Best Bike Multitool
 

There are so many choices out there. Some Great.. Some Adequate.. some suck.. And some that have tools you will never use.

Of course a Multi tool will never replace some good quality shop tools.. but when you are on a ride alone or with a group.. They can really
save your Butt.. Ive also had to help out friends that did not have one with me and had a chain failure or their grip wasn't tight and was sliding around making riding very annoying and potentially dangerous for him etc etc etc.. Many things.. That one quality multi-tool can come in handy
and at least make it so you can get home. I generally Just Carry One on me. But Sometimes I will Carry 2 diff types on me if I am going on a longer ride.
Below I will list a few that I personally use, what I think of them and whether I think their are better choices out there.

First is a cheap one
Wotow 16 in One For under $10 You get a lot. It was my first multitool and has saved me often. The fact that it comes with Tire levers was a nice bonus
The construction is solid enough.. and if you are on a very tight budget.. It's a good buy.. I did find there are many tools I really don't use when I am on the trails.. It does lack a couple things I would like

Second is
CrankBrosM17 which is a Very useful tool and most all of the tools on this thing are useful to you or someone you may be riding with.. It even has a Chain Tool to fix a broken or jammed link and though it's rated up to 10 speed chains many comments say it works on 11 speed chains as well. It has a torx 25 for your disc brakes if you run into an issue and a 8mm allen Key for pedals if your bike needs it that many multitools lack. And for just over $20 it's a an amazing Value.. Plus it is Built VERY well and comes in many diff colors to fit whatever style you want if you are into that sort of thing..
There is another one. CrankbrosM19 is on sale now for the same price as the M17 which has a couple extra tools Plus comes with a nice aluminum case. The M17 does not and I did not know this before buying the M17.. I love my tool.. But it's nice that the M19 gives you a few extra things.

The Leatherman Wingman while not a "Bike Tool" is a very useful tool and built well.. I have it.. What I don't get is.. When I bought it 4-5yrs ago it was about $30 and has now doubled in price to about $60.. so even though I like my tool.. If you were to want to pick up a multitool with
a set of Pliers.. I would spend a lil more and get the Leatherman Wave plus or $99 Which has more tools, better build quality, is a lil bigger in the hand so you can grip things a bit better and you can replace parts of it if they wear out plus you can get accessories. Im going to pick one up soon.

There are so many amazing Multitools out there that I haven't mentioned.


What are some that have served you well over the years? Which Bike Multitool do you feel is the "Best" ?

I like the Topeak Alien for my off road/trail/adventure bikes. I think it is pretty complete in a relatively small package. I carry a Park Tool I beam on my commuter bike, but it is prone to rusting if it gets wet.

Topeak does make a few great Multitools.. I seen one called the ToPeak Mcguyver which is a Monster.. Which I think would be more suited for a Bike Packing Camp Trip.

The I Beam from Park Tool looks great. It looks very functional and I like the look of it's chain tool.

How do I get a Post Moved to a diff section.. I think this Post would be better in Bike Mechanics but didn't see the category until after

After trying more than a few, I've come to conclude that I do not care for multi-tools. The inevitably have one or more bits that I simply do not need, the length of the bits is often too short to effectively reach some fasteners on the bike, and when the most commonly used bit starts to get a little knackered (like the M4, for instance) I start to have second thoughts about taking it out of the bag.

So for awhile I just carried a selection of Bondhus ballend hex keys in the sizes I needed. It worked, but was certainly fiddly. I bought a Pro Bike Tool Mini Ratchet a little over a year ago, and it has become my absolute favorite. Take only the sizes you need-- the 1" long 1/4" drive bits are not only cheap, but available for absolutely every fastener imaginable. The Pro Bike tool came with T30 and M2, neither of which I need, but I simply replaced those with T20 and M2.5, which I already had on hand. I also carry a 3" long M4, which makes working on seatpost and stem bolts much easier.

I have a Park CT-5 in my EDC bike bag, but have never had to use it outside the shop. It works every bit as well as my Park CT3.2, it's just much smaller, much lighter, and requires a little more hand force (less leverage.)

I used to carry a multi-tool on each of my bikes. There's only one bike that has a multi-tool in its seat bag now. I love multi-tools! They're cool. I have expensive ones and cheap ones and now I don't use them hardly at all. Why? They simply do not work well as a real tool, when you need a tool to really work as a tool should.

Yes they have all of those sweet little tools in that nice compact carbon-sided folding swiss army-like frame and it even comes with a built-in chain breaker that doesn't work very well.

Yep, I have some of the very best multi-tools made. I now carry individual tools in the seat bag needed for the specific bike. Why? They work better.

Is it cool to carry individual 5mm and 4mm Allen keys, a Park chain tool, two tire irons and a small Phillips screwdriver? No. But when my bike broke down and all I had was my cool $100 dollar Lezyne Carbon-10 tool...it didn't work! Beautiful tool, truly gorgeous but it simply did not function well.

I now have individual sets of tools tailored for each of my bikes. They really don't add much more weight or space than the multi-tool they replaced. However, I bought a PB Swiss Tools multi-tool last year as a "oh what the heck" impulse buy.

Although it is a "multi-tool", it actually functions as a dedicated tool with swappable bits. Meaning, it works pretty darn well...and it has a tire iron! The jury is still out on this tool, and I keep it on one bike. It wasn't cheap either but it out-performs every other multi-tool I own. PB Swiss makes really fine quality tools...in Switzerland. I have a set of their Allen keys and they are the finest I have ever used. Better than my Bondhus Allen's, which are also very good tools.

I carry this tool and a chain breaker on the one bike and I'm confident that if I need it to really function, it will. This tool:

https://shop.pbtools.us/PB-470-BikeTool_c2.htm

https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...5e5b62a3ad.jpg

My choice is the Topeka Alien II, although I carry a few other things as well. That multitool has gotten me out of more than a few problems!

This was really solid advice.. There are many things that I have not run into yet that I am sure I'd be crying for real tools. I was looking at the Lezyne tools too.. Why? they're pretty haha
The Crank Brothers tool just feels solid and will last awhile.. I still need a full bike tool kit for home.. I have some things.. But most are just regular tools.. not the Bike specific tools I should have. I like the looks of that PB Swiss and It's great to know that more importantly, It works.

I will check that one out a couple people mentioned the Topeak Alien

As others have mentioned, the Jack knife style can be difficult to use and access some bolt heads. But instead of buying individual L-shaped Allen wrenches, I go for the modular approach and buy tools that use 1/4" hex drive bits, like the PB Swiss/Victorinox tool above.

The Topeak Nanodrive stuff (correction: Ratchet Rocket Lite, but I prefer non-ratchet because I'm often loosening then immediately tightening a bolt, like when trying to take slack out of a cable) also looks nice. They have a new attachment that works as a beam-style torque wrench that I wish I could buy separately. (The part from the Nano Torq Bar X)

Victorinox also has a 1/4" hex tool that comes as part of a kit. It's an L-shaped piece like an Allen wrench, but it holds bits. I bought the tool and bit holder separately and assembled a set with bits bought separately (bit sets easily found online).

I also backed the Mineral Designs Kickstarter for their Mini Bar. I like the magnetic bit attachment- much nicer than the friction fit of my Victorinox tool.

I also got the Mineral Designs Barstow handlebar endplug chain tool on the same Kickstarter campaign. Haven't needed to use it yet, so we'll see how it goes. I'll probably test it out on a spare length of chain after I write this. Edit: Tested it and it works fine.

I also bought a few cheap chain tools off eBay because tools. They're basic two-piece things: chain holder/handle (with notches that work as spoke wrenches), and Allen head rivet presser. Again, something else I need to test. Edit: NOT recommended, see post #55 for more details.

If you have any 10mm nuts in your bike, such as on many cantilever/linear pull brake pad adjusters, there's a cool adapter that fits into the box end and allows you to fit 1/4" hex bits into it.

Yes, I have a tool problem. We won't get into the inline bit holder I 3D printed, or the cool stubby bit holder I backed on another Kickstarter.

Edit:
Links:
PB Swiss previously linked.
Topeak Ratchet Rocket Litehttps://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...3d4526ec06.jpg
DX+
and Nano Torq Bar Xhttps://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...30e505d5b9.jpg

Mineral Designs Mini Bar https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...3f63581c71.jpg

and Barstowhttps://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...785515a663.jpg
Generic chain tool (relatively heavy) not recommendedhttps://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...2aeec18759.jpg

Victorinox hex bit tool, sorry, no manufacturer's linkhttps://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...68e2ca57da.jpg


10mm wrench hex bit adapter, US suppliers don't seem to have their similar products in stockhttps://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...04862bd0b7.jpg

Kickstarter Bitkyhttps://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...06dfd810d6.jpg

I'm waiting for my multi tool to break so I can get the Crank Bros F15
https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...0f53418322.jpg

Alien 3 and a Leatherman Squirt PS4. A little overkill but my options are fix it, rig it, push it or pay for a taxi back to my truck out on the road.

I use a generic mass-market multi tool set. There's a slew of them out there basically just like this one under different names but they're all basically the same. It was like $5 at the time and has sufficed for just about everything I've had to do so far. I did add plastic tire levers in to the kit, since they came with my mini-pump anyways and the metal ones on here are probably NFG.


https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...e2e1dfbdb0.png




M.

I have this. It's pretty good.

Park MT-1 for me.
simple and pragmatic

Pay attention to the chainbreaker. Most are for up to 10 speed only. Only a few are up to 12 speed.
I also found the "half length" of the allen keys can be useless because you can't turn the tool because the big part is too close to the part you work on. Like brake reach adjustment where the tool hits the lever due to the short key length.

The Mineral Designs Mini Bar is basically a copy of the PB Swiss Tools PB-470 (mentioned in post 5, also licensed to Victorinox and sold badged as such) and the Barstow is a whittled-down Topeak Ninja C chain tool.

https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...d006c91332.jpg

Kickstarter is crazy sometimes.

Most of the multitools I’ve tried are poorly designed. They don’t fit my hand...which is just average in size...nor are they comfortable to use. I’ve found 3 multitools that work fairly well and are actually well designed in that they fit my hand and “feel” right. The first is the very old Gerber Cool Tool. I have several including a few in original packages and one Bob Seals original. Sadly, I don’t have a titanium version.

Another is the Full Windsor Breaker. It’s big enough to get some torque, small enough to feel comfortable in the hand and has enough places to put the tool bits so that you can actually use it in close quarters on the bike.

The one I currently carry is the Fix-It-Stick system. I have the “Mountain bike” versions with the addition of the 15mm open end wrench. Several of my bikes have Paul brakes which need the 15mm to adjust the spring tension. The Fix-It-Sticks feel even more like a regular tool. The tire levers work really well too.

I do carry some other tools like spoke wrenches that you’ll find on multitools that don’t work all that well. I’d rather carry a tool that works well than struggle with something that work poorly.

Cool tool was Cool (at 1 time they had a Ti version ).. Gerber bought them out as I understand


There is a multitool Wiki?
https://wiki.multitool.org/tiki-inde...page=Cool+Tool

https://wiki.multitool.org/show_image.php?id=920

My favorite so far is the Topeak Hexus II. I haven’t tried the Hexus X but looking at it I can’t see anything that would make me prefer it. The tire levers and chain tool of the Hexus II work really well.

I saw those and was wondering how they work. They, like the Swiss Tools tool or other tools that have the basic "L" wrench with separate bits or separate Allen keys seem to be a better design.

I think there are pretty significant differences between the PB Swiss PB-470 and the Mini Bar, starting with the handle design and going on to bit capacity, bit holding, and tire levers. I could go on about all the pros and cons, but that would be way too long.

Likewise with the Barstow and Ninja C. At first glance they're both handlebar end plug chain tools, but the designs are different in how they're held in, the handle, and what they've chosen to include or omit, both in terms of design and parts.

Saying they're the same is like saying all bicycles are the same because they have two wheels and a frame. It's the design decisions that makes one better for the road and an other better on singletrack.

No, I'm not being defensive :)

There are so many versatile Options..

Now.. I have another question.. I need a good Tool kit with a nice set of basic shop tools that will cover most of what I need without breaking the bank..

I have seen kits for as low as $40 all the way to $5000(park tool's basically everything they make kit lol)
Eventually I will invest in a good Park Tools $300-700 set..
But Id like to find a good solid set for under $100 to get me started.

Crank bros

My EDC is a Crank Bros M10 but on my road bike I have been trying the Spurcycle tool and love it. My only complaints about both tools is neither of them use a JIS screwdriver which would be way better. However so far I haven't seen anyone do a tool with a JIS screwdriver.

I really do want to try the PB Swiss tool but I need to get their allen keys and Torx keys first for my tool box.

As far as shop tools, get the best in the basics at the very least. I didn't like the idea of buying cheaper tools and then rebuying tools later so I prefer to spend the money upfront and get what I want.