Birzman M-Torque 10

Birzman's M-Torque 10 is a 10-piece multi-tool that is not only equipped with those side-of-the-road essentials but also a rather clever torque meter. With top-end frames and components requiring close tolerance tightening ranges it certainly takes the guesswork out of mid-ride tweaks and adjustments.

• Pros: Torque meter is easy to use, solid build quality
• Cons: Feels heavy, quite wide for small hands

If you take a look around your bike, especially at the contact points – stem, handlebar, seatpost and so on – you'll likely see 5Nm or similar dotted about near the bolts. This is the maximum torque value, the clamping force that you should put through the bolts – at the stem facing plate to stop the handlebar from twisting, for example.

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With components being made from carbon fibre, and thin-walled aluminium tubing, it's never been more important to not overtighten things. Undetectable fractures can be caused by too much force and you never know when that frame, fork or component might let go – or how catastrophically.

Despite knowing all that, I've never really been a big torque wrench user. After years of tinkering on and building bikes, plus years of working in various engineering workshops, I've developed a pretty good feel for how tight a bolt should feel.

That said, I found the M-Torque 10 really useful and easy to use, so I've become a bit of a torque wrench convert.

Having access to the torque function are the 4mm, 5mm and T25 Torx bits, those most likely to be used for tightening the likes of those components I mentioned above. The limit of 5Nm is most likely to be the value specified, which is why Birzman has set the M-Torque at that.

To use it, you open whichever tool you need out to 90 degrees and tighten the bolt up until you can feel some resistance. At this point you need to rest your thumb on the button – that silver disc you can see on the longest edge – while placing your index finger on the opposite corner. This is important, because the way you hold a torque wrench can affect the reading.

Continue to tighten the bolt and, as the button requires 5Nm to depress it, the moment the bolt reaches that value your thumb clicks the button.

The Birzman isn't like a typical torque wrench that won't let you continue to tighten to a higher torque; here you can. So basically, when the button clicks, STOP!

> Buyer's Guide: 5 of the best torque wrenches

The width of the M-Torque 10 does make it a bit of a balancing act, especially if you have small hands, and I can imagine the narrower M-Torque 4 being easier to use.

Birzman says that the torque meter doesn't need to be calibrated, and straight out of the box it matched my own torque wrench for the value. It's been bouncing around in a saddle bag and dropped a few times too, with the reading still being consistent.

Even without the torque meter the Birzman is still a very capable tool. Aside from the bits already mentioned, you also get 2, 3 and 8mm hex keys, plus a 6mm add-on, flat and crosshead screwdriver bits, and there's a chain tool too.

The 6mm piece hex key is L-shaped and inserts into the stubby 8mm piece, which is okay but some pedals use 8mm, and you sometimes need a little bit more leverage to get them undone. A neat touch is that the L-shape gives you plenty of leverage when you use it to push the pin out via the chain tool.

> Buyer's Guide: 10 of the best multi-tools

The quality of the multi-tool is pretty impressive, although the chromed finish on the actual tool pieces has started to show some corrosion, plus in your hand the M-Torque 10 feels a lot heavier than it actually is. A sign of its solidity perhaps.

Value-wise, at £34.99 it's not exactly screaming expensive – torque wrenches can be pricey, and while this is a pretty basic one it's a welcome addition to your tool kit, whether out on the road or at home.

You can buy cheaper without the torque wrench – Fabric's Sixteen Tool has a chain tool and a lot of the same bits and pieces of the Birzman, and is priced at £24.99, or there is the Pedros ICM Multi-tool, a 17-piece tool kit for £29.99.

I suppose it all comes down to how much you feel you need a torque wrench. I've grown quite attached to it.

Verdict

Very capable multi-tool with the added bonus that you can torque your bolts up away from the workshop