specialmonkey

This is a great tool for crankset bolts. I realized it when my normal socket wrench wouldn't fit into some cranks because the socket walls are too thick. I got this on recommendation from maybe someone here.

I now have one at home and one in my commuting tool bag.

I imagine other dedicated crank wrenches are just as good but this one has it all, including a crank dust cap hex wrench. I wonder why Park Tool Co. discontinued it?

Anyone else sing its praises?




Photo: https://www.flickr.com/photos/stronglight/16573064856

vintagerando

I acquired one of these in a frame & box of parts purchase. I use it constantly.

JohnDThompson 

It's a nice tool, and I use mine regularly. My only complaint is that the 16mm socket is too thick to reach the mounting bolt in a Zeus crank.

shoff535

Spaghetti Legs 

jlaw

Yep - got one that I bought in the 80's to work on my Peugeot back then. I still use it on vintage cranks - and the flat lever on the left end can be helpful in nudging crank arms off a square taper in combo with a crank extractor.

RobbieTunes

I almost bought one on eFray, but I'm trying to cut back. I should pick one up, perhaps.

Thanks for the recommendation.

Cyclist0108

I have two. Once cracked. Maybe that is why...

Lascauxcaveman 

I have the version with a 14mm and 15mm on the same end (flip/flop), and the Park Blue plastic-dip handle. Works a treat, and one of my better early bike-tool purchases that kinda got the ball rolling on tool acquisition.

Angel Caveman "You've already got a nice socket set; just find a 15mm socket with real thin walls."
Devil Caveman "Screw that, you'll be constantly digging around in your tub of spare sockets and never finding the damn thing!"
Angel Caveman "But the socket would only be five or six bucks."
Devil Caveman "And the proper wrench, used, on eBay? Maybe $15. Big freakin difference."

Mostly nowadays my Devil just tells my Angel to STFU and gets no further backtalk.

verktyg 

"It has magical properties"

In the 70's there was a Peugeot Raleigh dealer about 3 blocks from our shop. Once or twice a month a bunch of us bikies would descend on the place at noontime with a loaf of whole wheat bread, a jar of organic peanut butter and some jelly. One of the mechanics (who should have been nicknamed pigpen) would grab the Campy peanut butter wrench off the work bench and spread the stuff on the bread. The only time the wrench got cleaned was to remove the PB&J after use.

We all drank from the same pint of tequila... Hey, what's a little dirt among friends.

verktyg

tiger1964 

I have one of these too and cannot get it to work with my Avocet cranks either. Thinking about doing a little grinding...

oddjob2

As the tool is short and the socket shallow, I find this Park tool to be a knuckle buster from time to time.

When Sears began its slide in 2010, I bought 6 metric/SAE Evolv 45 piece socket sets. I sold 3 to cover the cost of the 3 sets I kept. They work great, are well made, and the sockets are strong, but thin, not like the Ace Hardware sets which are way too thick.

jlaw

You may be able to find 'thin-wall' sockets that will fit down into the crank arm such that you can easily reach the bolt. Some impact wrench sockets have thinner walls than a regular socket sets. Take your Park Tool to Home Depot, Harbor Freight, etc. and compare.

tiger1964 

Yeah, I have one socket that barely fits. As I've read here that crank bolt thread sizes are a constant, thinking about getting smaller (there was a link at BF some months ago for some nice 14mm ones) bolts and swapping. Probably for ALL of our bikes (uh, well, the track bike has cottered cranks but...)

John E

16mm crank bolts are always a tight squeeze, which is why I ground down the outside of a 5/8" (15.9mm) socket and keep it with my bicycle specialty tools. (That was back in my starving grad student days, when metric sets always ran in odd numbers, SAE sets always included 5/8", and individual sockets cost half as much as entire sets.)

Speaking of even-numbered metric wrenches, I bought an 18mm combination (box/open) wrench specifically for the Audi (the same reason I have triple squares, 24mm sockets, and other less-common tools), but finally discovered, for the first time, a bicycle application for it, when I was fixing up bicycles for a charity project a couple of weeks ago.

Salamandrine 

I rarely ever used those BITD, same goes for peanut butter wrenches. They were always around in every LBS I worked in, but I'd almost always grab the socket wrench instead. Usually they were (older US made) Craftsmans, sometimes Snap-on. Pretty much every other mechanic I knew did the same. IIRC the Park tool mostly got used if you needed a 16mm for a Stronglight or something, and there wasn't a dedicated socket wrench set up. Easier than digging a socket out. I suppose the specialized wrenches are small and convenient if you want to take a crank wrench with you, but if cranks are properly fixed it shouldn't be needed on the road.

francophile 

Resurrecting this year old thread to say: Paid $13 shipped (BIN) on a CCW-2 last night in excellent condition. Deals are still out there if you keep your eyes peeled!

I finally gave in, price was too good to pass up. I've always used PB wrenches for all of my 14s/15s and thin-walled socket from my German car days for 16. Figure keeping track of 1 tool instead of 3 is a lot easier.

mechanicmatt

I have Park Tool versions of the Peanut Butter wrench. They are okay and used when I need them. I typically use a thin walled socket and a long handle flex head ratchet. Older USA made Master Mechanic and Craftsman have those thin walls. Too be fair, my ratchets are Classic and Vintage as well.

francophile 

Somewhat related, I always scoffed at the notion Campy tools could be amazing and assumed they would be just "okay". I never wanted to pay the premium on them, same with Park, always felt Park overpriced.

Some time back, I scored a mixed bag of Campy tools on a bulk bike purchase. Inside were multiple PB wrenches, a couple crank pullers, some T-handle allen/nut driver wrenches, pineapple wrenches. Stuff I would never attempt to buy these days at the prices you usually find them listed.

Needless to say, I sold all but 1+spare on the Campy stuff and made a nice chunk of change. And I almost regret it a smidge because after using their tools the last couple years, I find I'm rarely picking up any of my newer tools, instead always reaching for the Campy stuff. They're damn nice nice, work great and feel really good in the hand.

But still, if this CCW-2 is half as useful as it looks, this may change

jeirvine 

Agreed on all counts. I just picked up a Campy derailleur hanger adjuster, and like the peanut butter wrench, it's dead simple, well made, and works perfectly.

madpogue 

And probably not until next time it was needed as a wrench.

alexnagui

I´ve also got one of these and very happy with it, works like a charm!

crank_addict

Agree with every sentence.

As for the Zeus scenario, we know the solution but the funny is recalling the first time discovering it and cussing- "c'mon and now I've got to grind down my nice socket"...

ascherer 

I'm a fan. Didn't know they'd been discontinued.

JohnDThompson 

Park did make a 16mm "peanut butter" wrench that fits a Zeus crank arm, the CCW-16:



The silly thing is, if Park had put the 16mm socket on the CCW-2 by itself on one end, and the 14mm and 15mm at the other end, the CCW-2 probably could have fit into the Zeus crank arm.