Talk to me about multitools – what do you carry?

[nunokas]

Does anybody use this tiny PNW Pebble Tool?

Interested. Where can I get one in Europe? I see R2 doesn't have it

[jayjay]

Does anybody use this tiny PNW Pebble Tool?

https://r2-bike.com/media/image/product ... lack~7.jpg
https://r2-bike.com/media/image/product ... lack~6.jpg

Interested. Where can I get one in Europe? I see R2 doesn't have it

I ordered one at R2 before it went to "no stock"
No idea who else has stock

[jacoues]

Intrigued by mini ratchets and bit holders, I tried the presta cycles stuff and it's pretty well made. I have a micro kit with an extra 100mm extension. Not the bundle with the extension, that ratchet is a tiny bit longer and doesn't fit in my lezyne road caddy. Along with an aliexpress tpu inner tube and a pair of mobile bit holder (£1!) In a clamshell to prevent rattles, the whole package weighs 130g. It needs a tyre lever and a mini chain tool to complete the on-the-go toolset.

[jayjay]

The PNW Pebble Tool looks solid to me

47g without the Dynaplug


Dynaplug = 2g

[JWTS]

I'm going to grab one of the Pebble tools when I'm back in the states in a couple of weeks. I have to say it looks pretty much perfect to me. Looks like you could wrap another Dynaplug in plastic wrap and stick it in that slot that's machined into the side.

[nunokas]

Just went with the canyon mini tool. You can choose the tools needed and adapt it. With 4 tools you'll be more or less in the 50gr.

https://www.canyon.com/en-pt/canyon-min ... 06172.html

[OtterSpace]

I am patiently waiting on my Topeak ~16g Al ratchet (current ETA wed) but have kept up the research off and on.

Given the interest in flip out tools I'll share high level details on one that I've never tried from a small Japanese vendor equipt called the sardine 38g claimed with 3mm, 4mm, 5mm, 6mm & T25. No 2.5mm or 2mm but dedicated L-keys in that size are very light weight if needed. I like the handle ergonimics and leverage compared to the blocks of keys where you have to hold the whole block, with fairly abrupt angle changes, to turn a bolt which cant feel as good in the hand as the equipt tool.

My issue with many of these flip out sets is I just dont know how high quality the custom bits are compared to PBSwiss, Wera, etc and I think you can go lighter but certainly they are nice for keeping everything all together making it very hard to missuse or lose parts from. That PNW Pebble looks like it packs up nicely too.

I'm also playing around with chain tools now too starting with ztto (on order) and an old tool from finish line called the chain pup which is around 15g. I'm not impressed with the pup and its very hard to source given I think its been out of production for at least a decade and it first came out in the early 90's when chains were quite a bit wider.

[jo.k]

I just bought the ZTTO chain tool. Have only tested it on an old Shimano 12s chain in the garage, and it works just barely in that setting. The reason for this is that there is no way to clamp it down rotationally while you torque the bolt that pushes the pin out. There are small holes through the cylinder part so I held it in place with a small screwdriver. I suspect that trying to cut an installed chain will be easier as the lateral stiffness of the chain will prevent rotation.

Have not tried it on an SRAM chain, but I think it will work.

[jayjay]

My issue with many of these flip out sets is I just dont know how high quality the custom bits are compared to PBSwiss, Wera, etc and I think you can go lighter but certainly they are nice for keeping everything all together making it very hard to missuse or lose parts from. That PNW Pebble looks like it packs up nicely too.

Fair point with the quality.
As much as I like the PB470 tool, I hate to fiddle around with the loose bits. Especially when it is cold outside.

[joebusby]

I just bought the ZTTO chain tool. Have only tested it on an old Shimano 12s chain in the garage, and it works just barely in that setting. The reason for this is that there is no way to clamp it down rotationally while you torque the bolt that pushes the pin out. There are small holes through the cylinder part so I held it in place with a small screwdriver. I suspect that trying to cut an installed chain will be easier as the lateral stiffness of the chain will prevent rotation.

Have not tried it on an SRAM chain, but I think it will work.

My conclusion in the same situation is that this is a problem brought about by trying it on small ends of chain. On an actual chain you can either wrap it around the tool or, if mounted, use chain tension to prevent counterrotation. It does have space for a second bit on the other side but this sort of ruins it as a lightweight tool.

[joebusby]

I just bought the ZTTO chain tool. Have only tested it on an old Shimano 12s chain in the garage, and it works just barely in that setting. The reason for this is that there is no way to clamp it down rotationally while you torque the bolt that pushes the pin out. There are small holes through the cylinder part so I held it in place with a small screwdriver. I suspect that trying to cut an installed chain will be easier as the lateral stiffness of the chain will prevent rotation.

Have not tried it on an SRAM chain, but I think it will work.

My conclusion in the same situation is that this is a problem brought about by trying it on small ends of chain. On an actual chain you can either wrap it around the tool or, if mounted, use chain tension to prevent counterrotation. It does have space for a second bit on the other side but this sort of ruins it as a lightweight tool.

In terms of general quality, I've no idea how many times before it breaks. It feels like every other bit of cheap non CNC metal from Ali; not especially confidence inspiring. Then again, i've had to break one chain on the go in the last 10 years of riding so in many ways it probably doesn't need to be the most robust item.

[jo.k]

Yes, same - I broke a chain on my MTB once about ten years ago, other than this I have really only seen one broken chain in 20 years of riding (this was however during a gravel race this september and my friend who suffered this fate would have been greatly helped if I had a chain tool on hand (I only had quick links)).

[nunokas]

At 59gr for the 6+1 mini tool.

[OtterSpace]

Still waiting on the ~16g ratchet. Tracking has cleared customs and has moved to just one major city away so likely 1-2 more mail days unless I have to sign for the package.

In the meantime I am very happy with the leyzne chain breaker from their multitool and will likely use it with my commute bike. The pin assemblies are different threading between the tools which I can check sometime soon for those that would consider swapping the pin assembly to something else. Both tools are likely better with different pin assemblies but for vastly different reasons.

The Lezyne is not fully ideal because with my expected field kit it uses a 5mm hex to drive a 6mm round hole which spins the pin assembly. However, an unexpected pro here compared to having a hex head on the back of the pin assembly is that bolt cam out is far less of a problem using a L-key or ratchet on a bolt head even though tool engagement is better there. I don't know how to explain this well but applying force on this axis is much more stable compared to driving a bolt head on these tiny chain tools where you are applying leverage to a bolt head from another axis given you always want as much tool leverage as you can apply regardless of axis of force application. Hopefully photos can help as I doubt my words made much sense.

To use the tool I engaged the 5mm hex from a wera multi bit in "screwdriver" setting in a ratchet for a longer lever on this axis and spin the pin assembly half a turn at a time towards me as soon as turning gets more difficult. Im not sure how many uses the 6mm hole can stand up to from a 5mm hex as you can already see some wear from 6 uses but likely enough to trust for the rare field use.

The very old chain pup is way more difficult as it doesnt have machining to hold the roller and was designed for wider chains. I found the best way to use it with my expected field tools was to use use the bit in the ratchet so more force can be applied vs screwdriver but the head could cam out sometimes as force was applied. Could be a bad bolt head on this old tool but worth noting. I had to fully buttom out the pin assembly to the tool twice. First to partially drive out the connecting pin and then thread on two sides of a quick link to increase the effective chain width and drive again to break the chain. If you just drive once with the quick links you might press into the wrong part of a quick link risking damage. Alternatively you could make some other spacer but thats something you could lose on a trail. Yeah not great for only 1.38g savings... Not something I'd recommend scouring the internet for old supply of.

Regarding test condition I am using a freshly waxed long 12s chain off the bike for this. Most of the times you will need to break a chain in the field it will be off the bike and long so I am testing what I consider worst case with a stiff thin waxed chain. If your quick link breaks swap it no need for a chain breaker. If you broke one link the chain will be off the bike and long and you will need to break 1-2 links to prep it for reattachment with a quick link. If your RD fails for whatever reason you will need to break it once while on the bike and once while long and off the bike but you can likely detention the chain on the bike if desired by pushing forward the RD to force drop the chain off the front chainring.

All of these are absolute garbage compared to the abbey bike tools decade chain tool but no way I'm carrying that bulk with me but here is an image so you can see the design of what most would consider the best shop chain tool.

[OtterSpace]

Topeak Al ratchets arrived today and I'll be playing with modifying them for the next few days. Weight is 15.7g and the ratcheting bit holder is very simple. I also got the black body version even though I ordered the silver but no big deal and not too unexpected from Bikeinn.

Back to chain tools. I also recieved the ZTTO tool today and was able to cobble together a tool that I like and trust using the Lezyne Al body and the ZTTO pin which has the same threading as Lezyne. My earlier complaints of the chain pup camming out from the axis of driving isnt an issue here so the bigger 5mm head makes breaking a chain fairly painless so it likely was poor machining on the chain pup 4mm hex receptacle causing cam out. A big pro of this chain tool is it is an all one assembly so you dont need other parts to find on the side of the trail to make it work. Therefore it is hard to lose tool parts on the trail and hard to missuse the tool, Nice. Regarding missuse though for all the left handed people out there the cutout orientation makes it far better to hold the chain tool with your left hand and drive the pin with a tool in your right hand which is what a right handed person would likely naturally choose. Regardless of hand used you want your finger to wrap around the cutout like you are holding a gun trigger but fully down your finger not with the tip. It will work opposite but grip stability is better to hold the on the chain tool with your left hand.

Here is my final chain tool:

I labeled mine to help me remember to hold it in my left hand and with orange heatshrink on the bolt to let me know its a hex 5. The sharpie will rub off in time so I might replace it with bLue heatshrink to denote left while Red can denote right and heatshrink also can offer better grip but also adds weight for a large section like that.

Looping back to the ZTTO now which I dont recommend but want to capture for others. Kind of like the chain pup its fine and works but not something I'd use or recommend and like the stock lezyne the tool is fatiguing from use but in a much worse way. I know they can design out the quick fatigue issue fairly simply but I won't get into that as I don't work for them and am not recommending this tool to others as I much prefer the integrated hold of the Lezyne.

For use of the ZTTO you first dissassemble the two large halves of the Al tool body and put the link you want to cut in the tool. I also am not a huge fan of disassembling a tool in the field as you can lose parts. Then you start driving the pin assembly with a 5mm tool. After engaging with the chain the tool will start to turn in your hand unless stabilized so you need another part in your kit that doesn't come with the tool. The ZTTO has a 4mm round hole that I put a 2g Ti 2mm L-key that has a body diameter of 3mm though as shown which worked great. Breaking the chain is easy once stabilized. However the steel pin assembly is eating through the threads in the Al body. In the last images below are photos of one use on the left and two on the right. Yeah this Al tool body won't last long as most would use it.