Singletracks Mountain Bike News, Reviews, MTB Trails and Community › Protected: Forums › Mountain Bike Forum › Time to upgrade my multi-tool
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December 27, 2011 at 12:51 #104205
After reading Maddslackers review of the Crank Bros Multi 17 it got me wondering what other riders are using on the trail. I currently use a Bell product (not sure of the model type) purchased at Wal-Mart that I’m just not happy with. My biggest grip being that each tool, once deployed, doesn’t lock into place.
I’m armed with a little extra Christmas cash and think this would be worthwhile upgrade but with so many option out there I want some real life opinions before I pull the trigger on this purchase.
I’m really liking the topeak survival gear box among the many choices at hand. Your thoughts on the matter would be helpful, Thanks! 😃
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December 27, 2011 at 14:50 #104206
I can’t tell you what to buy but I can tell you what I [i:2o44u138]won’t[/i:2o44u138] buy again. My Park tool lasted maybe 10-15 uses, then disassembled on me while on the trail, leaving me with 12 individual pieces that I could no longer use due to the lack of leverage 😀
I’ll be buying a different brand next time.
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December 27, 2011 at 15:59 #104207
Before I bought my Crank Bros I tried a friend’s Park Tools one and I didn’t like it. It’s heavier, more expensive and IMO not as ergonomic.
I have never tried the Topeak model, so I cant compare, but I can say the Crank Bros has never let me down.
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December 28, 2011 at 10:47 #104208
I use the park tool rescue tool http://m.parktool.com/product/rescue-tool-mtb-3 yeah it’s big and a little pricier, but this REALLY has everything you could ever need! (except maybe a plyers)
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December 28, 2011 at 13:52 #104209
Hey schwim, are you referring to the same Park tool that MtbGreg1 is talking about? His link is not working for me but I think this is the one he’s referring to.
http://www.parktool.com/product/rescue-tool-mtb-3
MtbGreg1, How long have you been using your Park?
Maddslacker brings up a good point in addressing the ergonomics of the tool. While I see the Park tool being a better quality than the Bell tool I currently use,
http://www.amazon.com/Bell-Ultra-Tool-M … B000AAYBVO
they are similar in concept. Separating in half with each tool folding out….which brings to mind another question, Do the tools lock into place on the park tool? I kinda find the bell’s grip/general shape a bit cumbersome.
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December 28, 2011 at 13:54 #104210"jayzilla" wrote
Hey schwim, are you referring to the same Park tool that MtbGreg1 is talking about? His link is not working for me but I think this is the one he’s referring to.
That is indeed my toolkit. The side with all the allens are no longer usable due to the lost cap. As well, you can see that the largest allen is actually a cap piece over another, so when you take it off to use the allen below it, you have a great chance of leaving it in the woods when you forget to put it back on 😃
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December 28, 2011 at 14:08 #104211"schwim" wrote
[quote="jayzilla":27ii4r3d]Hey schwim, are you referring to the same Park tool that MtbGreg1 is talking about? His link is not working for me but I think this is the one he’s referring to.
That is indeed my toolkit. The side with all the allens are no longer usable due to the lost cap. As well, you can see that the largest allen is actually a cap piece over another, so when you take it off to use the allen below it, you have a great chance of leaving it in the woods when you forget to put it back on 😃[/quote:27ii4r3d]
Yeah that’s the tool I’m using, and I’m not quite sure why you don’t like it because I’ve been using it for about a year now and really enjoy it. Maybe I haven’t been hard enough on it yet I don’t know. But I do know I love the massive number of tools.
Oh and btw having the largest Allen as a cap on another Allen is pretty common. My last tool had that too.
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December 28, 2011 at 15:20 #104212"mtbgreg1" wrote
…and I’m not quite sure why you don’t like it…
Hehe, only because it fell apart and I can’t use it any more 😃
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December 28, 2011 at 15:22 #104213
It’s like pedals, you mess around for years with SPD’s and then one day you discover Crank Bros and you never look back… 😼
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December 28, 2011 at 18:46 #104214
Ok, maddslacker, I’m lost as to what SPD’s is short for 😕
"schwim" wrote[quote="mtbgreg1":37sq67xb]…and I’m not quite sure why you don’t like it…
Hehe, only because it fell apart and I can’t use it any more 😃[/quote:37sq67xb]
nice! 😆 that was a good one!
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December 28, 2011 at 19:07 #104215"schwim" wrote
[quote="mtbgreg1":tmgros3h]…and I’m not quite sure why you don’t like it…
Hehe, only because it fell apart and I can’t use it any more 😃[/quote:tmgros3h]
I’m still not understanding how it fell apart lol
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December 28, 2011 at 19:46 #104216"jayzilla" wrote
Ok, maddslacker, I’m lost as to what SPD’s is short for 😕
A kind of clipless pedals.
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December 29, 2011 at 08:12 #104217
My Park tool:
Pic one shows where the threaded cap shot out of the rod holding the hex tools in place. This pulled the threads right out of the rod.
Pic two shows the rod that is now backing out of the tool. Holding it with your thumb when you use it will keep it in, but with the cap missing, the rod just flexes back and forth when trying to tighten a bolt, making this side of the tool useless.
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December 29, 2011 at 13:36 #104218
Yea, I can see how that would render the tool useless 😢 I was just at the LBS looking at this model and asking them about the Crank Bros, which they would have to special order. The sales guy vetted this tool.
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December 29, 2011 at 13:41 #104219
There must be a local shop with the Crank Bros in stock. I got mine at REI.
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December 29, 2011 at 14:44 #104220"maddslacker" wrote
There must be a local shop with the Crank Bros in stock. I got mine at REI.
You may be right maddslacker, I’ll call the other three shops here in town tomorrow. You would think with 5 bike shops in town that at least one of them will carry Crank Bros stuff. Unfortunatly, the 2 shops I frequent the most don’t and we don’t have an REI here 😢
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December 29, 2011 at 20:22 #104221"schwim" wrote
My Park tool:
Pic one shows where the threaded cap shot out of the rod holding the hex tools in place. This pulled the threads right out of the rod.
Pic two shows the rod that is now backing out of the tool. Holding it with your thumb when you use it will keep it in, but with the cap missing, the rod just flexes back and forth when trying to tighten a bolt, making this side of the tool useless.
That’s a bummer man
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December 30, 2011 at 04:25 #104222
I have carried this around for almost 20 years. The Cool Tool.
I have been happy with it. A few allen wrenches, a phillips head, socket, chain tool, adjustable wrench which is narrow and can get into tight spots (and I used it once as a tire lever) and it has a groove that can be used as a spoke wrench.
http://www.multitool.org/wiki/tiki-inde … =Cool+Tool -
December 30, 2011 at 08:15 #104223"brianW" wrote
I have carried this around for almost 20 years. The Cool Tool.
I have been happy with it. A few allen wrenches, a phillips head, socket, chain tool, adjustable wrench which is narrow and can get into tight spots (and I used it once as a tire lever) and it has a groove that can be used as a spoke wrench.
http://www.multitool.org/wiki/tiki-inde … =Cool+ToolI’ve never seen anything like that before… That’s pretty stinking cool! Cool tool indeed.
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December 30, 2011 at 09:23 #104224
Huh, pretty neat setup. They must not have marketed very well cuz it looks like, well, a really cool tool.
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December 30, 2011 at 09:23 #104225
It weighs roughly the same as the Crank Bros Multi17
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April 9, 2016 at 19:01 #187040
I like the Topeak Alien 2
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