Grizzly riser block - the hidden cost

Hey, if you think the extra $25 adds to the cost wait until you find that you have to buy all new blades. LOL

Did it need to be box-end?

If open-end is acceptable, it's a fairly common size of wrench for bicycle headset adjustments.

Chris

I have the 1/2" Wood Slicer and a 1/4" Olson All Pro that I will keep installed most of the time. How many different blades do you need?

Dick

Yes. I tried to use a Crescent wrench, but the head was too large to fit into the rather small opening provided. The wrench I bought was open-end on one end and box-end on the other. The open-end side was still too large to fit into the opening.

headset adjustments.

Well, I'll be darned. I can justify the price now. Thanks for pointing that out. You know, in all these years of riding, I have had very few occasions to mess with the headset. I still have an old Campagnolo headset that came on a bike I bought in 1974. I used it for over 25 years with very little maintenance. It is still as good as new.

Dick

I believe he meant that adding a riser block renders your old blades useless, you have to buy longer ones.

B.

Go to the hardware store for the next oddball wrench or use a crescent (if it will fit). Sears sells brand name at a premium (and IMHO the brand is tarnished). Other hand tools, including Master Mechanic, are much cheaper and have the same warranty.

The only hardware store within miles of my house is a Do It Best store. They don't carry anything larger than 22mm. While I would really like to do business with these folks, their prices are just too high on most of what I need and their stock is too limited.

Reminds me of the time years ago when a lady I worked with complained about the amount of money her husband spent on taxidermy. He sent a big bass off to his taxidermist, Louie, in Little Rock along with a check for $100. His wife told him that if he didn't quit wasting her hard earned money she was going to go to Arkansas and have Louie mount her. It went over his head like a high breeze.

That old Campy grease is probably in need of replacement. Further justify the wrench expense immediately by repacking your headset! ;~)

I have a Campy steel track headset on my oldest mountain bike... that hasn't been repacked since 1986 when I repacked it in Charlotte, NY during a ride from FL to NY. Can I borrow your wrench? ;~)

John

Sure. I'll be home tonight. C'mon over.

Dick

"John Grossbohlin" wrote in news:_9qgf.3794$ snipped-for-privacy@newsread1.news.atl.earthlink.net:

Y'all are scaring me. I raced, primarily track, in my younger, slimmer days.

IIRC, the Campy track headset was never known for its grease retention capability.

I used to tear my bikes down to the frame a couple of times per year.

IOW, I was about like Greg with his unisaur ..;-) (which I've very much enjoyed reading about).

Just noticed that I wrote Charlotte, NY... should have been NC! Laid over there for 4 days when the temperatures dropped into the teens at night and it was raining during the day.

RE the old track headset, that particular bike, a first year issue Trek

As I recall I had killed a couple alloy mountain bike headsets in short order before trying the steel Campy unit. That headset still feels pretty smooth despite the neglect... The Urgel (memory loss due to lack of sleep--is that the correct spelling???) headsets were way too nice to ride in the mud and sand but the steel one was laying around in the shop so it went on the Trek.

That trip is how I ended up working at Colonial Williamsburg with folks like Mack Hadeley (sp--another memory loss) and Roy Underhill. Note the lame attempt to get back on the woodworking topic. ;~)

John

I was in the same boat. I took the nut to the store and found a socket that would work, although it was not a metric socket. Never have found another use for the socket, though.

Even thought it was expensive, I think you did the right thing by buying the right tool for the job.

Plumbers have something called an "adjustable slip nut wrench" (search google for a picture) which has thin, narrow jaws that can adjust up to around 3". It might fit your riser block, but you might not be able to torque it down enough.

Another option is one of those sets of imported, large-sized wrenches. Harbor Freight and Menards sell them for under $20. I doubt they'll last very long, but they're good for these one-off jobs.

I've bought the "Pittsburgh Forge" wrenches in both SAE and Metric, and found uses for several. For intermittent use they are great, aren't even close to Craftsmen quality, but they will do.

Why not just pay the 2 or 3 dollars and get the correct socket? I did for mine. You don't have to pay big money for a Snap-on etc., get a cheap import.

There was not room for the ratchet and the socket where the bolt head was. There was room for the ratchet and socket on the nut side but it would require a deep socket. None of the stores had a deep socket that size.

Dick