Rant: I bought a cheap headset press and it cost me a whole afternoon

I mean, I was trying to save maybe 30 bucks and grabbed a no-name press online. The thing was so soft it bent on the first press, ruining the lower cup on a customer's carbon fork. Had to order a new cup, wait two days, and eat the cost myself, which was about 45 dollars. The whole job took like 4 hours longer than it should have because I was trying to fix my own mistake. Honestly, just get the Park Tool one, it's not even a debate. Has anyone else had a tool fail that badly on a simple job?

3 comments

3 Comments

aaron6773mo ago

Ever try to save money on a cheap torque wrench? I had one that clicked way before it was actually set, so I ended up stripping the threads on a stem bolt. That mistake cost me a new stem and a whole lot of customer trust. It's like those bargain bin tools are designed to fail exactly when you need them most. Now I just bite the bullet and buy the decent stuff from the start.

ericp673mo ago

My old Harbor Freight torque wrench is still spot on after ten years.

taraw162mo ago

I feel you on that aaron677, stripping a stem bolt is the worst. That "click way before it was set" thing is exactly why I stopped cheaping out on torque wrenches too. It's rough when a tool you trusted ends up costing you more than just the part, you know?