Round up: Cool new tools for the home mechanic
Practical Bling (click to enlarge).
Updated: Dec 22, 2017
Industry Nine Matchsticks
There’s something special about heading out for a ride with nothing on your back, and that has prompted a surge of integrated storage solutions. The new Matchstick thru-axles from Industry Nine take that concept one step further. Available as a replacement front, rear, or axle set, the Matchstick allow you to carry several tool bits and a spare chain link in the hollow space inside your axle. The axle handle doubles as both a chain tool and a spoke wrench.
A pair of Industry Nine axles and tool bits is approximately 30 grams lighter than the comparable Fox or RockShox axle set (click to enlarge).
The Industry Nine Matchsticks will be available in an array of color combinations and the following axle standards: 15×100 (Fox and RockShox), 15×110 (Fox and RockShox), 12×142/148/150 (Maxle), 12×157, ABP 12×142/148/150 (Maxle), and Syntace X12 Style. Price for the front axle is $55, the rear is $65, and the toolkit will cost an additional $95. For more information visit www.industrynine.net.
As Fix It Sticks transitions from a scrappy Kickstarter to successful business, they continue to find ways of improving the little details (click to enlarge).
Fix it Sticks
The Kickstarter success story didn’t have any new product on display at Interbike, but they were excited to announce the retail price on their kits have been lowered.
This bottle cage carrying solution is still a prototype. Would you rock it? (click to enlarge)
They were also showing a sleek new retail package for their replaceable bits and a prototype mount that squeezes under a water bottle cage and can store two Fix it Sticks. For more information visit fixitsticks.com.
The new HX-One tool kit from Silca is some serious tool porn (click to enlarge).
Silca HX-One Home and Travel Essential Kit
The Silca HX-One Tool Kit contains a complete set of hex keys made from high quality S-2 tool steel, which is then coated with a thin-dense chrome. This coating provides the hardest finish possible, which extends both tool and fastener life. As a final touch, each tool is spray coated with a textured polymer finish for maximum grip.
The kit also contains 6 Torx sizes, 2 Phillips heads, and 2 flat heads, but the adapter will fit any standard 1/4” bit (click to enlarge).
A proprietary Silca 17-4 stainless magnetic adapter turns the 6mm hex key into a 1/4” socket. The entire collection retails for $125 and is encased in a beautiful box made from hand sanded sustainable Beech wood. For more information visit silca.cc.
Park Tools
Torque wrenches are expensive and can be hassle to use. They must be zeroed out after every use, live in fancy cases, and require you to actually keep your bits organized. These new preset and adjustable torque wrenches from Park Tools are designed to make using them second nature. The tools are compact enough to hang on the work bench wall, store an assortment of removable bits in the handle, and are always ready to use.
All of the new torque wrenches will ship with a 3, 4, 5 mm, and T25 bit stored in the handle (click to enlarge).
The are three non-adjustable versions that release at 4, 5, and 6 Nm respectively. The adjustable version can be set between 4-6Nm in .5 Nm increments. The preset models will retail individually for $45, MSRP for the adjustable version is $65.
The built in pressure gauge reads 0-160 psi (or 0-11 bars if you prefer).
For 2016, the INF-2 Shop Inflator was updated with a more durable, dual-sided, 360-degree Presta and Schrader head. The body was lightened and the trigger was reshaped to improve hanging options. Retail is $127.
The DT-5 and HPB-1kits are targeted towards shops, but we’d still love to have a set in our home garage.
Park Tool also released an updated Disc Facing Kit that can now face everything, in any axle width… at least until the next wave of standards. Tool geeks will also be pumped on the new hub and BB bearing press kits. For more information visit www.parktool.com.
This article is part of Mtbr’s coverage of the Interbike trade show in Las Vegas. For more from Interbike CLICK HERE.
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