Had to eat crow about Park Tool vs generic cone wrenches today

Been telling apprentices for years that you gotta spend $40 on a Park Tool cone wrench because the cheap ones flex too much. Had a 90s Cannondale with a stuck locknut on the left side today and my Park was nowhere to be found. Dug out the old $12 Performance Bike branded wrench from my bottom drawer and it cracked the nut loose in 2 tries with zero flex. Made me wonder if I've been wasting money or if QC is just better these days. Anyone else finding the cheap stuff works fine now?

3 comments

3 Comments

martin.riley15d ago

Read somewhere that Chinese factories finally nailed the heat treating on these.

annajenkins14d ago

You know, I used to be pretty skeptical about Chinese heat treating too. I kinda figured it was still a few years behind on getting the hardness and edge retention right. But after picking up a newer model from one of the bigger brands last month, I gotta admit the edge is holding up way better than I expected. It seems like they really did figure out the process on these latest batches.

ben_lewis14d ago

Gotta wonder if it's the heat treat itself or just better steel selection finally making it through production though.