akmal's bike park

akmal's bike park

Monday 17 November 2008

joy with new mini toy

During a night ride with Naza and kids, I realized that I have lost my el cheapo trusty multi tool. I got it from Tesco Ampang about a year ago for RM12 (I think). With the absence of a proper set of bike tools back then, it helped me a lot with my tinkering on my bikes.
So long my friend, wherever you may be. You served me well, and we had great time learning. Well, time to move on now...

Some time ago, knowing what I need and what's nice to have for a compact multi tool to bring along my bike rides, Crank Brothers' Multi 17 seems to fit my requirements nicely. Well, it's in my wishlist, but never actually looked for it.

Now that I really need a replacement, I went to Aunty's bike shop in Taman Universiti and pondered over the selection of Topeak tools on display. Her's is the only place in JB that I know to get Topeaks. Only one caught my attention - Mini 18+. It has 18 tools in one compact offering. Plus, a nice neoprene bag to store the mini tool (won't be needing it, though - but nice, still). Weighing at 185g (versus CB M17's 168g) and at a very good price (after haggling her to mark down further than the displayed RM98), I took it home. I wasn't really bothered with the weight, anyway.

I have a soft spot for Topeak goods. Their designs are beautiful and a lot of thoughts being put in their products, eliminating the unnecessaries while maintaining aestethics. Coupled with the unavailability of CB in JB bike shops, perhaps that's why I opted for the Mini 18+.

I don't know why the '+', but I know for me it has all the tools I need to bring along on my biking outings, plus more. Complete with a chain tool and torx-25, I don't have to bring separate tools for each, as I do now. And there's also a flat blade for disc brake pads - to press the disc pads back into the calipers if brake levers are accidentally actuated while wheels are removed. I have yet tried out my hands on wheel truing, but now I have the necessary tools for it - 14g & 15g spoke wrenches (the 14g also doubles up as chain pin breaker tool). I can do without the single tire lever, though.

I'm happy with the purchase. Although we boys like to tinker with our new toys, I hope that I won't be needing it much along the trails or on the roadside. The assurance and availability of a reliable compact multi tool are what I need, really.

tool photo taken from Topeak's website.
Topeak logo and slogan copyright of Topeak Inc.

4 comments:

jafa @ the panjang said...

bro,
yesterday masa hash, aku met 1 guy nama david from melbourne. rantai dia snapped right after single trek lalang. as usual, aku jadik mobile mechanic la.. haha.

sbb aku malas nak bukak beg, aku pakai jek tool dia. very nice 'park tool'. tp aku tak dapat nak guna, mungkin sebab aku tak biasa. tp, tool dia tu susah nak handle, nak pulas pusher pin pun payah sbb allen key dia panjang.

at last, guna tool aku.. my very old 'beto' hand tool. wat i like abt my beto is, dia ada cangkuk utk hold side of the snapped chain. 1 point win over park tool.

aku rasa, beto aku menang bukan sebab aku dah biasa, tp sbb dia lebih praktikal. mcm tool ko gak, siap ada T25.

moral - tak semua mende mahal tu lagi bagus. lets check ur topeak during our next ride.

akmalhizam said...

I have yet to try the tool - each of it. Will run a test very soon, and my verdict on them.
End of the day, practicality wins hands down.

umar @ wan said...

Minyakkan kat tool tu... setengah tempat boleh berkarat

akmalhizam said...

Bro Umar, thanks for the tip.