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2023 Wera Tools Tools Bicycle Set 15.jpg£38.99
VERDICT:
Clever design that gets the most out of its size, but it lacks some essential tool bits
Takes up very little room
Clever design
Plenty of strength in the tyre levers
Small bits can easily be lost
Pricey for what it offers
Weight:
47g
Contact:
At road.cc every product is thoroughly tested for as long as it takes to get a proper insight into how well it works. Our reviewers are experienced cyclists that we trust to be objective. While we strive to ensure that opinions expressed are backed up by facts, reviews are by their nature an informed opinion, not a definitive verdict. We don't intentionally try to break anything (except locks) but we do try to look for weak points in any design. The overall score is not just an average of the other scores: it reflects both a product's function and value – with value determined by how a product compares with items of similar spec, quality, and price.
What the road.cc scores meanGood scores are more common than bad, because fortunately good products are more common than bad.
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The Wera Tools Bicycle Set 15 is a neat solution for mid-ride maintenance if minimalism and space saving is your focus. It's a smart piece of kit, but quite pricey for what it is.
The Bicycle Set 15 is based around three tyre levers which also function as tool holders, and give a total of – surprise! – 15 uses. That's quite impressive considering the size of the package.
The key to achieving it is the design of the 4-in-1 bits, which are stepped with multiple bit sizes – one has 3, 4, 5 and 6mm hex keys, while the other has a 2.5, 5 and 6mm hexes plus a Torx T25. The tips are spring-loaded and can slide inside the rest, so if you want to use the bigger key you just push until it engages.
Two of the tyre levers have hexagonal 1/4in bit holders and become handles. Wera says one can take up to 10Nm of torque, while using two will obviously double that.
The tool bits look to be made from hardened steel. They're hardwearing and showing no signs of rust after being stored in a saddle bag in the rain.
The tyre levers are glass-reinforced plastic and are long and stiff enough to get all but the most stubborn of tyres off. The lip for hooking under the bead is quite small though, so you do really need to get the lever right in there to make sure it doesn't slip.
If you need to remove a tubeless valve, the third lever has a keyhole for it.
Overall, the Wera works well for essential tweaks out on the road or trail, and you should have all the tools you need for the bolts on your bike – although it's not as loaded as some multi-tools at this price.
The bits remain secure when pressed into the levers, so accidental loss shouldn't be an issue. It does make them a bit faffy to get out though; not an issue with warm hands and no gloves, but I'm not sure I'd want to be faffing with this in the darkness, the rain and the cold.
Value
The price is £38.99, which is quite steep for what is on offer, although I have seen it as low as £25 on the internet.
The Lezyne Rap II 19 CO2 contains many more tools and is £32. It lacks tyre levers, but everything else is covered.
The Ryder Innovation Groove has five double-ended bits that come in a small case, but four can fit inside the handle so it's easy to ditch that extra bulk. I discovered the handle isn't the most comfortable to use, but it's a fair bit cheaper at just £22.99.
In the other direction price wise you'll find the Wolf Tooth 6-Bit Hex Wrench Multi-tool – another neat solution, we thought – at £50.
Overall
This is good at what it does thanks to hardwearing bits and good leverage, but perhaps it doesn't quite do enough. There are some gaps in its range - like screwdriver bits for fettling derailleur stop points – but it does at least take up very little room in your pocket or saddlebag.
Verdict
Clever design that gets the most out of its size, but it lacks some essential tool bits
road.cc test report
Make and model: Wera Tools Bicycle Set 15
Size tested: Bicycle Set 15 5pc
Tell us what the product is for and who it's aimed at. What do the manufacturers say about it? How does that compare to your own feelings about it?
Wera says, "Tool specialist Wera presents Bicycle set 15, ultra compact and lightweight bike tools with two quadruple bits and three tyre levers. Four different screw profiles can be operated with just one bit."
Tell us some more about the technical aspects of the product?
Wera says:
"All Wera tools are covered by a lifetime guarantee."
Set includes:
2 x 9504 tyre jack with bit mounting 2
1 x 9505 tyre jack with bit mounting 3
1 x 9506 4-in-1 bit 1
1 x 9507 4-in-1 bit 2
Rate the product for quality of construction:
7/10
Rate the product for performance:
7/10
Rate the product for durability:
8/10
Comes with a full lifetime guarantee.
Rate the product for weight (if applicable)
7/10
Rate the product for comfort (if applicable)
7/10
Rate the product for value:
5/10
Tell us how the product performed overall when used for its designed purpose
It's easy to use and to put plenty of force through.
Tell us what you particularly liked about the product
Clever use of the spring-loaded ends on the tools.
Tell us what you particularly disliked about the product
Tool bits can be tricky to eject from the levers.
How does the price compare to that of similar products in the market, including ones recently tested on road.cc?
It's more expensive than multi-tools that offer more functions.
Did you enjoy using the product? Yes
Would you consider buying the product? Not sure, it's not quite as comprehensive as some multitools
Would you recommend the product to a friend? Yes
Use this box to explain your overall score
This gives a good selection of tools in a light and space-saving design, but it's pricey for what it is actually delivering.
About the tester
Age: 44
I usually ride: This month's test bike My best bike is: B'Twin Ultra CF draped in the latest bling test components
I've been riding for: Over 20 years I ride: Every day I would class myself as: Expert
I regularly do the following types of riding: time trialling, commuting, club rides, sportives, fixed/singlespeed,
Since writing his first bike review for road.cc back in early 2009 senior product reviewer Stu has tested more than a thousand pieces of kit, and hundreds of bikes.
With an HND in mechanical engineering and previous roles as a CNC programmer/machinist, draughtsman and development engineer (working in new product design) Stu understands what it takes to bring a product to market. A mix of that knowledge combined with his love of road and gravel cycling puts him in the ideal position to put the latest kit through its paces.
He first made the switch to road cycling in 1999, primarily for fitness, but it didn’t take long for his competitive side to take over which led to around ten years as a time triallist and some pretty decent results. These days though riding is more about escapism, keeping the weight off and just enjoying the fact that he gets to ride the latest technology as part of his day job.
Latest Comments
- eburtthebike 3 hours 5 min ago
Well, it is humanity's defining characteristic: better get used to it.
- hawkinspeter 3 hours 56 min ago
I would've thought that the alternative to weaving between pedestrians is riding into them. It sounds like a catch-all reason as they can simply...
- hawkinspeter 4 hours 4 min ago
They don't make them like they used to
- ktache 4 hours 39 min ago
Lovely paint job, and the concealed thru axle end is a nice touch, but that frame, and I'm not casting aspersions on anyone who will ride them...
- LongitudeLatitude 4 hours 55 min ago
Thanks for using my picture of chocolate in your opening picture. The original can be found here, chocolate! | LongitudeLatitude | Flickr.
- lesterama 5 hours 22 min ago
Fair comments. I'll put my hands up and say I got the wrong end of the stick with this one. ¡Feliz navidad! Here's a pic for the season of goodwill.
- Mike Holmes 5 hours 26 min ago
A trip down memory lane (or street) for me - Harry Quinn's bike shop was at the top of our Street and I used to spend time staring at the bikes and...
- Bigtwin 5 hours 41 min ago
Because people aren't buying those cars. They are effecively renting them on PCPs or via companies. The bike market doesn't work like that.
Add new comment
9 comments
Tyre Glider replaces tyre levers entirely https://rehook.bike/products/rehook-tyre-glider-no-more-tyre-levers
It's not covered in the review but are these HexPlus bits?
I've found Wera's HexPlus shaped allen keys can really save a soft bolt that's starting to round out. They're a great product and well worth spending a small premium for IMHO.
e.g. the super soft aluminium thru-axle that came with my Tailfin rack is really easy to round out if you torque it up correctly. That's a big issue if you're on a tour and get a rear flat. You're not going to get it off with just a mini-tool.
From the photo's these don't look like HexPlus and if that's then case it's a miss oppertunity.
You're right - the squishy double-ended bits of Bicycle Set 15 don't have hex-plus.
Another review I came across on YouBoob demonstrates that the tyre lever hex holes for use as the arm in using the bits in a wrench configuration will round the lever's hex hole (it being plastic) above a certain low torque. Putting the bits into two stacked levers will improve things enough to apply typical torques of 5 - 6Nm, though. Seems a fiddle.
BS 15 seems a poor tool collection compared to the more standard mini-tool collections from Topeak, Lezyne et al, that have more tool functions, are more resilient and cost half as much.
On the other hand, consider Wera's low torque screwdriver torque "wrenches". These are perfek for many of the smaller bolts and nuts to be found on bicycles, such as those blasted bleed cap bolts on hydraulic brake STI levers:
https://products.wera.de/en/torque_tools_series_7400_kraftform_torque_sc...
Horribly expensive, though.
I really want to like the Wera stuff, but it seems that most of it is either poorly executed or ridiculously expensive.
The poor execution is of the description of the packaged sets of tools and bits rather than of the tools themselves. If you have need for a tool of a type made by Wera, you'll generally find that their version of that tool works extremely well.
The torque wrenches are particularly good, not least because they offer a service to recalibrate them to a very high accuracy after you've used them for a lot of work/time. Many less expensive torque wrenches don't start out as very accurate and can rapidly degrade even more. For low torque applications like those needed for many bicycle bits, an inaccurate torque wrench is no good thing.
It is all expensive, comparatively-speaking, though. There are often significant discounts to be found on the likes of Amazon if you have a serious need for a high quality tool of a type made by Wera.
I really rate my micro screw driver set and chose Wera over Park for my Torx set. Happy with them too.
A Wera addict, me. Their tools are very high quality. However .... .
Their marketing department has been allowed to pursue sales attempts without any understanding of the meaning of some of the classifications they're employing to describe the tool sets they're trying to sell. Their "woodworking" set, for example, is of little use to a woodworker and also includes a couple of token woodworking tools not designed or made by Wera.
Their "bicycle sets" have a similar issue. This one is an example of a portable toolset that lacks a number of functions commonly found in dozens of other portable bicycle tools, at half the price, even for some very good ones. They also attempt to sell a pack of spanners of many different sizes as a bicycle set, despite 90% of the nut sizes covered never appearing on any bike I've ever come across. And so on.
Personally I feel Wera has made a mistake in allowing their marketing people to make such silly claims about these "sets" as the poor match to actual cyclist tool requirements undermines the Wera good name as an otherwise well-deserved tool-making enterprise of exceptional quality. Offering a set of tools that are available as just that but then sticking a "bicycling" label on them is poor marketing indeed if such sets either lack essential tools or come (at a high price) with dozens that are not required for bike fixing; or both.
The only true bicycle tools are a few bits and their holders, two or three nut drivers, the tyre levers, the lower-torque value torque wrenches and a (not that good) chain breaker/maker. Everything else is really just a lot of (very good) general engineering tools.
On the other hand, I do find Wera tools that are of use with bikes to work very well indeed, in terms of function and fit. Anyone want the list?
Oh, go on then!
Oooh - a chance to tool-gloat!
First, the torque wrenches:
These are screwdriver-shaped but are good for dealing with the teeny torque-sensitive screws often found on modern bicycle gubbins, particularly gear and brake parts. The two varieties handle torque settings between 0.3 - 3.0 Nm.
https://products.wera.de/en/torque_tools_series_7400_kraftform_torque_sc...
This one is good for torques between 2.0 - 12.0 Nm but can also be used as a standard wrench via a slip-sleeve "lever". It also prevents you over-torquing (always a danger with standard-design torque wrenches) as once the set value is reached a clutch prevents the application of any more turning of the tool and bit.
https://products.wera.de/en/torque_tools_safe-torque_torque_wrenches_and...
The things are very well made and ergnomically "right". They come calibrated to a high standard and can be re-calibrated (for a fee) by a Wera agent situated somewhere in Derbyshire, for we Blighters.
To get a series of Wera bits appropriate for bikes, this set is probably optimum:
https://products.wera.de/en/tools_for_bicycles_and_e-bikes_bicycle_set_3...
Bit sets are a lot cheaper than buying each single bit but often have a lot of bits that you never use. Not so with this set.
It has many 1/4" hex bit types and sizes, with hex-plus, torx, blade and even Philips bits that meet the JIS standard (a rarity) used on older Shimano gubbins. It includes a mini ratcheting wrench, small screwdriver handle and a couple of adapters, including one to mount the various nut-drivers included. Also, two of those Wera tyre levers. All in a tough folder with a sub-folder for taking a few bits and the mini-ratchet out on the road, in your jersey pocket.
It costs too much at full price but seems to get discounted by about 25% in by many retailers, if you keep your eyes peeled.
The next item is one of those multi-configuration tools that saves you rummaging in the tool box for a tool with just one of its many features - a 1/4" drive Zyklops that can turn any bit (some via adapters) in the above-mentioned set:
https://products.wera.de/en/zyklop_ratchets_and_accessories_the_zyklop_r...
This is the tool handle that gets used for everything not needing a torque setting.
For years I used a variety of adjustable spanners, of the standard kind, on bikes and many other things. They've all gone to the charity shop now, replaced by these:
https://products.wera.de/en/joker_6004_joker_self-setting_adjustable_spa...
The great virtues of these spanner types are that:
* they self-adjust across the range of their jaw-gap, making it irrelevant whwther the bolt head is metric, imperial or any other standard width.
* they have a built-in ratcheting mechanism that also reduces the minimum turning arc from the usual 60 degrees to 30 degrees, making them good for turning bolts buried in the gubbins-depths.
Again, wait for the often-seen 25% discount price.
Finally, a couple of accessories that improve the ability to get the abve tools into awkward places:
https://products.wera.de/en/zyklop_ratchets_and_accessories_the_zyklop_r...
https://products.wera.de/en/zyklop_ratchets_and_accessories_the_zyklop_r...
https://products.wera.de/en/zyklop_ratchets_and_accessories_the_zyklop_r...
That's it (so far). Maybe a 10 - 50Nm torque wrench one day .........