Yawn – Best Allen Keys? Wera? Bondhus?

I’m getting a bit fed up with my allen keys rounding so think it’s time to invest in a decent set.

I saw SportPursuit have Wera’s on sale and have seen a few online recommendations for Bondhaus. Are these both solid options? Anything else worth looking at?

Thanks in advance
Will

Well, only Allen make Allen keys…… 😉

I have this Proxxon set.

They’re very good quality fit wise and have been very robust.

I’ve got these after quite a few recommendations on here. Not used them loads but all the reviews are good so I’m hopeful 😀

TBH any decent set won’t round the tool in normal person use, unless you’re a monkey… WERA do a very nice allen key set but for most jobs I prefer a T (or P) handle tbh.

Don’t judge me- mine are Draper Expert, I’ve had em about 15 years probably and they’re still going strong.

Don’t judge me- mine are Draper Expert

! Mine are Lidl! about £8! They have been and continue to be excellent.

PB Swiss (colour coded) FTW.

TBH any of the major brands should be fine(Wera/Bondhus/etc) I’ve got a Bahco set which I picked up from Amazon for approx. £10 which have been great.
I’ve also got Teng, Wera and Bondhus tools (I work in Engineering, so can sort of justify my tool fetish)

If you are a proper primate, with all the mechanical sympathy of an earthquake you’ll break anything eventually.

I’ve had a set of the wera ones for prob about 8 years or so and still perfectly usable (and still a complete set – which is very unlike me!)

Bondhus/Park (Made by Bondhus) for the sensible answer, for the less sensible answer….

Screwfix and the usual screwfix rule of buying the one that isn’t the cheapest (unless you really do only need the tool once).

Wera colour coded here. Excellent stuff.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/WERA-BARGAIN-COLOUR-HEX-ALLEN-KEY-SET-EXTRA-LONG-1-5mm-10mm-BOXED-AND-CLIP-/361408406272?hash=item54259ea300:g:KZkAAOSwu4BV6bx3

The down side of the Wera sets is that the plastic sleeve eventually slips around a little. Which means spinning the keys by the shaft before nipping it up is impossible. Then don’t go in and out of the holder thingy so easily.

As keys, they keep their shape and are otheriwse great. I’d probably buy them again, but only when they are discounted.

I have the wera stainless set. I picked them up on eBay cheaper than the current deal on sports pursuit .
They’re really nice for most of the jobs but as its only the end which is hex, and the shaft is round ( and thicker ) they sometimes won’t work.
An example of this is adjusting the pads on TRP Spyres.

I think there are some Wera sets on Sports Pursuit at the moment. Not sure on pricing but worth checking before taking the plunge.

ooo….. stainless Wera keys on sportpursuit.

Got a set of Weras earlier this year – best £20 my wife ever spent (they were a birthday present). A real night and day difference compared to cheap tat.

I’ve got one of the Wera 9-piece sets as above – good for keeping in the car just in case something big/small/odd sized needs adjusting and it’s not on a multitool.

T/P handle ones are nicer for workshop use though.

T Handle set example

Bought a 4mm & 5mm of these and also have a set of their ‘normal’ ballpoint hex keys.

We use Wera in our workshop, they’re very good especially on slightly-worn hex heads but, as others have mentioned, eventually the plastic sleeves can loosen and rotate. Not much of a problem as they’ll glue back into place if you clean them first.

I have the wera stainless set. I picked them up on eBay cheaper than the current deal on sports pursuit .

It’s worth noting that Wera make the stainless set for use on stainless steel bolts, and the non-stainless set for use on non-stainless bolts. This is because using non-stainless tools on stainless bolts can cause corrosion (even though they’re stainless steel), and vice versa. Many bolts on bikes aren’t stainless, they’re galvanised or otherwise hardened, so be careful which tools you use on which metals.

I bought a set of the nice ones they have in Halfords (they keep them in locked display cases) and they’ve been spot on for 10 years or so. I think they were about £20.

I bought a cheapo set of Edinburgh Bike Coop coloured ones in a hurry a few years back for about £8 they have been great, still sharp now and better than the Silverline ones I got last year.

Got a set of Bahco ones off Amazon for around £10. I only bought them because I needed a 1.5mm key but figured a second set of keys would come in handy

Have had a set of P-handled Park (which are Bondhus anyway I believe) for years.

Any branded ones should do the job

EDIT

Link for the Bahco set £11.20

I have wera coloured ones which seem good so far….

+1 for the PB swiss tool ones

forgot to say – don’t buy Silverline – absolute crap.

Got a set of Bahco ones off Amazon for around £10. I only bought them because I needed a 1.5mm key but figured a second set of keys would come in handy

I bought a couple of these sets. They’re OK, but I left one set in a bag which got wet and they rusted (despite the claim they’re “resistant to corrosion”) which doesn’t affect the use but looks a bit crap. (And makes me think the quality is less than implied).

Have a set of Weras which are ace (not the pretty coloured ones mentioned here) as they have an O-ring on the end which grips the bolt. Seem top quality as well.

“don’t buy Silverline”

should be a life rule.

PB Swiss Tool for me.

SportPursuit have Wera’s on sale

Just check other prices first. I’ve been after a set of wera screwdrivers for a while, came up on sports pursuit at the weekend but £6 cheaper on amazon so not quite the bargain it was made out to be.

wwaswas is the holder magnetic on the proxxon set?

just tried one and it wasn’t magnetic on either tip.

Are the titanium ones any good, or are do they tend to snap/bend/wear?

I had a set of Bondhus way back when and to be honest, they didn’t seem any better than generic Cro-Van keys.

Recently got a set of T handled jobbies, both Allen and Torx from Lidl and they are the bomdiggy.

Can’t believe no-ones mentioned Facom. I’ve had some for about 20 years with regular use when I was a proper mechanic & theyr’e still a tight fit.

Doe anyone else find the Park style tools with the big plastic handle at the bend a bit of a nuisance? I find the handle gets in the way when trying to reach certain bolts, eg rear brake mount bolts on road bikes. Also, the short end is too short to fit in to some rear mech mounting bolts so you have to use the round end for a 10nm fit. The other other thing is that they are badly balanced so I drop them all the time.

Can’t believe no-ones mentioned Facom

At nearly £12 (per key!) I’d want them to last a while. They do look very nice though…

wwaswas – Member

just tried one and it wasn’t magnetic on either tip.

I mean the hex key holder, not the hex key itself.

At nearly £12 (per key!) I’d want them to last a while. They do look very nice though…

Naa not them, these…

42345479 by jimmyg352[/url], on Flickr

I don’t think I’ve ever bought an Allen key in the past 40 years, the Roebuck ones from Buck & Hickman work fine for me and work pays for them.