their tools but, over all, the ones I own have all been of very good quality...but then I didn't buy the least expensive to begin with. Pay once of good tools or pay twice for crappy tools" ,you do get what you pay for,and anytime I have dealt with Park about any of their tools they been there to back it up by replacing it or sent the part for it free.You can't ask for any better service.

It is less easier to screw up a chain install with the 4.2 but you pay for it with slower overall chain installation. And what the other poster said - no slot for tight links.

Are "tight links" still the problem they onece were? These days a loosening shelf, if used too much, is an invitation to chain failure. The CT-4.2 is intended strictly for 9-speed and later chains and these are always joined with a special pin or a master link.

I've connected Shimano chains from 8-speed through 10-speed using their supplied joining pin and never had a tight link when the chain was connected.

Sometimes.

I haven't had any problems with 10 speed shimano pins. 9 speed pins always gives me problems. And OEM shimano 10 speed chains with preinstalled installation pins. My biggest beef is that the tool is slower to use. Not a good candidate for shop use. The CT-3 when used properly, is much faster. Loosening shelf again, is safe when used properly. I've never had a single one of my bikes come back for chain pin installation failure.

I still use the CT-3 on a daily basis.

yes tight links are still sometimes a problem. on oem 10spd chains from shimano the pin is pre installed in one plate and has no guided pilot like you would find on a retail packed chain. i have found these to be more prone to stiff link when the chain is connected. i still use my park ct3 for 10 spd.

sram and campagnolo 9spd chains use standard links when joining. that said, i use master links that render the loosening shelf nearly useless. that said, my $10 nashbar chain tool breaks a chain just as well as the part tool in question.

The more I hear from you, the more I realize that you actually work at a shop.

Good on you

Sram 9 speed chains don't use 'standard links' when joining. Campy 9 speed chains come with the pin preinstalled and sram uses their own masterlink/powerlink/whatever you want to call it system.

campagnolo c9 does in fact use regular pins for closing. just like the "old days"

https://forums.roadbikereview.com/showthread.php?t=19108

https://www.excelsports.com/main.asp?...jor=1&minor=11


sram 9spd instruction explicitly say to only use a gold powerlink to close a hollow pin 9spd chain. no mention is made about regular 9spd pins. the instructions also run through the procedure of reinstalling pins (instructions are for 8 and 9spd series chains)

if you can not reuse pins on sram 9 chains it is not explicitly stated and i am wrong. (i have never used sram 9 series chains)

thanks. im working at a shop and deal with everything from kids bike to cervelos and everything in between. time is definitely money. i like good tools that work but sometimes will use some "inferior" tools if they are faster. in the end its more how you use the tools than the tools themselves

I like your blog.

Which is exactly what I said.

No sram 8/9/10 chains are designed for reuse, go look at the rivet itself, it's either double peened or fully peened. You reinstall that and you risk chain failure on a geared bike.