Wasted $150 on a chain wear tool that was garbage

Picked up one of those digital chain checkers off Amazon last month for $150 thinking it would save me time. Turns out it was reading completely wrong, showed every chain at 75% wear even when my Park Tool gauge said they were fine. Anyone else had bad luck with electronic chain wear tools?

3 comments

3 Comments

anthony_jackson3120h ago

Bought one of those myself a few years back, same exact problem. Turns out if you drop it once or even look at it wrong the calibration gets thrown off. @kevin_williams is probably right, those Park Tool gauges are simple but they actually work. Did you try re-calibrating yours at all, or did you just toss it in the drawer of shame like I did? I wonder if any of these electronic tools are actually built tough enough for a shop environment. Everything these days feels like its made from recycled yogurt containers.

kevin_williams23h ago

Exactly. That digital junk is a total scam.

jessica33121h ago

I read somewhere that a lot of those electronic checkers use a bad spring calibration, so they're basically always wrong. @kevin_williams is right, I think the manual Park Tool gauge is way more reliable and never gives me a false reading.