Why Park Tools so expensive for us brits?

nitesight

I saw an add for the Park Tools Race Kit on here and thought "ohhh that looks good" and then saw the price! £500! My coffee came out of my nose. :shock: I know Park are good but that seemed hefty so I looked around the interwebs and found it for £350 which I still thought was very expensive. I know they are a US company so looked at American retailers and you can buy the same kit over there from Amazon for the equivalent of £190. Thats quite the mark up eh?

I cannot see how anyone can justify that sort of price disparity - import charges and tax etc just do not add that sort of difference.

Personally I've built up bits from here and there as I've found them. I find Halfords to be okay for my home fettling and I've taken advantage of their two for one offers in the past. I still have a few bits I need though but won't buy them entil i find a real bargain.

Seems a lot of cash for colour coordination tho. I imagine the LBS get some sort of discount otherwise that seems like a heavy investment - is there a Park Tools equivalent of the Snap-on man? is there a UK brand equivalent? Anyone got a source for great quality bike tools that cost what they should?

Smokin Joe

If you're a professional working on cars or bikes every day of the week the premium brands make sense as they tend to last a lifetime. For home fettlers the likes of Halfords or Tacx will do everyting we need at a fraction of the cost.

giant_man

No, there isn't a Uk equivalent of Park tools really, they are expensive but usually classed as the best quality of tools. I always think of them as the cycling equiv. of Snap-On. Price wise, blame our exchange rate and the fact that every bloody import is hampered by endless taxes in our lovely country.

You could also check out Pedros stuff which is very good.

rickhotrod

Madison are the UK distributors for Park Tool. The UK prices are a rip-off compared to the US. VAT and duty accounts for a small part of the price difference. Most of the difference is accounted for by Madison charging what they can get away with.

Other bicycle tool sellers in the UK set their prices in line with Park. If these other bicycle tool sellers were to reduce their prices to sell more, the other bicycle tool sellers would have to reduce their prices too. The result would be that the bicycle tool sellers in the UK would all make a lot less profit. Therefore, no one starts a price war.

Wheelspinner

I buy my Park tools from here:

http://www.universalcycles.com/shopping/index.php?resultpage=1&category=746

These guys are quick to ship (at least from US to Australia), prices are very good with the exchange rates at the moment for me anyway and freight charges are ok, provided you buy a few bits and pieces. Service has been excellent. I've also bought Pedros tools here as well, which are very good tools too.

Ollieda

Ice tools seem to just make exact copies of park. Not sure as to the quality / life of the tools but if your on a budget it could be worth a look

giant_man

Budget tools wise, yes IceToolz are worth a look (the jury is out on their campag 11sp chain tool as I have read), and also BBB or Pro for shimano suff.

gundersen

I wouldn't use Park Tools if you gave them to me -I think they are rubbish

If you want good tools try VAR

giant_man

interesting comment, why iyo are they rubbish gundersen?

gundersen

used to be a lbs mech and had to use park tools when some sales rep was visiting - only lasted a couple of days to a week in the workshop then in the bin

we used campagnolo sets and var sets with spesial tools from sachs and shimano. wrenchs ,screwdrivers and so on from bahco

e999sam

I got a Park Tools wheel building jig from the USA and even with postage and duty it was still £85 cheaper than I could have got it in the UK.

Wappygixer

rickhotrod wrote:

Madison are the UK distributors for Park Tool. The UK prices are a rip-off compared to the US. VAT and duty accounts for a small part of the price difference. Most of the difference is accounted for by Madison charging what they can get away with.

They can charge what they want really as they sell them anyway.I phoned today to place an order with them and many Park items were out of stock.We waited a few months for some of our workstand spares.

As for VAR yes they are very good but just try getting hold of them now, it virtually impossible.I wouldn't say they were any better or worse than Park.
If you look after stuff it will look after you.

If you think Park is expensive then look at Campag workshop tools......Hello lottery ticket

desweller

gundersen wrote:

used to be a lbs mech and had to use park tools when some sales rep was visiting - only lasted a couple of days to a week in the workshop then in the bin

we used campagnolo sets and var sets with spesial tools from sachs and shimano. wrenchs ,screwdrivers and so on from bahco

You're not the first LBS mechanic I've heard this sentiment from.

Regarding the OP, good tools are generally cheaper in the US anyway. Good quality spanners and so on command a price premium in the UK far above anything that would be charged in the States.

For what it's worth I don't rate Snap-On any more. They used to produce really good stuff, but these days they seem to be coasting on their rep a bit.

PS I'm a fuel injection engineer so spend quite a lot of time spannering!

rickhotrod

Wappygixer wrote:

They can charge what they want really as they sell them anyway.I phoned today to place an order with them and many Park items were out of stock.We waited a few months for some of our workstand spares.

If you are dealing with Madison directly, you must have a Trade Account with them eg. a bike shop. You are probably getting Park Tools at about half the retail price. VAT registered business don't have to pay the 17.5% VAT. Business running costs are set against Tax. So i can understand why you are not critical of their cost in the UK.

Some of the Park Tools are not that good. Cone spanners and headset spanners for example are about 0.4mm too wide (eg. 13mm cone spanner measuring 13.4mm, 32mm headset spanner measuring 32.4mm, etc.) Sure, a little clearance is needed to prevent a tight fit. Maybe 0.1mm to 0.2mm would be ok. But the 0.4mm clearance can result in marking the edges of nuts.

Toomanybikes

Park are certainly good quality tools, but as mentioned above, unless I'm using them all day every day .........

I live in Canada, Park are much cheaper for me over here.

And yet, I buy a lot of my home shop tools from ProBikekit.

Coach H

I have just sent back a Park Tools 8mm Hex Pedal Wrench that rounded off on first use at about 20Nm (by feel). Worse was that this tool made from cottage cheese also damaged the Hex socket in my pedal spindle, making removal a probable pedal killing activity.

I only bought this tool to not risk using my cheap, but to date relaible, hex set on such a critical and high load socket.

Its fair to say Park Tools have lost their appeal!!

nferrar

Hex keys have always been the best of the Park tools for me, they fit so snugly in the socket they can be a pain to get back out. I've never come close to rounding a hex or torx socket when using a Park tool (and that includes a lot of torque through an 8mm one). I have a few other Park tools and they're OK, have some Cyclus headset stuff as it's cheaper but seems OK. BBB torque wrench I have is censored as is every other make of hex key I've tried apart from a Bondhus one which cost as much as Park anyway.

Toomanybikes

nferrar wrote:

Hex keys have always been the best of the Park tools for me, they fit so snugly in the socket they can be a pain to get back out. I've never come close to rounding a hex or torx socket when using a Park tool (and that includes a lot of torque through an 8mm one). I have a few other Park tools and they're OK, have some Cyclus headset stuff as it's cheaper but seems OK. BBB torque wrench I have is censored as is every other make of hex key I've tried apart from a Bondhus one which cost as much as Park anyway.

Good points.

Not sure why people buy some of these tools as "cycling" tools.

Hex keys are best bought at a hardware shop or mechanic's supply, the tools are better, made to withstand much greater loads and are likely cheaper.