Did you ever check if the cable was bundled tight with zip ties? I've seen that cause more snapped cables than cheap parts.

Watching people swear by a "clean" air filter that's actually clogged makes me think about how many things in life we judge wrong just by looking at the surface. A buddy of mine insists his tires are fine because they've still got tread, but I can see dry rot cracks between the treads from ten feet away. Same thing with people who check their oil and it looks dark so they think it's dirty, but fresh diesel oil turns black in like 50 miles. We've all got that friend who thinks their phone battery is fine because it still holds a charge for a few hours, but it dies at 30% when it gets cold. What other things do you think people misjudge just by glancing at the outside?

Cordless is the way to go every time, sorry not sorry. Your battery was dying because you probably forgot to charge it, that's user error not a tool problem.

Lived with the "save the cat" beat sheet taped to my wall for two years before I realized I was following a cat food commercial structure lmao.

That scrap wood stand situation really bothers me. So was that wood stand just for show or did someone actually use it to work on their bike? I'm wondering if maybe there's some weird rule about only using tools that belong to the co-op or something like that. But it still doesn't make sense to have a functional stand made of literal trash and then not let people touch the nicer Park Tool one. I'd be asking whoever runs the place what the actual deal is with that.