Park the way forward for 25 quid or any better quality for that price? T handle a bonus
TIA
A set of Wera will last you a lifetime as long as you dont loose them
20% off here
I'll second the Wera Hex Plus.
Wera are THE Allen keys.
Are they also good for screwdrivers then?
Are bahco any good?
The Wera ones as mentioned are excellent, better than overpriced Park tools, although deep set grub screws cannot be accessed due to the shaft being thicker than the allen head, not a common problem, but it's their only flaw.
Wera screw drivers are good.
Their Lazer tips are good for general use
But if I can only have one set of screw drivers it's the hex through tang chisel drivers they do.
Mines are needing replaced now but they are 10 years old and well abused
They have been beat on and torqued on with a spanner they have been used to pry they have been used to chisel on occasion. Great things
Banco stuff hit and miss.
Some of its just rebadged junk.
Some of its really good.
I rate their socket sets and ratchets highly.
Their screw drivers much less so.
Third for Wera
This comes up from time to time, seems Wera is the default answer, but cos this is STW & we like bling:
PB Swiss Tool
&
Silca HX
add £100 to your £25 for the Silca!!!
I would also stick a t25 in the tool box. Never had one fail on disc rotor bolts since we got one
I bought PB Swiss hex and Torx. I suspect the Wera are in no way inferior, in fact I have read that Wera are slightly larger than the PB Swiss so may work better in less than perfect hex heads.
Came here to say Wera but beaten to it several times! Lovely tools.
I have Wera screwdriver bits for my drill and they are excellent.
If you're going to spend that much then Wera are the only sensible choice. They're my work set.
Just got a set if generic X-tools from CRC at home which work 99% of the time and cost about 1/4. The wera ones are great for getting thread locked and corroded bolts out though!
Wera for the win, though the sleeve can work loose and sometimes in the way for recessed heads. I might buy a second set and deglove the old ones to use this way (don't google degloved it will give you knightmares)
You can buy a set already degloved or take a blade to the last bit of the glove.
Had to do that with the 8 to get through the crank for pedals
I use Bondus allen wrenches and they seem to be decent quality. Like these ones
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Bondhus-10946-Balldriver%C2%AB-L-wrenches-1-5-5mm/dp/B0006O4AEC/ref=sr_1_13?qid=1566126239&refinements=p_89%3ABondhus&s=diy&sr=1-13
Not colour coded but fit allen bolts well and I've never rounded a fixing with them.
The Wera “degloved” are also cheaper, I bought one of each of the three main sizes years ago from RS Components… would buy again.
I've had a set of these for 15 plus years, had lots of hammer, 5mm one is bent a little now but never let me down, used on bikes, cars, diy etc
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Facom-Hex-Power-Key-Set/dp/B008ASX0QU
Amazon had some stainless Weras for the price of the black ones a few months back at least. I don’t pretend to know the difference other than the stainless ones were meant to be £60! Had them for Father’s Day, they’re lovely. I’m thinking of asking Father Cmas for the Torx version.
ANyone happen to know what "SB" stands for in Wera tools (not just L-keys) ?
(I wondered about "short body", i.e. shorter shaft)
I was told its German and relates to cheaper packaging
Edit
Selbstbedienungsverpackung
Edit backatyou
schittiböx ?
I think I must be the only person that doesn't like wera? I'd rather have a plain hex end instead of their shaped one, it's caused me problems especially with smaller sizes. Prefer my Inbus set and my teng t-handles
Wera do hex and hex plus.
You really do want both as you can have issues with some sorts of occasionally fittings
Wiha magic ring are really nice, as is the ergo holder. Magic ring is a spring that holds the bolt on the ball end. Comparable price with the bondhus ones but shinier and tricker.
https://www.screwfix.com/p/wiha-metric-magic-ring-hex-key-set-9-pieces/8095g?_requestid=345581
trail_rat
Member
Wera do hex and hex plus.
Ah, I did not know that! I thought they were all the hex plus.
Any set of chromium molybdenum Allen keys will last you a life time. A set for under a tenner from B&Q (or Halfords, can’t remember now) are well on their way to lasting me a lifetime and they’ve been well used over the years, every weekend back in the days I used to while away my weekends tinkering with old bangers, so the light bike duty they see these days is child’s play. Lasted me 23 or so years and counting. It’s an Allen key. Pretty basic tool really. Save your money for something worth investing in.
I had a set of Wiha with the magic spring rebadged as Halford Professional. The 5MM one broke recently but they must be well beyond 10 years old, manged to buy a single replacement, but it is colour coded green which looks a bit odd in the otherwise silver set. Would buy again.
I've got a set Facom that I have had for years still going strong.
Wera
Sorry but that is terrible advice wobbliscott.
Cheap poorly fitting hex keys keep workshops in business.
I've had cheap keys appear in sets from the likes of Halfords that have slop from new in bolts that quality hexes fit in snuggly.
If you get good ones then fair enough but to assume all that are of a certain material are made to the same tolerance is foolish.
Hex keys also wear - in a workshop environment we would get replace our 4 and 5s at least once a year -you could clearly see the discolouration where the surface finish had worn down-on measuring with a mic there was measurable wear -which when your working on thousands of pounds of customers bike is not cool.
I prefer the proper t handle ones, I've had teng ones and I really rate them. Wera seem nice for the L shape ones
So aside from the obvious, what’s the difference between the stainless and the ‘blacklaser’ Wera keys.
The stainless are £25 on amazon while the blacklaser are £33.??
Stainless keys should be used in stainless fittings if your working to some regulatory body guidance
Use of regular keys in stainless fittings will leave trace of material in stainless that will cause corrosion hot spots.
For regular joe it means your hex keys don't rust.
The material is naturally more brittle than chrome molybdenum though similar to that of chrome vanadium
Blacklaser is just pretty much annodising over chrome molybdenum
We have a set off both and a few assorted. Saves on our daughter taking the garage set and mates using them.
Can't tell the difference in use but the black do look nicer.
The amazon prices are a bit steep. Both our sets were less than £20 each.
Loads of deals out there.
We carry a cheap Aldi set in the van for the odd occasion when someone at a race is desperate for one but forgets to bring it back 😉
Another vote for the Wera Hex Plus.
The hex is slightly flared so it's much less likely to round a damaged/corroded/poorly sized screw head. Feels well made, colour coding is useful too.
Best allen keys I've ever used and sometimes available cheap on sportpursuit!
Been using Swisstool for many years for my work (machine tools). . Been very durable.
Facom set have had an absolute battering in work over the last few years and still work a treat.
Got myself a set of facom T handles for the bike at the companies expense too.
If you want something maybe a little cheaper the chromed up long ones from RS are really good as well.
I think I must be the only person that doesn’t like wera? I’d rather have a plain hex end instead of their shaped one, it’s caused me problems especially with smaller sizes.
I don't like the rainbox Wera ones I got for Christmas - the plastic coating makes the body a lot bigger and I find it's hard to judge what size hex key you're picking up (and its invevitably too small, unless you've ememorised the colours!).
Their plain stainless hex keys are exellent however. I've some older Facom ones that have been top notch too
Whilst we're all here, any decent pliers recommendations?
Yup
Tool porn! I work with Aero Engineers, here are some of the views: Stahwille are very very good, very accurate but can corrode more easily than others (my fav pliers) - typically Rolls Royce, RAF top choice. Some love the SnapOn, good but expensive. Some really like the Facom, have great shaped spanner’s and trick ratchets. Wera OK, they like the multi tools but generally avoid the rest of their tools. Craftsman, especially the older stuff well thought of. Other tools are available! Someone mentioned ALDI earlier, they can have some ok tools, damn good value but we have the Allen key set and the 4mm is 4.2mm some will not fit accurate bolts, all the others are ok but not as accurate as the Stahwille or SnapOn ones.
We also race and I can tell you in the amateur paddocks, the majority of tools are Halfords Pro, we have a lot in the car and bike tool boxes and we reckon they are excellent and fantastic value.
