Fuck the Cool Factor!

I'm gonna go ahead and say what none of you want to hear.

You know all those blingy parts you recently purchased, all those fancy colored due dads that were supposed to be so much better than last year's model, all those Chris Bling and American Crassic lightweight parts. Those are all shit. You might as well throw them away. You might as well recycle them.

Yes. I get it. There is a cool factor involved in every purchase. Having the latest and the so called greatest is a way of life and if it motivates you to ride, I'm cool with that. I'm just sick of all the bull shit marketing that goes into those fancy parts that everyone is drooling over. Fuck the cool factor!

This is how it all breaks down. The safety bicycle came out a couple of hundred years ago, or so, and not much has changed since. You have two hubs, a bottom bracket bearing, a crank, a chain, some cogs, a steering bearing, a frame and a few other miserable parts that aren't worth mentioning. If you came across one of the original safety bicycles, or a penny farthing for that matter, you would notice that all this hyped up bull shit is almost identical to what came out a hundred years ago. All of our fancy manufacturing practices have done what? Provided you with a better selection of colors.

My little purple tool

You always here about a technicians favorite tool. Well mine is purple. Or at least it used to be.

I purchased this bad boy for $.99 in 2006 because I was sick of trying to put water bottle cages on with a triple. I soon found that with a descent bit kit I could do almost every repair possible with this small, functional tool. It improved my speed. It made it easier to switch over to a torque wrench when needed and has become my must have tool for any repair.

If you can tell from the picture, it is quite worn. The entire driver was purple when I purchased it and was also knurled. From the constant use both the anodizing and the knurl are almost gone. The magnet that helps hold the bits in place is also loosing some of its touch and on occasion the bits just fall out.

I tried to replace it about three months ago. I figured it had served its purpose and it was time to retire it to the home tool box where it would see minimal use. The driver I purchased lasted one whole day. After which the magnet fell out making it useless. I went back to my little purple tool.

It has also been interesting for me as I have worked with many mechanics and in a couple of different shops over the years to the response I have received about my driver. Every single tech has scoffed my little purple tool, only to regret their words as they break down and buy their own. I guess there is a reason I use it constantly, it works.

Cheers to tools!