My old wheel truing stand finally gave up after 12 years

Picked up a cheap Park Tool truing stand at a bike co-op back in 2012 and it finally let go last Thursday. The little plastic guide on the arm snapped clean off while I was trying to straighten a dented rim on a beat up Schwinn. Ended up having to finish the job by eyeballing it with zip ties to the fork, which worked okay but took me twice as long. Anyone else had a tool completely fail on them mid-job and have to MacGyver a fix?

2 comments

2 Comments

jake_martin1613d ago

Dang, that sucks! How exactly did the plastic guide snap - was it just from normal use over time or did you have to really crank on it during that Schwinn repair? I feel like Park Tool stuff usually holds up better than that but their plastic parts have definitely been hit or miss over the years.

the_felix13d agoMost Upvoted

Yeah "hit or miss" is putting it mildly, more like hit or shatter. That guide didn't just snap, it basically exploded into three pieces when I was just turning the adjustment screw, not even cranking on it hard. I swear Park Tool uses the same plastic as those cheap toy light sabers that break the first time you swing them. Their metal stuff is solid gold, but their plastic parts feel like they were designed by someone who's never actually had to fix a bike.