Eurobike 2017: Unior Show New Tools and Kits

Among the new tools Unior were showing was this compact chain tool.

The compact chain tool is based on the ones included in their multitools, is compatible with everything from 5 to 12 speed chains, and has a little surprise too, in the form of valve core removers concealed in the handle.

Take the cap off the handle, and you’ll find a presta valve core remover, then…

… unscrew the handle, and you’ll find there’s a schraeder one in the threaded end.

Another useful but small tool Unior are introducing this year are these spoke driver bits for a drill or electric screwdriver (even though it’ll let go of the spoke as it tops out, still probably best to not use an impact driver though). Depending on where exactly you want your initial spoke tension, they come in 1.5mm and 2.5mm lengths. The guy at the stand said “these really make sense if you build a dozen wheels a day”, but honestly we’d use them for one compared to a standard nipple driver!

Spoke driver bits for your drill!

Here are the two lengths they’re doing.

Another tool Unior were showing for the first time at Eurobike were their Hub Genies, for pulling out hub end caps. Some end caps come out easily with finger strength but not all, and in such cases, these are a cleaner way to remove them than (for instance) hitting them with a screwdriver poked through the hub. The smaller one is for 12 – 15mm axle end caps, and the larger one for 20mm inner diameter caps.

These are Hub Genies – end cap pullers.

If you’re familiar with blind bearing pullers you’ll understand exactly how these work. Sadly, they’d mislaid the Hub Genie they had on the stand for demos, but did make this video before it went missing:

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Unior already make various tools for rescuing cranksets with stripped pedal threads, but for the first time they’ve made them available together as a kit in a case. Given how often a mechanic is likely to need these tools, and that they’ll need all of them at the same time, this makes a lot of sense compared to having them rattling around in a drawer.

The crank saver kit.

The tapered, smooth-tipped taps in the kit are self-centering, and prepare bust crank threads at the right size to receive a helicoil in standard pedal thread size.

Those aren’t just ordinary pedal taps.

The 2 For 1 Disk Brake Tool is a handy space saver for mobile mechanics. As well as functioning as a disc brake pad spreader, the slot cut down the middle is for truing brake rotors too.

This is a two-in one disc brake tool.

The slot is for truing rotors, and the flat is a brake pad spreader.

This is a lightweight socket handle designed for travelling mechanics to use with chain tools and the like.

While a shop mechanic might have space for all these individual wrenches on the wall, they’re quite heavy and take up a lot of space in a tool kit.

The lightweight socket wrench has a 1/2 inch drive.

It works will all of Unior’s cassette tools…

… as well as their flat faced suspension sockets.

(They’re not new, but let’s take a quick look at those anyway. Oooooh!)

This is their Hollowtech II tightening tool in plastic.

They’ve done a metal one before, but apparently people wanted a plastic one.

Shimano say “hand tight” in their instructions, but Unior mentioned that if you do enough digging, there is a torque specification for the part of a Shimano crankset you tighten with this, and it’s 2Nm.

This is Unior’s new Pro Kit, which comes in a dust and waterproof case.

It opens up to a folding tool board…

… and a hanging one too.

The kit was tested by the Unior Factory Team, and Team Sky at the Tour De France this year.

As well as the tools you’d definitely expect…

… there are a few special bits like this open spanner made specifically for connecting and disconnecting brakes.

In the bottom are large tool storage trays.

The full kit will be available around a month from now, with an RRP of €799, or bought as an empty case for €239.

David Hayward

David started mountain biking in the 90’s, by which he means “Ineptly jumping a Saracen Kili Racer off anything available in a nearby industrial estate”. After growing up and living in some extremely flat places, David moved to Yorkshire specifically for the mountain biking. This felt like a horrible mistake at first, because the hills are so steep, but you get used to them pretty quickly. Previously, David trifled with road and BMX, but mountain bikes always won. He’s most at peace battering down a rough trail, quietly fixing everything that does to a bike, or trying to figure out if that one click of compression damping has made things marginally better or worse. The inept jumping continues to this day.