Highly Affordable Great-Value Allen Keys
Do yourself the favor and invest into affordable and high quality Allen keys to ensure smooth bicycle repairs.
To work on my bicycles, a good set of Allen keys (hex wrenches) is what makes the difference between a successful repair or stripped bolts and a lot of frustration. A set of the big brands like Wera or PB Swiss Tool can easily set you back $30–$60 (US dollars, for better international referencing). Whereas these brands might be the best choice for professional workshops, using the tools daily and clearly benefit from the lifetime guarantee that some of these brands offer, the hefty price tag might not be for everyone. Luckily, it doesn't have to be that expensive. Nevertheless, cheaper Allen key sets should be bought with caution, since low quality can be the root cause for countless headaches and even more expensive repairs. Therefore, it is important to not just go with the cheapest, but the best valued set.
A Better Valued Alternative
My clear recommendation, for most people, is a set of colored hex wrenches from AliExpress. Yes. I know, AliExpress. But trust me😉. With a price of $11.30 this product costs about three to six times less than a comparable set of one of the big brands. This is for the set with the longer Allen keys in the sizes 1.5, 2, 2.5, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 10 (9 keys in total). If you go for the shorter keys, this will reduce the price to $9.63.
Product Description
The set of hex wrenches is made from chrome-vanadium steel and is nicely color-coded, which really helps to reach for the right key in your daily repair work. The paint is probably of a lower quality compared to bigger brands like PB Swiss Tools. Therefore, you might get some signs of wear on the color coating. But given the way lower price tag, it was clear that the manufacturer had to cut some corners. Nevertheless, some chipped color does not impact the hex keys from properly working.
Besides the normal screw head, the keys have a ball-end on the longer side of the L-shaped key. The set is delivered with a plastic holder, that holds the wrenches 1.5-5 on one end and 6-10 on the other end.
To find out how precise the machining on the AliExpress Allen keys is, I compared the head measurements with a set of PB Swiss Tools I had lying around the workshop. Further, I added some more measurements for the AliExpress wrenches to give a more profound understanding of their size.
| 🔧 | length(mm) | width(mm) | srew head(mm) | color | srew head(mm)PB Swiss Tools |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10 | 232 | 49 | 9.96 | blue | 9.93 |
| 8 | 205 | 42 | 7.99 | purple | 7.96 |
| 6 | 183 | 37 | 5.96 | red | 5.94 |
| 5 | 165 | 31 | 4.96 | orange | 4.95 |
| 4 | 145 | 27 | 3.94 | yellow | 3.94 |
| 3 | 129 | 23 | 2.97 | blue | 2.95 |
| 2.5 | 114 | 20 | 2.44 | green | 2.45 |
| 2 | 102 | 17 | 1.96 | pink | 1.94 |
| 1.5 | 92 | 15 | 1.43 | grey | 1.45 |
Impressions of AliExpress Allen Keys
Conclusion
If you are a bicycle enthusiast, like me and do not own yet, a good set of Allen keys. Do yourself a favor and invest as little as 10 bucks into a proper set from AliExpress. Not only will it be more fun to work on your bike having the right tools, it will also spare you the headache of rounded bolts. Your bike, your bicycle mechanics and your future self will thank it to you.😉
Use this link to buy the Allen keys in the images above.
Moondust Cycling Blog
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