Spent $80 on a cheap headset press that bent on the first use

I was putting a new headset on a customer's mountain bike and the tool just folded under pressure, ruining the cups. Had to order a proper one overnight for another $150 to finish the job on time. What's the worst tool fail you've had in the shop?

4 comments

4 Comments

river_thompson1mo ago

Oh man, that's rough. A buddy of mine bought a budget crank puller that snapped, leaving the extractor piece jammed in the crank arm. He had to drill it out, which totally wrecked the threads on a perfectly good vintage road crank. It was a huge mess and taught him the same lesson about cheap tools.

matthew_west17d ago

Actually, sometimes the cheap tool is fine if you know its limits. That press probably works okay for light jobs on kids bikes or cruisers. The problem was using it on a mountain bike headset, which needs way more force. It's like using a screwdriver as a pry bar, then blaming the screwdriver when it snaps.

andrew_coleman1mo ago

Ugh, that's the worst. Why do they even sell tools that can't do the one job they're made for?

derek_stone981mo ago

Sometimes it's not even about cheap tools. The real problem is when companies design stuff for a narrow range of parts, but the packaging doesn't say that. You get a tool that works fine on modern Shimano but strips the soft aluminum on an old Campy part.