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review
BTwin Hollowtech BB Remover£9.99
VERDICT:
No-nonsense external BB remover with a long, comfortable handle and compact head
Weight:
319g
Contact:
At road.cc every product is thoroughly tested for as long as it takes to get a proper insight into how well it works. Our reviewers are experienced cyclists that we trust to be objective. While we strive to ensure that opinions expressed are backed up by facts, reviews are by their nature an informed opinion, not a definitive verdict. We don't intentionally try to break anything (except locks) but we do try to look for weak points in any design. The overall score is not just an average of the other scores: it reflects both a product's function and value – with value determined by how a product compares with items of similar spec, quality, and price.
What the road.cc scores meanGood scores are more common than bad, because fortunately good products are more common than bad.
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The B'Twin Hollowtech II BB Remover is designed the same way as the B'Twin 15mm Pedal Spanner. It's made from 4mm hardened steel, with the same broad, plastic-encased handle. And it's just as good.
I normally use a Shimano TL-FC32 to remove and install the Hollowtech bottom brackets on my various bikes. This B'Twin tool is cheaper and it's better in every respect. The handle is longer so there's more leverage, which comes in handy when getting out stubborn bottom bracket cups. It's also broader: 10mm thick at the edges and about 40mm wide. So when you do push down hard on the handle, it doesn't press painfully into your hand.
Buy this online here
There's less extraneous metal around the jaws of the spanner. That makes it easier to install or remove bottom bracket cups without rotating the spanner head into the paintwork, which can happen when the chainstays get in the way. They do on a couple of my bikes: a full-suspension mountain bike with a chainstay pivot just behind the bottom bracket, and a Genesis Longitude whose stays flare widely.
There's a hole in the handle so you can hang up the spanner. The only small negative is the plastic coating, which could be softer and grippier in the hand. I couldn't fit my leverage-extending aluminium tube over the handle, but then I didn't need to.
Verdict
No-nonsense external BB remover with a long, comfortable handle and compact head
road.cc test report
Make and model: B'Twin Hollowtech BB Remover
Size tested: Black
Tell us what the product is for, and who it's aimed at. What do the manufacturers say about it? How does that compare to your own feelings about it?
Decathlon say: "The professional B'TWIN bottom bracket spanner is designed for installing and removing HOLLOWTECH II bottom brackets."
Tell us some more about the technical aspects of the product?
It's 270mm long and is made of unspecified hardened steel.
Rate the product for quality of construction:
9/10
Rate the product for performance:
9/10
Rate the product for durability:
9/10
Rate the product for comfort, if applicable:
9/10
You can press down really hard on the handle without it hurting.
Rate the product for value:
9/10
Tell us how the product performed overall when used for its designed purpose
It works.
Tell us what you particularly liked about the product
Long, comfortable handle. More compact head.
Tell us what you particularly disliked about the product
Nothing.
Did you enjoy using the product? Yes
Would you consider buying the product? Yes
Would you recommend the product to a friend? Yes
Use this box to explain your score
It's a proper workshop tool.
About the tester
Age: 45 Height: 1.78m Weight: 67kg
I usually ride: Ridgeback Solo World fixed wheel My best bike is: Planet X Pro Carbon Track. Or Whyte M109
I've been riding for: Over 20 years I ride: Every day I would class myself as: Expert
I regularly do the following types of riding: time trialling, cyclo-cross, commuting, touring, club rides, sportives, general fitness riding, fixed/singlespeed, mountain biking
Hmm - cylinders of plastic filled with a paint-eating solvent, maybe?
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