Silca makes some of the finest tools we’ve come across here at road.cc, such as the lovely HX-One Home and Travel Took Kit, but they’re not exactly affordable. The newly launched HX Two and Three Hex Allen toolsets aim to change that, costing £75 and £35 respectively.
- Beginner's guide to bike tools
The HX-Two (£75) set is a travel version of the HX-One Home Essential Kit and includes 18 tools, split between 10, 8, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2.5, 2, and 1.5mm Allen tools and T30, T27, T25, T20, T15, T10, T9, T8 and T7 Torx tools.
The tools are designed, as you’d expect at this price, to be strong and durable, so they are made from the company’s exclusive nine-step heat treated S2 steel. To make handling the tools easier, they’re finished with a polymer coating over the top to increase the grip, stopping them slipping in your fingers.
Silca sources the S2 steel from Switzerland. It’s claimed to be a whopping 50% harder than the regular steel used in most cheaper tools, and 20-30% harder than that used by other high-end tool manufacturers like Wiha, Wera and Bondhus.
A moulded plastic holder keeps the tools organised and is the perfect setup for the home mechanic doing occasional fettling or for adding to a kit bag when travelling to races and events.
The HX-Three set (£35) comprises nine Allen tools made from the same S2 heat treated steel and satin chrome finish as the more expensive HX-Two kit. Doing without the Torx tools obviously helps keep the cost down quite a bit.
Torx bolts are still relatively rare on most modern road bikes so doing without them won’t be an issue for most cyclists, making this toolkit a good choice.
More at https://silca.cc
David has worked on the road.cc tech team since July 2012. Previously he was editor of Bikemagic.com and before that staff writer at RCUK. He's a seasoned cyclist of all disciplines, from road to mountain biking, touring to cyclo-cross, he only wishes he had time to ride them all. He's mildly competitive, though he'll never admit it, and is a frequent road racer but is too lazy to do really well. He currently resides in the Cotswolds.