jeanluc

I've been looking for a few days now to find an LBS in Toronto selling or ordering a few PT tools (namely, the TW-1, TW-2 torque wrenches and the TM-1 spoke tension meter).

To my surprise, none of these is stocked anywhere, even though it's still the beginning of the season. I've called a few LBSes but only got vague answers about the price or availability date (this was the lucky case, some stores didn't even bother to call back).

Of course, I did check the resellers list on PT's site, but that is out of date and they don't appear to be interested in correcting it (it has dead links, lists stores allegedly offering the PT school course but which they haven't offered in years and so on).

JensonUSA and Nashbar don't carry the TW-1 and TW-2 torque wrenches. Other US-based online resellers don't have these in stock. I'm about to go the ebay route where these are available, but am making a final attempt to shop local.

Any recommendations would be appreciated. I'm kind of mystified why it turned out to be so hard to find these.

Thanks,
-jl

operator

Those are almost all special orders. Torque wrenches aren't going to be seen anywhere on bikes that don't feature carbon fibre - this would eliminate about 90% of the shops out there. You're primarily looking for a mid-high end road/mtb shop who stocks a lot of products. There goes about 99% of the market.

You want those tools, special order them from the shop itself. Almost every shop should have access to Park products. One shop I know who will be able to order you those tools is Urbane at John/Queen. Talk to Ashar in parts. The TW-1 and TW-2 were in stock from several distributors as recently as 2 weeks ago. Place a deposit on those products if you want to show that you are serious about buying them.

EAA

Regarding the torque wrenches - if you can't find the ones from Park, there a a ton of other options out there as well - most tool companies have them. Price/quality widely variable, not sure where the Park models fit in there. I personally like the "click" type where the torque value is set then it clicks when the torque is reached, as opposed to the kind with a pointer and scale. It can be a lot harder to read the scale than to feel the click when you are pulling hard on the thing, especially if it is in an awkward position. Anyhow, these aren't the kind of tools that would be specific to bikes, so it may be worthwhile to widen your search. I don't know about the spoke meter.

operator

The TW-1/TW-2 are beam type, Park makes the equivalent click type with a set of bits specifically for bike use. The TW-5/TW-6 is the equivalent click type. We use the beam type to calibrate and ensure that the click ones are staying accurate.

jeanluc

I prefer the beam style ones because they are cheaper, don't require re-calibration and it's obvious when they work and when they don't. I used the ratchet-style wrench from Filzer once (sold by MEC) only to snap a bolt because the brand new wrench wasn't working.

novacoke

I just ended up buying the TW-1 off eBay for roughly $50 incl. shipping to GTA (i didn't get hit with duties): https://cgi.ebay.ca/Park-Tool-TW-1-To...item335b97305b

You could find the spoke tension meter for $60 as well: https://cgi.ebay.ca/Park-Tool-TM-1-Sp...item4839ede9df

operator

I know the one MEC carries, your experience is not representative of the tool quality at all.