Park Tools
05-22-24, 06:16 AM
#1
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Park Tools
How to know if tools from Park Tool are genuine buying from megastores online which sell everything? I just bought a 3-Way and Hex Torx® Compatible wrench — 4mm/5mm/T25 online. Is there a way to recognize if its real? Btw, cost approximately US 20, -
Thanks
hsea17
Thanks
hsea17
05-22-24, 06:28 AM
#2
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Who did you buy from? If one of the popular, recognized U.S. shops, unlikely to be counterfeit. If from an overseas, cheapo sites, might or might not be. You could go to Park Tools website and pay particular attention the the font, etc. and compare to your tool. Sometimes the font or something in the lettering won't be just perfect on a knock-off.
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05-22-24, 08:39 AM
#4
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Generally you can't know for certain. You pretty much have to trust the place you buy from.
05-22-24, 08:46 AM
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Is it really going to matter for most tools? You think a copy-cat "Park" cone wrench is going to be massively inferior to the actual item? How about Allen Wrenches? Freewheel removal tools?
What tools are you planning to buy? I love Park, but there are other manufacturers that make better tools. The Hozan fourth hand is vastly superior to the Park version, for instance.
What tools are you planning to buy? I love Park, but there are other manufacturers that make better tools. The Hozan fourth hand is vastly superior to the Park version, for instance.
05-22-24, 09:01 AM
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If you believe price trumps quality, buy the cheap knock-offs. Sometimes you'll win. Sometimes you'll bleed, or damage whatever you were working on.
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05-22-24, 05:16 PM
#7
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If you bought it from an authorized retailer you know it is real if you didn't you DON'T CARE don't ask the question, you know the answer and if you don't you truly don't care. Even if real Park Tool is generally not going to warranty something not bought from an authorized retailer. That is why that exists so they know who sells their product and they can make sure it is sold properly and at the correct price and can support their product. However truly if you don't buy from someone authorized to sell Park Tool you don't care where it comes from or if it is real caring is something you do before you buy a product afterwards you already made that deal and about all you can do is sit and stew in it and hopefully that is a delicious stew with plenty of garlic and onions and carrots and potatoes and good quality red wine or maybe some brandy or vermouth.
In terms of tools ALWAYS buy the best tools you can especially for heavily used tools and buy them from authorized sellers so you know you get the real thing so when something happens they will support you or be more likely to. Plus a high quality tool will last longer, work better and be much less likely to damage something.
When people generally talk price they aren't talking price they are talking PURE INITIAL COST and nothing else they don't care about the actual cost of the item just the bits of coins they will save in that initial purchase period. It is a poor way to look at price because it really doesn't factor in the whole just a tiny sliver which matters less and less as time goes on. Obviously yes if you have two authorized sellers selling the same product and one is $2 cheaper that is one thing but going to a place known to sell fakes, knockoffs and cheap products to save what you think is $2 is different.
In terms of tools ALWAYS buy the best tools you can especially for heavily used tools and buy them from authorized sellers so you know you get the real thing so when something happens they will support you or be more likely to. Plus a high quality tool will last longer, work better and be much less likely to damage something.
When people generally talk price they aren't talking price they are talking PURE INITIAL COST and nothing else they don't care about the actual cost of the item just the bits of coins they will save in that initial purchase period. It is a poor way to look at price because it really doesn't factor in the whole just a tiny sliver which matters less and less as time goes on. Obviously yes if you have two authorized sellers selling the same product and one is $2 cheaper that is one thing but going to a place known to sell fakes, knockoffs and cheap products to save what you think is $2 is different.
05-23-24, 05:31 AM
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Being told "go to a place that charges more, then you'll be getting the real deal" does not help you. Uh... neither does my post.
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05-23-24, 05:56 AM
#10
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The only thing I have found, if nothing else, is that the price paid is similar to the price of some serious bike tool companies in my country of citizenship. But in a while I will have the bike overhauled at the bike dealer where I reside and ask them where they buy Park Tools from.
hsea17
hsea17
05-23-24, 06:01 AM
#11
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If you bought it from an authorized retailer you know it is real if you didn't you DON'T CARE don't ask the question, you know the answer and if you don't you truly don't care. Even if real Park Tool is generally not going to warranty something not bought from an authorized retailer. That is why that exists so they know who sells their product and they can make sure it is sold properly and at the correct price and can support their product. However truly if you don't buy from someone authorized to sell Park Tool you don't care where it comes from or if it is real caring is something you do before you buy a product afterwards you already made that deal and about all you can do is sit and stew in it and hopefully that is a delicious stew with plenty of garlic and onions and carrots and potatoes and good quality red wine or maybe some brandy or vermouth.
In terms of tools ALWAYS buy the best tools you can especially for heavily used tools and buy them from authorized sellers so you know you get the real thing so when something happens they will support you or be more likely to. Plus a high quality tool will last longer, work better and be much less likely to damage something.
When people generally talk price they aren't talking price they are talking PURE INITIAL COST and nothing else they don't care about the actual cost of the item just the bits of coins they will save in that initial purchase period. It is a poor way to look at price because it really doesn't factor in the whole just a tiny sliver which matters less and less as time goes on. Obviously yes if you have two authorized sellers selling the same product and one is $2 cheaper that is one thing but going to a place known to sell fakes, knockoffs and cheap products to save what you think is $2 is different.
In terms of tools ALWAYS buy the best tools you can especially for heavily used tools and buy them from authorized sellers so you know you get the real thing so when something happens they will support you or be more likely to. Plus a high quality tool will last longer, work better and be much less likely to damage something.
When people generally talk price they aren't talking price they are talking PURE INITIAL COST and nothing else they don't care about the actual cost of the item just the bits of coins they will save in that initial purchase period. It is a poor way to look at price because it really doesn't factor in the whole just a tiny sliver which matters less and less as time goes on. Obviously yes if you have two authorized sellers selling the same product and one is $2 cheaper that is one thing but going to a place known to sell fakes, knockoffs and cheap products to save what you think is $2 is different.
hsea17
05-23-24, 06:22 AM
#12
FWIW, apart from a few obviously bike-centric Park tools (eg bike stand, BB tools, cone wrenches, quick link breaker), almost all of my most heavily used tools came from Harbor Freight or wherever - I do all my own bike work and I’ve rebuilt several cars with these cheap-ass tools. Would I use them (or would they last) in a pro workshop? Probably not, but I’m not a pro, just a guy who uses tools
Last edited by 13ollocks; 05-23-24 at 06:26 AM.
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05-23-24, 06:59 AM
#13
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*Personally,* I didn't know Park made such a tool.
05-23-24, 07:30 AM
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Last edited by Crankycrank; 05-23-24 at 07:39 AM.
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05-23-24, 07:37 AM
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Interesting. Thank you both for the heads-up.
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05-23-24, 08:26 AM
#17
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Seems you may have overpaid, but I don't know where you are. They are $14 on eBay with free shipping. On the plus side, fakes are usually cheaper than the real thing, not more expensive, so the odds are in your favor that you got a genuine Park.
05-23-24, 09:51 AM
#18
Clark W. Griswold
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Yes you can become an authorized seller but paying money doesn't necessarily make one an authorized seller and just calling yourself one does not mean much of anything. If you are actual authorized by in this instance Park Tool Company then you are an authorized seller if you are buying fakes and knockoffs from someone who has no moral or ethical scruples you are NOT an authorized seller despite what you paid the guy in the trench coat (I know it isn't all guys in trench coats).
05-23-24, 08:08 PM
#19
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Bummer, after checking exact exchange rate I actually paid US 14.60 included domestic shipping 
hsea17
Last edited by hsea17; 05-24-24 at 04:35 AM.
05-23-24, 08:19 PM
#20
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This is the Park Tool Aws - 7 I bought.
hsea17
hsea17
Last edited by hsea17; 05-24-24 at 04:38 AM.
05-23-24, 09:51 PM
#21
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I did vendor evaluations in the PRC and found as an example (not real) Park might contract to make 10,000 XYZ tools and when their QA/QC team leaves at the end of the contract the Chinese company will have the tooling and some materials left to make a quality produce and can start cutting corners on packaging/materials/machining and the quality deteriorates. This works for them as opposed to our belief that shame on you for pulling one over on someone but in their culture the approach is shame on you for not doing due diligence to not know you were being taken.
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05-24-24, 11:28 AM
#22
They'd like you to think that, but they're really just "pretty good" and convenient, often not "the best". VAR, Hozan, Knipex etc. make some great stuff, but they don't have the all-encompassing range, and your tool wall won't look so blue.
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05-24-24, 11:33 AM
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Park went downhill when they changed the design of the most versatile tool we had in the 1980s:
05-24-24, 12:47 PM
#24
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Aye -- all good! But that does not put Park in the same category as, say, Harbor Freight.
Actually, I still do not have any Knipex. And an all-Blue tool board would be surely competent.
Cool! But maybe not so much as "the most versatile tool we had in the 1970s" where the three arms were 8mm, 9mm and 10mm sockets. I should peel off the rubberized coating on the one I have, no idea if it's labeled Park or not. Of course, now you can build an entire bike using only Allen wrenches.
Actually, I still do not have any Knipex. And an all-Blue tool board would be surely competent.
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05-24-24, 01:34 PM
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