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Wonderfully Versatile Mini Toolkits Work Great
In case you didn’t notice the 5-star rating above, I really like these mini ratchet toolkits from Prestacycle (I have both tools; see the other photo, below). In fact, they’ve become among my most-used tools because of their convenient size, nice action and wide assortment of bits. I even use them at work.
You might think that ratchets have to be full size to work well and hold up. And there are plenty of high quality standard-size ratchets to choose from. But for bike work, Prestacycle’s mini models outperform the bigger ratchets in several ways.
The Advantages Are Many
For starters, they’re small enough and light enough to carry in your pocket or pack so you can bring them along. Which also means they take up a lot less space in a toolbox than a full size ratchet and bit set; and they weigh much less for easier carrying, too.
Also, one even has Prestacycle’s nice Prestalever built into the handle – which is a unique tool in itself made to help remove and install tires. Another advantage is that the short handles allow getting these tools into tight places where ordinary ratchets can struggle.
Plus, the ratchet mechanism has about twice the clicks of most full-sizers, meaning that you can tighten and loosen things easily, even if you don’t have much swing for the handle. To help spin loose bolts up to tension faster, there’s also a small knurled ring above the bit – dubbed the Quick disc – which you can turn with your thumb to spin the bit and bolt quickly.
Because the ratchets are small and light, should you fumble the Prestaratchet and drop it, it’s much less likely than a heavy ratchet drive to smash into your frame and components and damage things. And, maybe the best reason for using smaller ratchets is because they greatly reduce the chances of overtightening and stripping the delicate threads found on bicycles since they apply just the right amount of leverage needed.
Small Size Doesn’t Mean They’re Delicate
Which isn’t to say that the tools are delicate. They’re precision crafted of steel, nicely balanced, heavily chrome plated and have durable handles. The ratchets also hold the bits so they can’t fall out during use. And, there’s a toggle lever for quickly switching from tightening to loosening.
Each kit includes 1/4-inch size hex, torx and driver bits in a little silicon bit holder, which keeps them together in a tidy, easy-to-carry package. You can cut and shorten the holder, too, if you only want to carry certain bits.
If you do a lot of repairs in your home bike shop, you might like using the Prestaratchets the way I do. I have 3 handles and leave a 6mm, 5mm and 4mm bit in each one. With this setup, you almost always have the right ratchet at-the-ready to work on anything held together with allen bolts, which is just about everything on road bikes today. It makes working on your bike easier, faster and more fun.
You can learn more and see the Prestaratchet in use on their YouTube channel.
I like tools, and these look really neat, but I can’t think what I’d do with them. I have a torque screw driver that I use on my stem bolts and so on, and no other allen or torx bolts are either hard to get it or require that many turns. What do you use them on, Jim?
Thanks for the question, Don. I like having ratchets with a 4mm, 5mm and 6mm allen socket so that I can quickly turn allen head bolts to tighten and loosen stuff. So, for example, if you need to remove the front brake – say you’re wrapping the bars and the cable got tangled somehow so you want to pull the brake through and unkink the cable – it’s much faster to use a ratcheting 5mm to remove the brake from the fork than it is to use a basic L allen wrench. Or, if you have to work on a front derailleur to set its height, angle and cable tension. You can do these things a lot quicker and with more control with the ratchet handle and allen sockets. I like them for chainring bolts when swapping rings, too – much quicker to take the bolts apart since these bolts actually take a while to unscrew with an L allen. Those are just a couple of examples. To explain a bit more, the small size is advantageous when you want to always have 3 of these at the ready. They take up less room on the workbench and in a toolbox, and are a lot lighter to carry in the box or in your seatbag if you choose to do that. Hope this helps explain,
Jim
It seems like they would be great for places where it is difficult to swing an Allen wrench 360 degrees. Thanks for the review.