Crumble

Crumbly nutI was doing a tune-up on a “Next Power Climber” department store bike, and when I got to the loose headset, I got out my trusty 12” Craftsman adjustable wrench to cinch down on the overlocknut. I didn’t even get the satisfaction of hauling off on the handle and locking the nut down – as soon as the wrench touched the nut, it crumbled! Really! I didn’t even get to turn the adjuster pinion to clamp the wrench jaws down on the flats of the nut before it fell to pieces! At first I thought it was made from plastic and it crumbled from degradation from environmental exposure, but closer examination revealed that it was some porous-cast mystery metal.

WTF?!

3 Responses to “Crumble”


  • Yeah right, and I was just riding along….
    J/K, “Next Power Climber”? I suppose that’s a better name than “Catapult”….

  • You’d need to be a “power climber” to ride it – it has to weigh at least 25kg (>50lbs)!

  • Those clever gnomes in marketing, they’re feeding on desires and selling the hope of being the NEXT power climber, not that you are or ever actually will be.

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