Got burned by a cheap bottom bracket tool and it cost me $60

I tried to save a few bucks and bought a no-name bottom bracket tool off Amazon for like $12. The thing stripped out on the second use and I ended up ROUNDING off the splines on my Shimano crank arm. Had to buy a new crank arm for $50 and then shell out $30 more for the Park Tool version. I could have just bought the right tool from the start and saved myself the headache. Anyone else had a cheap tool ruin a part on you?

3 comments

3 Comments

keithbennett18d ago

Yeah that "gouged the hell out of my hub" part hit home. I did the exact same thing with a cheap lockring tool and it chewed up the freehub body on my old Mavic wheel. Ended up having to replace the whole hub because the damage was too deep for a new cassette to sit right. My rule now is if the tool touches a spline or a bearing race, I buy the name brand one. Things like cone wrenches or cable cutters you can get away with cheap stuff, but anything that has to bite into metal without slipping is worth the extra cash.

wyattrobinson1mo agoMost Upvoted

Got the same problem with a cheap cassette lockring tool. Only cost me $8 but it slipped and gouged the hell out of my hub's freehub body. Had to replace the whole wheel since the damage was bad enough that new cassettes wouldn't sit right. Spent $120 on a new wheel and $40 on the proper Park Tool lockring tool after that. Cheap tools are just gambling with your parts and I lost bad on that one.

west.anna1mo ago

yeah @wyattrobinson it wasn't a Shimano crank arm those are usually aluminum and don't round off like that must've been a different brand