The 3 dollar cone wrench from the co-op in Tucson that beat my Park Tool

I always figured cheap cone wrenches were a waste, so I stuck with my Park Tool ones for years. Then last spring I grabbed a 3 dollar no name 15mm from the bike co-op in Tucson just to have a spare. It fit the cones on an old Shimano hub better than my good one and I still reach for it first. Anyone else have a cheap tool that just works better than the pricey one?

1 comments

Log in to join the discussion

Log In

1 Comment

robertsmith1d ago

The co-op thing makes total sense to me because those wrenches get handled by hundreds of people a year and the bad ones get weeded out fast. A Park wrench you buy new has never been touched, but a co-op wrench only survives if it actually fits right and doesn't flex, so what's left in the bin is the good stuff by default. My guess is that 15mm was made in the same factory as some name brand ones and just never got stamped, since there are only so many places making drop forged wrenches. Half my toolbox at this point is co-op bin finds and I've stopped feeling weird about it.

3