Feedback Sports Reflex Fixed Torque Bit Driver

The Feedback Sports Reflex Fixed Torque Bit Driver has a sturdy, neat little design where the handle doubles as a bit holder, but unfortunately it fails to live up to its promise. The stumpy handle is so short it’s awkward to use, and while it’s fat it can only house four bits. On top of that, the fixed 5Nm rating on our test tool was inaccurate.

Torque wrenches with preset values are often T-shaped, which is great until you need to fit one in a bag or pocket. Making the main shaft here (which also contains the mechanism) removable is a good idea, as straight tubes are much more packable.

It also means you can slot replacement shafts with different torque presets straight in – we have a 4Nm to test as well – but more on that shortly.

Making the big plastic handle a holder for the main shaft and bits is also a good idea, but the execution could be better. A longer handle would hold more parts and make for easier wrenching; as it is, you’ve got room inside for one main tube and just four bits, and outside for about three-quarters of a finger on one side and one-and-a-half on the other. It doesn’t feel very secure. The slope on one end doesn’t help either, and while I assume it’s shaped like that to accommodate your thumb, I personally didn’t find the resulting grip particularly good for twisting.

Still, with a bit of hand adjustment you can get the job done, and it works. The 1/4in bits included are 4-6mm hexes and a T25 Torx.

What didn’t work, at least on ours, was the 5Nm setting. Fastening and unfastening bolts with a range of torque wrenches showed that this only actually gets to around 4.6Nm before clicking out. That’s outside the claimed +/- 4 per cent error range, which gives you 4.8-5.2Nm.

Better under than over, though, and to be fair, the optional 4Nm shaft (available separately for £28) did meet its rating at 4Nm exactly, so perhaps our 5Nm original was simply defective. This tool is a boxed final product, so it’s not exactly encouraging, though it would be replaced under warranty.

Feedback also sells a 6Nm version (also £28), meaning it has all the most common values covered, and each main shaft has a handy colour-coded ring as well as the rating engraved on the side. At 37g each you’re probably not going to want to carry all three though: you’d be at 169g all up, and you’d have spent £96.

There are cheaper and lighter options that give you a wider range of ratings than that.

Value

If you just want a simple fixed 5Nm tool, you have various choices for less than the Reflex’s £40. Birzman’s Torque Driver 5Nm is £24.98, for instance. That is T-shaped, however, and if you want a different setting you need a whole new tool, so if packability is key it might not suit.

> Six essential tools for cyclists who do their own bike maintenance

I reviewed the £56 Prestacycle Torqratchet Go last year – cheaper than the Feedback with one extra torque tube, and measuring from 3-12Nm with no extra parts. It was also a lot slimmer while having far more leverage. That’s been updated to a Lite version, for £64.

Alternatively, for £65 you can get the very neatly crafted Lezyne Pocket Torque Drive, which accurately covers 2-6Nm in 0.5Nm increments. It’s a lovely little thing that’s small and very portable, though it’s slower and fiddlier to use than any of these others.

Overall

Feedback Sports describes this as a ‘perfect balance of ergonomics, size and functionality for basic repairs mid-ride or away from home’, but I’m afraid I just can’t agree. The stumpy body is an awkward handle, its capacity to hold bits is limited, and ours proved inaccurate. And while the plastic handle is clearly the cheaper part – the actual workings are in the steel main extension – that makes the optional 4 or 6Nm extensions unappealingly expensive.

There are much cheaper alternatives for single-setting T-handles, and some very portable, more accurate and better-specced options if you want multiple settings.

Right to reply

We put Steve’s findings to Feedback Sports, to give the company the right to reply:

Re: “The stumpy handle is so short it’s awkward to use, and while it’s fat it can only house four bits.”

Feedback Sports says: “The length and girth of the handle is purposefully designed for compact size, ergonomic grip, modular function, and interior bit storage, including the oversized torque limiting bit. We feel that these competing objectives were achieved in the final shape.”

Re: “Fastening and unfastening bolts with a range of torque wrenches showed that this only actually gets to around 4.6Nm before clicking out. That’s outside the claimed +/- 4 percent error range, which gives you 4.8-5.2Nm.”

Feedback Sports says: “We do not discount the tester’s experience, but our testing does not reveal any such discrepancy.”

Verdict

Neatly portable, but awkward to use and ours was inaccurate

All the deals displayed on our review pages are pulled from a constantly updating database feed of the best affiliate deals available. The criteria for deciding on what are the best deals is who is offering the lowest, delivered price. In most cases we will be showing the very best deal available online, but sometimes you may be able to find an item cheaper. If you can please feel free to post a link in the comments box below. To find out more about affiliate links on road.cc click here.