Just a heads up about those cheap cassette lockring tools

I grabbed one of those no-name lockring tools off Amazon for like 8 bucks last month. Worked fine for the first two cassettes I swapped. Then on a trainer wheel install Sunday, the tips just sheared right off inside the lockring. Had to use a punch and hammer to get the thing loose. Total pain. The problem is the steel is way too soft on these cheap tools. Spend the extra 15-20 bucks for a Park Tool or Shimano one. Has anyone else had a cheap tool fail like that on a simple job?

2 comments

2 Comments

adams.henry2d ago

Ugh, that SUCKS. I feel your pain, man. I did the exact same thing with a cheap hex bit set trying to swap pedals once. The bit twisted right off inside the bolt head and I had to drill the whole thing out. It's ALWAYS the simplest jobs too, not the hard ones where you expect trouble. You just can't trust that mystery metal from Amazon.

logan6322d ago

Oh man, I've been there too. What finally worked for me was getting a decent set of hex bits from a tool truck, not the cheap stuff. I know it hurts the wallet but I swear it pays off. That one time I stripped a bolt on my truck's brake caliper, I was stuck for two days cussing at it. I ended up using a screw extractor set from the hardware store, the kind that bites into the stripped head. You gotta go slow, maybe put some penetrating oil on it first and let it sit overnight. The key is patience, which I aint got much of, but forcing it just makes the hole worse.