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Lezyne Carbon-10 tool

8
£79.99

VERDICT:

8
10
Superlight multitool with a good selection of functions although the price tag is a whopper
Weight: 
80g
Contact: 
www.upgradebikes.co.uk

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.

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The Lezyne Carbon-10 multitool is seriously light yet it manages to pack in most of the key features you need to get home should you suffer a mechanical out on the road.

You know a multitool is going to be expensive when it arrives in its own shiny tin with its name on the top. Open up the tin and you find a sleek-looking object inside...

Those sideplates are structural carbon fibre rather than alloy with carbon over the top, and the bolts are titanium – this thing really is as light as it looks.

The tools themselves are stainless steel, forged and then CNC machined to get rid of any excess weight. They've even removed material from the sides of the Allen keys towards the pivot end where they don't need to be hexagonal. Pared down, then.

You get the Allen keys you're most likely to need from 2mm up to 8mm. The structure of the multitool sits well in your palm to give you a firm hold and you get as much leverage as you'll need for most jobs. That said, you'll struggle to remove stubborn pedals from crank arms (assuming your pedals take an Allen key) and there's certainly not enough leverage with the 8mm Allen key to tighten crank bolts enough to ride far.

You get a couple of Torx (star shaped) screwdrivers here that are less useful in the road world than in mountain biking, although you might have Torx bolts holding your chainrings in place, for instance.

You'd have to say that using the chain tool is pretty fiddly if you have sausage fingers because the parts are very, very small... but how many 80g multitools have a chain tool in the first place? It does work fine.

For most problems the Carbon-10 does a very good job and the tools themselves are tough. I've not managed to round any off yet; not even close.

Of course, if you want something as small and lightweight as this, there are going to be omissions. There's no spoke wrench, for example, so if your wheel goes wildly out of true you'd better have your phone handy. But whatever multitool you pack, there will always be limitations.

All in all, though, this diddy multitool proves to be very functional. The only tricky bit is stomaching the, um, interesting price.

Functions

Allen keys: 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8mm

Torx (star shaped) screwdrivers: T25 and T30

Chain tool (9/10-speed chain)

Crosshead screwdriver

Verdict

Superlight multitool with a good selection of functions although the price tag is a whopper.

If you're thinking of buying this product using a cashback deal why not use the road.cc Top Cashback page and get some top cashback while helping to support your favourite independent cycling website

road.cc test report

Make and model: Lezyne Carbon 10 tool

Size tested: n/a

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?

Lezyne say, "Carbon Tools use carbon, aluminum, and titanium to make the ultimate multi-tools. FCT (full carbon technology) side plates and custom machined titanium hardware keep the weight down without sacrificing tool rigidity or performance. Heavily machined and forged Center-Pivot stainless steel bits are lightweight and durable. Reduced-weight forged and CNC-machined aluminum chain breaker for 9/10 speed chains."

So, yes, Lezyne have worked hard to keep the weight down and the quality high. It looks really neat too. I didn't realise you could have cool multitools before, but it turns out you can.

Tell us some more about the technical aspects of the product?

This is what Lezyne say about the Full Carbon Technology side plates:

"Carbon components made of 100% structural carbon fiber and require no metal reinforcement resulting in lighter and stronger components."

Rate the product for quality of construction:
 
8/10
Rate the product for performance:
 
8/10
Rate the product for durability:
 
8/10
Rate the product for weight, if applicable:
 
10/10
Rate the product for comfort, if applicable:
 
7/10
Rate the product for value:
 
5/10

A tricky one to mark. On the one hand, we can see that it's an expensive one to produce given that it has carbon and titanium parts and lots of CNC machining. On the other, you're paying 80 quid for a multitool, albeit a really good one.

Tell us how the product performed overall when used for its designed purpose

It performs well and it's a lot tougher than it looks.

Tell us what you particularly liked about the product

The lightness, the fact that it's so compact, the tools are tough enough to work properly.

Tell us what you particularly disliked about the product

I found the chain tool a bit fiddly to use.

Did you enjoy using the product? Yes.

Would you consider buying the product? Too expensive for me.

Would you recommend the product to a friend? Yeah, if they're after something superlight and they have the cash.

Overall rating: 8/10

About the tester

Age: 41  Height: 190cm  Weight: 75kg

I usually ride:   My best bike is:

I've been riding for: Over 20 years  I ride: Most days  I would class myself as: Expert

I regularly do the following types of riding: time trialling, commuting, club rides, sportives, general fitness riding,

 

Mat has been in cycling media since 1996, on titles including BikeRadar, Total Bike, Total Mountain Bike, What Mountain Bike and Mountain Biking UK, and he has been editor of 220 Triathlon and Cycling Plus. Mat has been road.cc technical editor for over a decade, testing bikes, fettling the latest kit, and trying out the most up-to-the-minute clothing. We send him off around the world to get all the news from launches and shows too. He has won his category in Ironman UK 70.3 and finished on the podium in both marathons he has run. Mat is a Cambridge graduate who did a post-grad in magazine journalism, and he is a winner of the Cycling Media Award for Specialist Online Writer. Now over 50, he's riding road and gravel bikes most days for fun and fitness rather than training for competitions.

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3 comments

Avatar
step-hent | 11 years ago
0 likes

I have the SV10, which is also a more reasonable price. As Simon E says, it's beautifully finished and it's well designed too - very small and neat for what it packs in. I'm a big fan of Lezyne stuff - not sure I'd pay the extra £50 for carbon side plates and ti bolts over my SV10, but if it's anything like the rest of their stuff, it will last an age, so cost per year/cost per use is likely to be reasonable in the end.

Avatar
Simon E | 11 years ago
0 likes

I think the V10 has the same toolset at a considerably more favourable price.

I considered the V10 but ended up buying the minimalist V5. Nice build quality, beautifully finished.

Avatar
jezzzer | 11 years ago
0 likes

I thought for a moment that I was going to learn something there - was agog to learn the "how to use your mobile to true your wheel" trick. Then I realised what you meant  1

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