Stique Multilever

We love a bit of Kickstarter action here on road.cc, it's a chance to pretend you're one of the millionaire investors on Dragons' Den. The crowd-funding site is a veritable hive of interesting ideas, some of them ingenious and a few of them just plain nuts. Last year at the Cycle Show we met the guys behind Stique, a successful Kickstarter funding campaign which hit its target last year. They'd come up with this Multilever, a concept that combines the multitool with some beefy tyre levers into a single pocket-friendly cyclist's tool.

The name Stique is a contraction of the cycling term domestique, the hard-working team member who fetches and carries during a race and does whatever is necessary to help his team leader. Impressively, the Multilever is made in the UK, and was one of that rare breed of Kickstarter projects that succeeded in getting the first production run out to the backers on time. Stique gave us one of the early units to play with, so how does it stack up?

The multitool market is certainly a busy one, although the majority of them are fairly similar-looking with a raft of fold out tools in a handle. Kudos, then, to Stique for coming up with a new form factor. They're not the first to integrate tyre levers into a multitool, but the levers here form the mainstay of the structure rather than the flimsy plastic ones tacked onto the side of other multitools. There are three levers, into which are fitted a selection of tools and some recesses for the other emergency essentials that they reckon you'll want to have with you on a ride.

Two of the levers are for your tyre and one is a bottle opener. In addition, there's a moulded-in 1/4in tool holder with four bits - 4mm and 5mm Allen, T25 Torx and a No. 2 Philips. There's space to secure a couple of £1 coins, a couple of spare split chain links, some puncture patches and a battery for a cycle computer or HRM. Unusually, Stique have also included a small thermometer - not a particularly accurate one though. There's also a couple of integrated spoke nipple wrenches (3.3mm and 3.5mm), useful if you need some emergency wheel straightening when out and about.

The levers are made of plastic, but you'd struggle to break them. For one, they're each around 10mm thick, but also the material used is an engineering plastic sourced from the car industry where - Stique tell us - it is used to replace metal where weight-reduction is needed. They're tough as hell, in short.

The three levers are held together with tiny magnets and they click together in a rather satisfying fashion. One lever has a rubberised over-moulding at one end which provides secure storage for the tool bits. The tool holder has a magnet in it to secure whichever bit you're using. On our test unit, this magnet came unstuck pretty rapidly, and on talking to Stique we learnt that this was an issue with a batch of pre-production units. The glue used wasn't up to the job. As there's nothing else retaining the tool bit you're using, it's a bit of a problem. The good news is that the design was changed for the first full production run and they've ensured that the magnet cannot escape, by moulding it in from the rear of the tool holder.

As tyre levers those included here are certainly very effective. The most recalcitrant combination of tyre and rim were no match for the sheer leverage that you can get with them, without the slightest hint of "am I about to break this?" Likewise you can get more leverage on the Allen tool bits than is possible with some multitools. A problem that I've found with most multitools is still present here, however - accessing awkward-to-reach screws can be a problem, such as those holding your bottle cage in place. That's where there's no beating a conventional right-angle or T-style Allen wrench. My ideal multitool, I've decided, would include small right-angle Allen keys that you could actually remove and use separately from the main unit.

The 4mm and 5mm Allen tool bits take care of most things you'll need to tweak or tighten while out riding, but not necessarily all. I've got 3mm hex-head screws holding bottle cages on one of my frames and on a rack too. Offering only two Allen bolt sizes is a bold (some might say questionable) move - you might argue that this will be all you need 90% of the time, but you'll curse it when you do need a different size. For me it's a weakness here, especially when even the cheapest multitools have at least 5 different hex tools built in. Torx T25 is the size used for disc brake rotor bolts, and it is used in some groupsets, especially on mountain bikes. The Philips bit will be useful for trimming most models of derailleur so is certainly worth having, as are the nipple wrenches in case you need to straighten a wheel while out and about.

The various recesses and clips for holding things are all well and good if your idea of what you need to carry on a ride matches with that of the Stique designers. Mine doesn't really, as my preference is for old-school patches which need glue and I guess I must buy more expensive mid-ride cake. And I've never seen any need to carry a spare battery with me.

So as tyre levers they are very good. As a multi-tool they're ok, but have a smaller selection of tools than even the very cheapest alternatives. The concept of a single unit that has everything covered is a tempting one, but for me it doesn't really stand up. If you carry the exact same things that the guys behind Stique carry, you'll love this. I don't, and for that reason, I'm out.

We understand that Stique are also working on a Mk2 version which will ditch the thermometer and add in a chain breaker. This sounds like a smart idea to us, although apparently the price will be a bit higher.

Verdict

Novel integration of chunky tyre levers in a multitool; really needs a wider selection of tools