Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

If you ride your bike you are are going to have to have it repaired or fix it yourself. In 2003 shop rates were set at $65/hr so it usually costs no more to buy the tools and fix it yourself. Once you learn you can fix your friend's bikes. I encourage everyone to buy their own tools and do their own bike repairs. This contains the tools to repair a bike that is no more than ten years old. If you have a bike that is older or that differs from accepted industry standards, this is a big waste of money and you are better off buying your tools as you need them. I have worked in 7 shops in 4 states since 1979 and trained a number of mechanics. No single tool manufacturer makes all the best tools. A good tool-box of useful tools takes a lifetime to collect and includes tools not only by Park but Rohloff, Var, Campagnolo, Cyclo, Shimano, Eldi, Stein & Hozan. For example, Park makes a miniature CT-5 chain breaker but in this kit they include the Professional Chain Tool CT-3 which is heavy & awkward. I reached for the mini chain breaker in every shop I worked at. We all preferred its light weight and convenience. Presumably this is a collection of bicycle-specific tools but it includes lots of common tools like #2 Phillips, a blade screwdriver, tape measure & a Crescent wrench; but no punches, hammers or pliers for some reason. They also leave out a bunch of tools they do make that are necessary to do common adjustments on a lot of the bikes on the road. A lot of bikes use brake calipers. I am not sure why they do not include a Park Tool 4th Hand cable puller - BT-2. It is bike specific and essential for any caliper brake/derailleur adjustment. No bike mechanic would think of trying to adjust a caliper brake or derailleur without one but if you have caliper brakes you have to pay extra to buy one of theirs. I don't think they are trying to save you money because they make you pay for grease and tire patches. It doesn't make sense that they don't give you tools to adjust caliper brakes but they include grease for lubricating threads and replacing cables. They give you a freewheel brush and a clip-on chain-cleaner when a coffee can & tooth-brush are free. I personally dislike clip-on chain cleaners because they only clean your chain by spreading the dirt and oil all over the rest of the drive-train. If you have anything but a recently made bike this kit will not be of use. If you need to replace a cotter pin, need to remove a pair of TA cranks or have any freewheel removed you still have to visit the bike shop. As a personal preference, I don't like the triple Park Allen Y wrench because it is too awkward and you can't use them to get at Allen bolts in close spaces like pannier clips on racks on small frames with fenders. It is not even good as a home set. While Park makes a Park Tool Heavy Duty Steel Tire Lever Set - TL-5 they include a set of cheap plastic tire levers. Crow bars and tire levers are supposed to be made out of metal. I don't know who came up with the idea of plastic tire levers but they are not an Advanced Mechanic's preferred tire lever. The best cone wrenches are slip-joint double ended so you can have a 4 sizes in one wrench: 13/14/15/16. The Park kit has single-size double ended cone wrenches that has only hold 2 sizes on each wrench; either 13/14 OR 15/16. The most useful tools Park makes are the Park 4 sided spoke wrench. A 4-sided spoke wrench is 33% less likely to round out a spoke nipple than a 3-sided spoke wrench. Unfortunately, this Park tool kit has only their 3-sided spoke wrenches. The tool-box does not include a lockring wrench. While many new bikes use pressed or cartridge bottom brackets, most bikes still on the road have bottom brackets held in place with lockrings. I don't know how they expect you to adjust a bottom bracket or headset that has a lockring without buying Park lockring Wrench. The plastic tool-box is more like a fishing tackle-box than a tool-box. It is my feeling that tool-boxes are supposed to be made of metal. Park used to make some great tools like their cotter-pin press and brake clamp enlarger but they are no longer made. Park currently makes the most useful tensiometer on the market and their wire-handle 4-Sided Spoke Wrench is the lightest and least-expensive 4-sided spoke wrench on the market. If you want a good collection of tools to do adjustments there is no short-cut to spending time working with tools and trying them out. However, if you buy this you still have to buy several Park tools necessary to do adjustments not included with this set. As far as professional quality tools go, Park has clever designs but poor quality. Park makes cheap tools by the dump truck full and you can get a lot better tools if you want. Their freewheel removers are especially bad & tend to crumble in use. My advice is to get all the bicycle specific tools you need from a bike shop and the rest from a hardware store. You will end up spending a whole lot less & getting the tools you need that fit YOUR bike. If you buy them from a shop, most mechanics will be more than happy to show you how to use the tools as a customer service, as long as they are not swamped like on a Saturday. If you go in on Saturday as ask them how to use a tool you got from them to fix your bike they will consider you a pest. If anyone has a question you can post a comment & I will post a response when I see it. Because Amazon has had difficulty notifying me you can try posting a comment at: styleywheelsDOTwordpressDOTcom. I also have a Linkedin account to send me a note.