- News
- Reviews
- Bikes
- Accessories
- Accessories - misc
- Computer mounts
- Bags
- Bar ends
- Bike bags & cases
- Bottle cages
- Bottles
- Cameras
- Car racks
- Child seats
- Computers
- Glasses
- GPS units
- Helmets
- Lights - front
- Lights - rear
- Lights - sets
- Locks
- Mirrors
- Mudguards
- Racks
- Pumps & CO2 inflators
- Puncture kits
- Reflectives
- Smart watches
- Stands and racks
- Trailers
- Clothing
- Components
- Bar tape & grips
- Bottom brackets
- Brake & gear cables
- Brake & STI levers
- Brake pads & spares
- Brakes
- Cassettes & freewheels
- Chains
- Chainsets & chainrings
- Derailleurs - front
- Derailleurs - rear
- Forks
- Gear levers & shifters
- Groupsets
- Handlebars & extensions
- Headsets
- Hubs
- Inner tubes
- Pedals
- Quick releases & skewers
- Saddles
- Seatposts
- Stems
- Wheels
- Tyres
- Health, fitness and nutrition
- Tools and workshop
- Miscellaneous
- Tubeless valves
- Buyers Guides
- Features
- Forum
- Recommends
- Podcast
review
Carradice tool£9.95
VERDICT:
A simple tool, nicely made… keep away from pandas
Weight:
127g
Contact:
www.carradice.co.uk
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.
- Exceptional
- Excellent
- Very Good
- Good
- Quite good
- Average
- Not so good
- Poor
- Bad
- Appalling
Carradice have a reputation for using old-fashioned materials in their products, although I'm still waiting for them to produce a pannier woven from the beard and leathery skin of ancient audaxers. However, using bamboo for the sideplates of their 8 in1 multi-tool is more than just a refusal to acknowledge the existence of such modern fripperies as plastic and aluminium. It's hard wearing, gives a very comfortable grip and should age nicely, developing a pleasing patina by the time you come to hand it down to your great-grandchildren. At a pinch you could always feed it to a starving panda, although they'd probably choke on the crisply edged crome-vanadium tools.
You get the usual array of widgets:- 6 hexes in 2, 2.5, 3, 4, 5 and 6mm plus screwdrivers in both Philips and flathead flavours. There's no 8mm hex or T25 bit (you need to upgrade to the 10 in 1 tool to get those) and the tool-to-weight ratio is on the low side as this is a hefty wee lump. For comparison, the BBB multitool I tested last year weighs the same but does quite a lot more, although the Carradice is better quality.
All in all, if you don't fret too much about weight and are happy with just the basics then this is worth considering.
Verdict
A simple tool, nicely made.
road.cc test report
Make and model: Carradice 8 in 1 multitool
Size tested: n/a
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?
Blurb - "The Carradice Multitool has elegant laser-etched wooden side arms made of hard-wearing bamboo to give a comortable grip when in use. All of the tools are made of chromium-vanadium alloy steel for durability and performance. Tools included are: 6 hexes in 2, 2.5, 3, 4, 5 and 6mm Cross head screw driver Flat head screwdriver Length:70mm weight: 128g"
Rate the product for quality of construction:
8/10
Rate the product for performance:
8/10
Rate the product for durability:
8/10
Rate the product for weight, if applicable:
7/10
Rate the product for comfort, if applicable:
9/10
Rate the product for value:
7/10
Did you enjoy using the product? Yes
Would you consider buying the product? Possibly - although I prefer something with more tools
Would you recommend the product to a friend? Yes
About the tester
Age: 40 Height: 5\' 8 Weight: er....86kg
I usually ride: GT Rave - singlespeed conversion My best bike is: Guess SC1 scandium
I've been riding for: Over 20 years I ride: Most days I would class myself as: Experienced
I regularly do the following types of riding: time trialling, commuting, general fitness riding, fixed/singlespeed,
Latest Comments
- CarlosFerreiro 7 min 9 sec ago
No mention of the design process for the cycle lane being looked at? The lane not being usable was identifed as a contributing factor to a fatal...
- hawkinspeter 13 min 26 sec ago
She's He's not my Queen King and certainly has no ownership of our language!
- bensynnock 1 hour 5 min ago
I see a car go through a red light at almost every single cycle at every single junction. ...
- chrisonabike 2 hours 3 min ago
Also don't forget - Sustrans are a charity *....
- chrisonabike 2 hours 15 min ago
Yes ... but (just due to the large numbers of people affected) this likely would only proceed in the UK at a very ... cautious ... pace....
- EK Spinner 2 hours 32 min ago
Arsehole in the van not with standing, how did they manage to get a risk assessment allowing a race (a group not a TT) group to be competing on ...
- RafaDy 2 hours 28 min ago
I think reviewer completely missed the point here trying to match bike's name with what it can do. Ribble is namin git's bike weirdly, the...
- Moist von Lipwig 5 hours 53 min ago
Bit of googling gone wrong in the article - the JAT is the Junction Assessment Tool, the Joint Approval Team appears to be a coutner terrorism...
- HKR 7 hours 8 min ago
Can't believe that child threw his bike on the floor at the end of that. Young people today have no respect... ;))
Add new comment
12 comments
chain tool whats that?, i use my teeth.
Oh and count me in as another chap who has never had to use a chain-tool mid-ride.
The Carradice 11-in-1 does have a chaintool. We'll be reviewing that one, er as soon as I get round to it.
Nope, never used mine - had a couple of chain snaps but both within a few hundred metres of my front door.
Should you be putting down the Full Hoy at the start of a ride Tony? At least warm up for a few miles first...
Ah, funnily enough both times it was on the final hill at the end of a ride as I dug in at the thought of imminent cake! In fact both times it was in almost exactly the same place a point where the hill steepens for a few metres causing me to get out of the saddle and drop down a gear & the same time. Avoid going that way now, problem solved
i've used mine plenty of times, to save myself on a couple of occasions but more often to help out someone in need...
I've carried a chain tool for over 15 years.
I've never needed it 'in the field' for myself.
I have however used it to help a fellow biker on a mid 30 mile offroad run up in Blair Atholl, without it , he would have had a long push home.
He had a shortened chain, but it was sufficient to have majority of gear useage to complete the journey. Mashed it against a boulder and the chain split. I was even able to straighten his big ring - Topeak Power 21 to the rescue. I always carry it out on road runs too, you never know!
I've used mine a few times on club road and off road runs
likewise - I've carried mine for a few thousand miles, over the last 5 year - and never needed it once. I even have a speed link on my road bike, but the tool stays in my bag for some reason.
I've carried a chain tool for thousands of miles over thirty years, and never used it once! I didn't stop carrying one because under the rule of sod's law I knew I'd have a chain problem the first time I left it behind. Not one of my cycling aquaintances who I've asked have ever had a chain problem while out either.
I'd be interested to know how many people have ever had an emergency need for a chain tool, and what the problems were.
but if it had a chain tool it would be a multi-tool then? There are multiple tools on it; ergo it's a multi-tool.
The screwdriver heads on the Carradice tools are no different to many other multi-tools we've seen at road.cc, some with, some without chain tools. I know plenty of people who choose to carry a separate chain tool on the grounds that they're better quality than the multi-tool ones. These people don't need another chain tool; why shouldn't they be offered the option of a multi-tool without one? Plenty more people cycle for fun and wouldn't know how to use a chain tool, but can work an allen key just fine. What about them?
No chain tool = not much use.
Calling this a "Multi-tool" almost contravenes the Trade Descriptions Act. It's a set of Allen keys, with a couple of screwdriver ends, but if those ends are like most of these toys, are too fat to be any use anyway..
I daresay most of them don't even fit anything on your bikes, so just add to the weight of your bike.
Avoid.