Came across an old 1983 Park Tool catalog at a garage sale

Found it under a pile of junk. Saw that a headset press back then was $28. Same basic tool now goes for over $200. That hit me harder than I expected. What other shop tools have gotten crazy expensive over the years?

2 comments

2 Comments

the_nina27d ago

@kevin_bailey I get where you're coming from, but honestly, a lot of those tools are way more precise and durable now. That old headset press probably flexed under load and you had to fudge it. The new ones are machined tighter and last decades if you treat them right. Plus, inflation's a beast, so $28 back then is like $80 today, not $200, but still, you're paying for better materials and manufacturing in most cases.

kevin_bailey27d ago

Is anything actually worth what they charge now or is everything just a RIP off?