Park Tool USA!
by Rob Blue on July 27th, 2007
I have done the majority of the work on my own bikes (and the neighborhood kids as well) for a long time. My first job was actually wrenching for Dino’s Cyclery back in the suburbs of Chicago. I have long appreciated the fact that the right tool for the job makes all the difference in the world and a great tool will last a lifetime. That being said I am super excited to announce that Park Tool USA is now a sponsoring partner of the Evomo Mountain Bike Team.
I am a gear junkie with a passion for good cycling specific tools. I like to work on bikes. I have built most of the bikes I have owned over the years. With the exception of a few good local shops like Helen’s Cycles, I don’t really trust my bikes builds or maintenance to anyone else but me. Part of that is based on the fact that I am really picky and pay attention to a lot of little details that a shop just doesn’t have time for. Building it right and keeping it running smoothly make a huge difference to enjoying your rides.
The Team’s new Turner Nitrous frames have arrived and I knew that I wanted to build them all myself. I was missing a couple of tools that I know will save me a lot of time so I contacted Park Tool USA and now I am ready to get busy.
There were two areas needing updating in my tool chest. The first was the proper tools to deal with our Chris King headsets and Rock Shox forks.
Now this is a real headset press!
Once you get that King headset installed you need to set the fork crown race.
Brandon is going to use his SID World Cup from his old bike so I will remove his old fork crown race with this bad boy.
Although we are using all new King headsets, I thought it would be cool to have a really nice headset cup remover too.
Once we dial in everyone’s steerer tube lengths I will get to cutting the carbon with this trick guide mounted in my bench vise.
One overlooked step with prepping a fork or frame for disc brakes is to make sure that the surface of the mounting tabs are both clean and properly aligned. Park’s got a sweet tool to get it done right the first time quick and easy.
The last thing in my Christmas-in-July package from Park was one of the coolest things I saw on their website. This wrench is for the external bottom bracket cups that you find on pretty much everybody’s setup including our super light FRM 2×9 cranksets. No more shoddy supplied wrenches that slip and gouge the cups. Sweet!
Now I am ready to get to work once the last few parts arrive from SRAM. It will be a fun weekend for me and the guys that we will document here for my fellow gear junkies.
July 27th, 2007 at 1:35 pm
I am so excited to get building these bikes up but more importantly who is bringing the beer!?
July 30th, 2007 at 10:09 am
Let me when we are ready and I will bring the BEER..Preference?
July 30th, 2007 at 10:58 am
I need some tools!!!! Although, I am the worst bike mechanic ever, I am constantly working on my bikes and then taking them to my Mechanic, Josh, to be fixed after I break something or make it shift too weird to fix. But, I think nicer tools would help my crappy skills.
No, seriously I need some tools!
And, any SRAM components you guys have laying around.
DSheek
One of the EVOMO Army