I still have a few small tubs of this stuff which I purchased back in the 80s, and I use it when I need to grease my old Campy stuff. Is it better than the Pennzoil grease you can get at the auto parts store for $3? Dunno. But it’s special.
Used for: 25+ years
Price paid: don’t remember
Purchased at: Palo Alto Bicycles
Rating: 5 stars!
As you can probably guess by my post on BrokenBikeParts, I’m not a huge fan of Mavic MA3s. Cracks developed around the eyelets after just 5,000 or 6,000 miles, which apparently is pretty typical for these budget rims (and I don’t think it was the result of too much spoke tension). But this is the first time I’ve had an issue with a Mavic product in over 25 years, so I’m willing to keep buying their stuff. You can see the pics of the cracks at BrokenBikeParts.com
Used for: 2 years
Price paid: was included in a wheelset
Purchased at: Cambria Bike
Rating: 1 star 
Why do I still have three packages of Benotto bar tape? I’m not really sure. I still have Benotto tape on one bike, too. As a friend of mine once said, “Benotto is the only tape you can puke on and then wipe off.” So it’s the best tape if you do a lot of interval training. It also lasts forever, whether on the bike or in the package. I never tried the “heat with flame” thing mentioned in the instructions on the back of the package.
Used for: 25+ years
Price paid: $1.98
Purchased at: Palo Alto Bicycles
Rating: 5 stars!
I’m not sure that Dawn really helps save wildlife (and a friend of mine tells me that Proctor & Gamble is super evil). But it does a seriously amazing job of getting bike grease and oil stains out of clothes. It also works as a good quick hand cleaner when you don’t want to go all the way with something like Phil Wood hand cleaner.
Used for: 5 years
Price paid: around $1.50
Purchased at: Safeway
Rating: 5 stars!
This is the PW1. Park is now up to the PW3 and they have also added a Professional Pedal Wrench. It does seem to get kind of stuck on some pedals, though I don’t know if that’s the fault of the pedals or the wrench. Otherwise, seems to do the trick.
Used for: 20 years
Price paid: don’t remember
Purchased at: don’t remember
Rating: 4 stars!
Wow, people hate these on Amazon. I’ve been using them for 25+ years, never snapped one. They get the job done and are probably my favorite out of all the tire levers I’ve tried. I don’t really like metal levers and most of the other plastic ones I’ve used seem to bend easily. The little red case keeps them together in the tool box. I usually take two with me on the road.
Used for: 25+ years
Price paid: $5
Purchased at: don’t remember
Rating: 5 stars!
The Dura Ace freewheel is one of my favorite bike parts of all time. They are basically indestructible. I have six or seven of these either on bikes or in boxes, plus a ton of extra cogs. I don’t weight much, so I was never one of those guys breaking axles on freewheel hubs. But before Dura Ace freewheels came along, I had to suffer with Suntour freewheels, and before that, Regina freewheels. The Dura Ace freewheels lasted longer and shifted better. The cogs were evenly spaced, shaped better, and were easier to swap out. The freewheel bodies never seemed to crap out. And the splined freewheel tool was a huge improvement over the old two-pronged design used by just about everyone else. More pics after the jump!
Used for: 25 years
Price paid: don’t remember
Purchased at: don’t remember
Rating: 5 stars!
I didn’t even realize until recently that Park updated this tool. It always seemed pretty much perfect to me. When I worked in shops we always used to remove the sleeve on the 5, which helped to quickly identify the one you used most, and also made it easier to get in to tighten or loosen road brake levers. Of course I like to have the full slate of Bondhus allens, but these Park 3-way hex wrenches indispensable for the home or pro mechanic.
Used for: 20 years
Price paid: around $5
Purchased at: don’t remember
Rating: 5 stars!
To continue this week’s headset theme… I saw someone’s homemade headset press on the intertubes years ago and decided to make one for myself. A Park headset press is a no brainer if you work in a shop, but for the home mechanic who might only press in a headset every few years, building your own press makes a lot of sense. Just go down to your local hardware store, get a threaded rod, some nuts and a few washers. It will probably cost you around $3 (the Park is about $120). Works like a champ. Also, using one of these will slow you down a bit, unlike the Park, which allows you to slam it in, and possibly damage the headset or headtube if you aren’t paying attention. And the only way you can go cheaper is with a block of wood and a hammer.
Used for: 10 years
Price paid: $3
Purchased at: Home Depot
Rating: 5 stars!
My only complaint about my Surly Cross Check is the rear brake cable routing. The slotted cable stops run down the right hand side, which makes no sense unless you want to run your rear brake to the left brake lever motorcycle style, or enjoy having the brake housing rub the paint off your head tube. My Cross Check is about five years old, though, and since then Surly has moved the top tube cable stops to the to the 12 o’clock position, which is an improvement, but I still think they should just move it over to the 10 o’clock position like just about everyone else.
Surly also decided against brazing on a rear housing stop (perhaps thinking that lots of folks would use V-brakes?) and instead went with a cable hanger. My Cross Check came with a generic one that is kind of short, and I know a lot of people had trouble getting the housing cut to just the right length (I found it worked best to cut the housing on the short side, and run it under the seat post clamp). Surly has tried to rectify the cable hanger issue with their new cable hanger. These come with the new Cross Check frames, but if you have an old one like me, it’s gonna cost you $11 at the LBS. Worth it? Well, I just installed mine, and it looks kind of cool, but I didn’t notice much improvement in brake feel (then again, mine wasn’t that bad to start with). But if you’ve been struggling with the old hanger, or would like a barrel adjuster, it might be worth it. More photos after the jump!
Used for: 1 week
Price paid: $11
Purchased at: Free Range Cycles
Rating: 4 stars!
