I spent $200 on a Park Tool headset press kit and wish I had just borrowed one

Everyone online raves about the Park Tool HHP-2 and says you gotta own your own tools if you're serious. So I dropped $200 on the professional headset press kit about 6 months ago. I've used it maybe three times total and it just sits in my toolbox taking up space. The thing is huge and awkward to store, and honestly the cheaper threaded rod method works fine for the occasional headset job. I could have asked the old guy at my local shop in Denver if I could borrow his on a slow Tuesday. For the price of that kit I could have bought a good torque wrench set or a nice wheel truing stand instead. Does anyone else feel like some of the Park Tool specialty tools are overkill for a home mechanic like me?

2 comments

2 Comments

shah.evan3d ago

Three times in six months sounds about right for me too (I've got a bad habit of buying fancy tools I barely touch). I once spent $80 on a bottom bracket tap set just to clean up one rusty frame, and now it lives in the back of my closet like a weird trophy. My real issue is that I keep telling myself I'll use the professional press more, but that torque wrench set you mentioned would've saved me from overtightening my stem last week, ha.

gonzalez.phoenix3d ago

@shah.evan An $80 trophy for a rusty frame is exactly the kind of purchases I make too. That torque wrench set sounds like it would've saved your stem from the angry twist treatment you gave it. I got a similar habit of buying tools for one job and then they just stare at me from the drawer like disappointed robots.