Hot take: Park Tool cone wrenches are way overrated for the price

I've been building up wheels for my own builds and some customer bikes out of my garage here in Portland, and I finally broke down and bought a set of those Park Tool cone wrenches after using an old generic set from a yard sale for years. Honestly, I don't see what the big deal is. The Park wrenches felt the same in my hand, and I actually snapped one of the smaller sizes trying to get a tight locknut off a Shimano hub last Tuesday. My old beat up no-name set never gave me that trouble. Am I missing something, or are the budget options just as good for most of us?

2 comments

2 Comments

charles_coleman18d ago

My buddy Dan from the local shop here in Portland bought into the Park cone wrench hype hard... spent like sixty bucks on the set. First time he used the 15mm on an old Sturmey-Archer hub, the handle snapped clean off trying to break a nut loose. He was so ticked he drove over to my garage with the pieces in his hand, fuming. Meanwhile my no-name wrenches from a used toolbox are still going strong after three years of beer-fueled tinkering. Some name brands just don't earn their keep, ya know?

nina_clark18d ago

Exactly what happened with my set. "Snapped clean off" is right. These wrenches are just too brittle for real shop use. The steel is hardened way too much. Trades off toughness for edge retention or whatever marketing says. My old wrenches are softer but actually bend instead of snapping. That's way better when you're fighting a seized locknut. Just file the burrs down and move on. Park is coasting on the name at this point.