Pedros L Hex Wrench Set

The Pedro's L Hex Wrench Set comprises nine wrenches that will do pretty much anything on your bikes. They're guaranteed for life, and for the money they're hard to go past.

With an ingrained need to see a matching toolboard of uniform colour, most bikeshops and well-equipped home workshops fall into one of two camps: Pedro's yellow or Park Tool blue. Following the ecosystem approach, the Pedro's L Hex Wrench Set is the same one that goes into the Pedro's Master Tool Kit 3.1 and its other pro-level toolsets. This is good kit, designed to go into a smaller toolcase for travels or if you are limited on space.

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Pedro's has been around since 1989, and its tools grace many a world tour team mechanic toolbox. The tools have been made in Taiwan for the last two decades by the same family firm exclusively, and they come with a lifetime warranty. Given the quality on show here, I can't imagine they have to honour too many warranty calls though.

The L Hex Wrench Set is made up of 1.5, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8 and 10mm hexes, each with a ball end for use at an angle in hard-to-get-at spaces or where a screw needs an initial light yet high-speed winding in, and a relatively short L-section to keep forces applied in the right direction and minimise unwanted twisting under load. The 10mm measures up at 23cm or 9in, giving plenty of leverage, while the 8mm is 20cm/8in, plenty of heft for stubborn pedals.

The set slots into a plastic holder, which allows each wrench to be rotated out of the way to remove a neighbour. With the numbers stamped on the side down to the 4mm wrench you'll always know what you are picking up, should you leave them scattered across the bench. To aid tidiness, the plastic holder can be hung up out of the way on a hook or nail once done.

> Beginner's Guide: The kit you need to do your own basic bike maintenance

After a month of daily use, the most-used keys – 5 and 6 – showed no signs of wear. None. Inspecting them now under a bright light, they look pristine. Even the keys doing heavy load work – 8 and 10mm – look like new.

For roughly twice the money, Pedro's does a hex set with plastic T-handles, and for shop use these are probably preferable thanks to improved ergonomics and speed of access. But for home or travel use, the L Hex Wrench set is more than adequate.

Verdict

A great choice for the home or travelling mechanic that should last a lifetime