The day a customer showed me a 20 year old spoke wrench

A guy came into our shop last Tuesday with this old spoke wrench he got from his dad. It was a basic Park Tool SW-0 that looked beat up but still worked perfect. He said he used it to build wheels for over 20 years and never once had a spoke slip on him. That got me thinking about how we all chase the newest tools when the simple ones do the job fine. I still use my fancy digital tension meter, but that conversation made me grab my old spoke wrench off the pegboard. Has anyone else had a tool that just refuses to die on you?

2 comments

2 Comments

ellis.victor19d ago

Did you catch that guy on the forum who said his dad's 30 year old pedal wrench still outlasts his new ones?

dylanbarnes19d agoMost Upvoted

Gotta look at the metal quality, not just the age. My dad's old Craftsman wrench is still solid because they used forged steel back then, not that cheap cast stuff. New ones might have the same design but the alloy blend is totally different now to save costs. Plus older tools were often chrome vanadium while modern budget ones are just plain steel that bends easier. It's not really about the tool lasting, it's about the materials game changing over time.