Neat little allen wrench set

[makotosun]

I discovered these little gems while on the TAT trip. Baoktiger keeps a full set in his road box, and they proved to be amazingly useful over a regular "L" or "T" shaped wrench.

http://www.hexpro.net/contact.html.

These things are the deal when working on the bikes if you like to replace the old nasty screws with nice socket head bolts. They are well made and are available in SAE, Metric and Torx versions. You can buy them individually or in the full sets.

I ordered direct and received my metric set in about 4 days via priority mail. Not cheap, but a lot of useful value. No - I don't get any kickbacks or referral fees - I just think they are a neat new addition to my toolbox . . . ;D

 

[tWistedWheelz]

I have to say that I see no reason why these would be any beter that the standard "L" style allens! The hinge in the ones pictured is not a swivel joint, so other than just sticking one end in the allen slot and bending the wrench to gain leverage, how does this hinge offer some advantage? I actually believe the standard "L" style would be better, since I am sure they are cheaper and have no mechanical parts to fail!
:-\

So in your opinion, what makes these so effin cool!

 

[makotosun]

Actually, it does act sort of like a universal joint, in practice.

I was on a cross country (Kitty Hawk, NC to Tulsa, OK) on a 1975 Yamaha DT400 on the Trans America Trail, and the fellow in the chase truck had them in his tool box. After using them on several motor repairs, I was compelled to get a set. I have replaced numerous bolts on the bike with socket head screws, and these little tools made accessing them one hell of a lot easier than any other type I have tried. In spots where you don't have a good straight access and room to turn the tool, these fit the bill.

Hard to really describe, but they are significantly improved over either a "t" handle, or the "L" type, (which I own numerous sets of) or the type that have half a dozen in one swiss pocket knife sort of arrangement.

Like I said, I have no interest in anyone buying them. No referral fees, or such thing. I personally thought they were a great improvement over the other types, and thought that someone on here might find them useful. I had never seen them before in a store or anywhere else, and probably would have thought the same thing until I used one.

 

[tWistedWheelz]

Hey man, not bustin your balls, just wanted the skinny from the horses mouth! If you had an experience like that and you say thier better! I am a believer! I have L handels and "swiss army" ones scattered in so many places, hell every once in a while I will find one in the most random place! I have good sets I kept in my shop and in my tool bag, but you know how you get them when you buy a "some assybly required" and those you just don't care about! I am looking into buying a really nice T handle set, but I may look into these too, I don't think these could replace a good set ot T handles but they sure must have advantages of thier own according to you testimonial!

Thanks for the responce! Sorry if I came across as an ass, sometimes type looses something in translation!
Cheers

 

[makotosun]

No issues! I like all of my different types of socket head wrenches for different applications.

 

[Rocan]

if i use any tool... its the allen wrench. its the standard on bicycles these days and seeing as how i work in a bike shop i have countless hours with the tool in my hand. interesting tool... there were multiple times when i would have killed for a tool like this... i would give them a shot if they were 20 bucks cheaper :-\

 

[Big R]

+1 to Rocan. Tools like these are great little tools but I'm too cheap to spend money on something that I kinda sorta have already.

Also the kind of thing that I recommend for birthdays, Christmas, and any other gift giving occasion. If I NEED it, I'll buy it. If it's more of a convenience, somebody else can buy it for me - know what I'm sayin?

 

[Tim]

These would roll up and store nice and tight on a bike - that's something you can't do with typical allen keys. I'd like a set to keep on my bike (but my BMW tool kit already has every tool I need to rebuild the engine and change the tires in it already )

 

[Rocan]

These would roll up and store nice and tight on a bike - that's something you can't do with typical allen keys. I'd like a set to keep on my bike (but my BMW tool kit already has every tool I need to rebuild the engine and change the tires in it already )

the swiss army type of allen keys are much smaller then these and fit in the palm of your hand. also, if you really need special tools for a roadside repair, its probably a big enough repair that youd be best off taking it into a shop.

 

[Tim]

Yeah - that's great if you're not in the middle of the Serengeti. Sometimes you need to do major repairs on the side of the road. Risk of riding old bikes That or make sure you have your road-side assistance up to date and don't ride too far from civilization.

Having ridden into the backwoods of West Virginia, Tennessee and North Carolina, I'm glad I have a full set of tools on my ol' BMW. Anything sitting still for too long down there gets shot

 

[Deviant1]

Was that a shot at the dirty Tim?

 

[tWistedWheelz]

Yeah - that's great if you're not in the middle of the Serengeti. Sometimes you need to do major repairs on the side of the road. Risk of riding old bikes That or make sure you have your road-side assistance up to date and don't ride too far from civilization.

Having ridden into the backwoods of West Virginia, Tennessee and North Carolina, I'm glad I have a full set of tools on my ol' BMW. Anything sitting still for too long down there gets shot

Naw, not anyting, jus dem der canadyans!