nomadmax 

IMO, Snap On makes the strongest, thin wall chrome sockets.

The Golden Boy 

I needed a thin socket, put it on my drill and then took it to the grinder to make it fairly even.

SJX426 

@shoota - OD of the socket needs to be <21mm

shoota 

And of course my 15mm socket is 21.8mm.

But what about the 14mm Campy bolts? My 14mm doesn't fit in that hole either and the 14mm socket is much less than 21mm. Safe to say there's a good variance between crank brands. Luckily Mike is hooking me up with a tool to rule them all

Road Fan

Same for me - my metric sockets are 1970s Craftsman, and there is zero fitting problem.

SJX426 

14 needs to be 19mm.

genejockey 

I confess I was somewhat concerned when I was taking apart my first bike that had older style crank bolts. I went and fetched my Craftsman metric socket set, pulled out the 15mm, and carefully inserted it into the hole and....

It fit. No fancy thin-wall socket needed.

shoota 

Sounds like Craftsman is a fancy thin-walled socket. Cause mine are just plain dumb. Grr

merziac

Nothing fancy but earlier on they were thinner by design and strong enough in general, much better quality as well, a pretty good value as long as you didn't have to make your living with them. They coasted along for many later years and often went back and forth as the cost cutting ramped up and finally fell into the just good enough but not really anymore that we have today. I would venture to say Husky from HD is a better value than Craftsman now days.

mpetry912 

High quality sockets are forged and machined. Lower quality parts are cast.

Cast parts need thicker walls because they are inherently weaker.

another consideration is that high quality tools fit the part better and won't damage a vintage bolt

1joel1

I had that problem when it came time to remove some motor mounts on a Ducati motorcycle frame. I bought some cheap Harbor Freight impact sockets and put the 22mm, I believe it was, on my little lathe and just turned it down until it fit. If needed, I can do that for you with one of my sockets, just let me know the size and I can send it to you. I have extra sockets.
Joel

Kabuki12

Yea , same here. I have old Craftsman , Proto, Williams sockets that work but almost always use my Campy peanut butter wrench or the Shimano extractor tool with the built in socket on the end. What Mark says about quality tools is so very true , especially box end wrenches , just look at the broaching . The cheap wrenches are conspicuously bad and will make life miserable on tight bolts. Some bolts and nuts are not that hard so they will round over easily(Porsche exhaust nuts on the 4 cylinder engines!). Good tools = favorable results.

dsbrantjr

One advantage of Harbor Freight tools is that they are cheap enough that I do not flinch from doing this exact thing. Or bending, welding, etc.

merziac

Yep, or if your like me and have been a mech/tech all your life and have plenty of multiples and spares of varying quality, it can be a short trip depending on how bad you want to close the deal.

I usually don't hesitate to sacrifice even a good one if it gets the job done here and now while I'm wound up on it, getting done can be well worth not hitting pause for a tool run.

We also have a used tool shed close by, even cheaper than HF and closer too. You can often find a good vintage tool so cheap you can't lose sleep over using it for a hack.

R.M.W.

Try ParkTool.com . They have just about every tool imaginable for servicing bicycles.

pfaustus

General rule is that 12 pt sockets are thinner than 6 pt.

Also better brands tend to be thinner.

Hope that helps.

merziac

And weaker, more likely to let go and strip/round off a nut or bolt.

Especially if of cheaper quality, worn, fatigued, etc.

pfaustus

Since we are presumably talking about Campy, Stronglight, or other high end crankbolt that wasn't torqued with a long breaker bar, and not bolts on a rusty New England vehicle, it is probably okay.

markk900

Lovely - and probably worth more than all of my bikes, plus a few of my motorcycles, combined......

AlanO

In general, the better the quality the thinner the socket. I use Williams. The stuff with model numbers containing only numbers is made in Taiwan. The better stuff with identifying letters, for example MS for metric socket, is made in the US in the same plant that makes Snap-On.

merziac

Maybe so but we were also presumably talking about a substitute that may have come out of the big main tool box, junk drawer, side bucket, etc. many of which may have seen questionable duty, severe or otherwise, any/somewhere along the way.

And/or just be cheap junk that never was up to the task and not worth taking a chance on damaging any of the aforementioned parts and pieces.

bcstones

Park Tools is an excellent source for tools specific to bicycles....never had a problem with either their 14mm or 15mm sockets, even on Campy's....

nworcest

Thin wall sockets, deep 14, 15, and 16, are now increasingly common in automotive. They are specific for the the newer generation of spark-plugs.

sacr

I needed a 14 mm for mine and a got a Kinchrome socket that fits(dont remember if it was modelled as thin walled) stronglight also made a piece that would fit their 14mm cranks and extend from the crank and a rod used to turn it.

JohnDThompson 

My 1970s production Craftsman sockets fit crank arms just fine. Modern Craftsman production is thicker and does not fit. You can grind down a thicker socket to make it fit, but keep in mind that it is thicker for a reason: put too much torque on a ground-down socket, and it will fail.