Hey Bruce ,
About a year or two ago I naively thought that I would bite the proverbial bullet , and buy my very own cotter pin press ! I set out to buy one .
Ha !
I was not too surprised to learn that the big , giant , two-handed VAR tool was no longer made , and simply not available .
I was fairly shocked to learn that the Park cotter pin press was ALSO no longer made , and simply not available !
Through the great efforts of the wonderful Sarah Gibson , at Old Town Cyclery ( terrific web site http://www.oldtowncyclery.com (mapped) ) I now own what was said to be the very-very last Park cotter pin press still in "the supply pipeline" .
And , nobody else is selling any other designs in the U.S.A. !!
I realize that this is "obsolete" technology . But I also realize that there must be millions of bicycles with cottered bottom brackets , right this minute , right here in the U.S.A . Not to mention the fact that they are still being MADE TODAY in places like India , and I assume Mexico , China , ? , ? ( and Rideable Replicas gets theirs from India http://www.hiwheel.com )
I find it difficult to accept the fact that if you are willing to spend the money , you can not buy a brand new , high-quality , purpose-built , cotter pin press for bicycle bottom brackets , in the U.S.A. today .
Raoul Delmare
Marysville Kansas
> I'll grant that a special threaded tool might work as
> well as or better than a vice grip, but good luck
> convincing park to undertake development and
> production -- I couldn't even convince them to put a
> floating tip with a concave surface (sort of like
> what's on the cotterless crank press, only an 'innie'
> instead of an 'outie'..) on their cottered crank pin
> press, even though it would improve it an simplify use
> (it's prevent the tip from mushrooming and walking off
> the pin). when they told me how many of the tools
> they sell a year, though, I could kind of see their
> point.
>
> bruce krueger
> bikeworks
> urbana IL