Originally Posted by
rosefarts
So all of my bikes are high end, not rusty. I don't work on cars or motorcycles or anything like that with my tools.
I use the $7 set of Harbor Freight ball end hexes and have never stripped a bolt. Actually, I've never even been close.
Not that I don't appreciate your pictures, but I wonder how much any of it has to do with bike repair. I've only ever seen stripped heads because of a standard Allen set being hamfisted onto a bike.
Worst I've come across is removing the cleats on well beaten SPD, bit I've managed.
agree - degree of care and attention when using the tool is a far more significant factor than the quality of the tool itself (for anything better than the IKEA throwaway, at least). I’ve been using the same sets of Harbor Freight hex keys and hex heads (metric & imperial) for more than a decade on cars and bikes, and have never stripped or rounded out anything. Not to say that quality tools aren’t nice, just not the most important factor