An all-metal bleed bucket from Pinner and resurrected hex keys from Silca
Welcome to the first edition of Torque About Tools for 2024, your one-stop shop for the latest tools to make your wrenching easier.
In this edition, I have 11 tools to take you through – new releases from Unior and BBB, a set of striking 3D-printed spoke wrenches and more.
Go get yourself a cuppa and make sure your credit card isn’t within easy reach before you get stuck in.
Unior tools
Unior is a Slovenian manufacturer that, until a few years ago, was the alternative Big Blue tool brand on the market. Presumably to avoid using Park’s trademark colour, Unior has steadily switched to manufacturing its entire bicycle tool line in red.
Unior Speed Pedal Wrenches 1613S/1 BI
- £38.40 / $39.99 / €36.88 / AU$74.52
If you regularly fit, remove or change hex-based pedals, Unior’s Speed Pedal Wrenches could save you time. Available in 6 or 8mm variants, the wrenches have a swivel handle to give you the initial leverage to undo the pedal. This saves the step of having to flip to a more conventional Allen key between initial removing and unthreading.
The 194g wrench is constructed from chrome vanadium steel and there’s an ergonomic rubber handle for optimal grip.
It’s a simple idea but one that’s been well-executed, and I appreciate the smooth action of the swivel head.
Unior also has its more conventional 3 in 1 Pedal Wrench, with 6 and 8mm hexes, as well as a 15mm spanner fitting.
Unior Masterlink Pliers 1720/4DP
- £18.80 / $16.99 / €18.02 / AU$36.40
Unior has updated its Masterlink Pliers to make easy work of removing and installing quick-links.
Both functions are packed into the single tool. This is a positive because some brands’ options, such as KMC, require you to have separate tools for removal and installation.
Unior says it has focused the tool’s build on durability and the handle is dipped for comfort.
The pliers are compatible with 6- to 13-speed chains, including SRAM FlatTop chains, and weigh 74g.
Unior Chain Wear Indicator 1644/6
- £14.54 / $14.99 / €13.93 / AU$28.14
Unior’s updated chain checker borrows the drop-in, three-prong design found on many of its competitors. This enables compatibility with the ever-increasing number of chain brands and speeds.
Made from precision, laser-cut steel, the tool features a gauge tip for 0.5 and 0.75 per cent wear. Like the Master Link Pliers, the Chain Wear Indicator is compatible with 6- to 13-speed chains, including SRAM’s FlatTop, which uses an oversized roller.
Like Park Tool’s CC-4, you engage the hooked tip on the inner plates of the chain. You then apply constant pressure with two fingers to ensure the chain roller is tight against the hook. If the gauge tip drops into the chain, you can then inspect whether it falls into the 0.5 or 0.75 per cent section of the tool.
Unior’s new chain checker is much smaller than the aforementioned CC-4, which is a bit cumbersome to use outside a workshop environment. The tool weighs 45g on my digital scales, an 18g saving on the CC-4.
Unior Metric Flare Nut Wrench 1760/2
- £8.55 / $10.99 / €8.19 / AU$16.55
Hydraulic hose compression nuts need to be installed carefully. Most tool brands have brought out their own take on a flare nut wrench in response.
I featured the Park Tool MWF-3 in a previous Torque About Tools installment, and options from Pedro’s and Birzman also exist.
Unior’s take features a 7 and 8mm opening on either side, with a ¼in drive if you want to attach it to a torque wrench to convert it into a crow’s foot.
The wrench is cut with a very low profile, even more so than its competitors. This means you need to slide it over the nut carefully so it’s perfectly positioned before tightening or loosening a nut.
BBB HighTorque BTL-175
- £119.99 / €129 / AU$209.99 (not available in USA)
BBB’s HighTorque torque wrench is the big brother of the brand’s Torqueset, with a 10 to 60Nm range. The tool is adjustable in 0.25Nm increments and is 355mm long, so you have enough leverage on higher-torque components – I’m specifically thinking of SRAM DUB cranksets.
The tool uses 1/2in bits. While the 1/2in standard is common, for example, in the automotive industry, most bicycle-specific torque wrenches tend to rely on 1/4in or 3/8in sockets, and these socket sizes are the ones I also tend to favour.
The tool features a reversible ratchet, so it’s compatible with standard and reverse threads. It weighs a substantial 791g (11g heavier than claimed) with a satisfying heft in the hand, meaning it should make light work of higher torques. It comes in a protective case.
BBB Disc Doctor BTL-212
- €27.95
BBB’s Disc Doctor is a combined rotor truing tool, rotor and disc brake pad minimum thickness gauge, pad spreader and caliper alignment tool all in one.
The 73g tool effectively combines the three Birzman tools I covered in a previous Torque About Tools.
The Disc Doctor features five grooves for measuring the rotor thicknesses of Shimano, SRAM, Hope, Magura and TRP rotors. There isn’t a groove for Campagnolo rotors, which the brand recommends should be replaced when they’re 1.65mm or less.
There’s a separate slot for checking if a disc brake pad is below 2.5mm thick.
The caliper alignment gauge borrows the tried-and-tested clamshell design already perfected by brands such as Hayes and Birzman. The latter’s Razor Clam is my tool of choice.
The gauge simply slots over a disc brake rotor to provide even spacing between both of the pads in the caliper.
Finally, the Disc Doctor features a groove for undoing or tightening valve cores, although it’s a bit of an unrelated function considering it’s not part of a braking system.
Monolith Spoke Wrenches
- $35 each or $120 for a set of four
Monolith’s spoke wrenches are a reinvention of the humble spoke wrench.
With colourful, ergonomic 3D-printed handles, they’re designed for maximum comfort with a precision fit over nipples and a non-marring slip fit.
If you’re working with bladed spokes, Monolith says the tool is compatible with DT Swiss’ bladed spoke holder.
Monolith offers the spoke keys in two variants – a standard version and the XL. The XL features an appendage that acts as a speed handle – perfect if you want to quickly introduce or relieve tension on a wheel build.
The four spoke wrenches are colour-coded for easy identification, with 3.23, 3.3, 3.5 and 4mm sizes available.
The 3D-printed handles feel very high-quality in the hand and they fit snugly on the spoke head. Only time will tell if they usurp my current favourite DT Swiss Proline spoke wrenches (lovingly referred to by a friend as “God’s own spoke keys”).
However, their high price will likely mean limited interest for anyone who isn’t building or truing bicycle wheels regularly.
Enduro Bearings Linear Bearing Press BRT-060
- £299.99 / $299
Enduro Bearings’ Linear Bearing Press is a comprehensive set of presses, drifts, bearing guides and receiver cups for removing and installing hub or suspension pivot bearings.
The kit includes two threaded rods. These use an Acme thread design to ensure perfectly straight movement under pressure unlike standard V-shaped threads.
The nut at the end of each press runs on needle bearings, as do the press heads, resulting in a silky smooth operation.
You get what Enduro calls two ‘Linear Quick Handles’. These fit into either of the two press heads for extra leverage or if you want to use a shorter handle when working in a tighter space. The press heads also contain fittings for an 8mm hex key or a 15mm spanner, if you’d rather use either of those.
The system is presented in a nylon roll for easy storage. Enduro Bearings also says it doubles as a saddlebag, although I’d hope you’d never need to be removing or installing hub or pivot bearings when out on a ride.
Included drifts
- 8mm / 10mm
- 15/17mm
- 12-16mm OD, 17-20mm OD
- 21-22mm OD, 23-24mm OD
- 25-26mm OD, 27-28mm OD
- 1526, 6800, 6802, 6803, 6900, 6901, 6902, 6903, MR18307
Pinner Machine Shop Brake Bleed Cup
- CA$74
Pete Fowler, originally from Lancashire, UK, is the one-man band behind Pinner Machine Shop in Whistler, Canada. The brand makes all kinds of interesting projects, from hub axles to titanium bolts.
The Brake Bleed Cup is an all-metal bleed bucket, CNC-machined from a solid bar of 6061-grade aluminium. Even the solid brass plug is made elegantly.
In its stock form, the Brake Bleed Cup fits directly onto Shimano MTB brake levers, but you can buy adaptors for Shimano Road (M7x0.75), Magura MT (M6x0.75), SRAM / Formula Cura (M5x0.8) and TRP (M6x1.0).
The Brake Bleed Cup is a thing of beauty. My tool ASMR was triggered by the threads gliding onto the bleed port. There is absolutely zero slop when the tool is fitted – a nice change over the wobbly plastic threads of other bleed buckets. The solid brass plug also got me giddy.
Given the cup’s opacity, it isn’t as straightforward to identify if the brake fluid is discoloured as it oozes into the bucket.
Silca T-Handle Folio
- £215 / $185 / €204.90 / AU$350
Silca’s T-Handle Folio isn’t a new product, but after many years of being discontinued, the brand has brought it back.
The T-Handle Folio is my favourite set of T-handle Allen keys and I’ve used them almost daily in my workshop days, at home and now whenever I set up or adjust test bikes. I waxed lyrical about them in a High-Mileage Heroes article in 2023.
The T-Handle Folio contains hex keys from 2mm to 10mm, as well as T25 and T30 torx wrenches. All of the tools are forged from S2 steel and feature a sliding handle, enabling you to convert them from T to L-handles.
Silca has really thought of the details too, with the 8mm hex optimised for providing the most leverage when removing stubborn pedals and the 10mm designed specifically for working on Campagnolo UltraTorque crank bolts.
Because I own two Campagnolo-equipped bikes, that 10mm is particularly important to me.
The keys are presented in a waxed duck canvas bag, which is designed to fold over the top of a workstand so you have all the keys in reach.
If you want an heirloom-quality product that’ll stand the test of time, I cannot recommend the Silca T-Handle Folio highly enough.
RedSide BleedPro Hydraulic Brake Bleed Syringe Holder Kit
- $34.99 (converted to local currency for international customers)
You often need the arms of an octopus when you’re bleeding a brake, especially when you’re trying to juggle two syringes.
When Park Tool launched its original BKM-1 and BKD-1 bleed kits, each kit came with an attachment strap to act as a third hand while you’re at work.
Virginia-based RedSide Custom Tools is the first brand to bring out an after-market syringe holder and compared to Park Tool’s attachment strap, it’s a holder on steroids.
RedSide offers a handlebar mount and what it calls a ‘fork mount’, although you could use the smaller mount on the frame or handlebar too.
The mounts are constructed from what RedSide describes as “a special plastic that is extremely sturdy, lightweight, biodegradable, compostable and recyclable”.
Both mounts feature black straps and anti-slip silicone pads to keep them secure.
RedSide offers three kits – just the handlebar mount for $16.99, the handlebar and fork mount for $34.99 or two handlebar mounts and one fork mount for $49.99. The full kit would be useful if you’re bleeding both brakes simultaneously, because it can hold all four syringes.