Topeak Mini Ten multi-tool review

The clue’s in the name: the Mini Ten is very compact and incorporates ten tools. It’s not quite top of Topeak’s Mini tool range which starts with the Mini Six, with pride of place going to the Mini 18, which somehow manages to fit in allen keys up to 10mm, a chain tool, a tyre lever and a bottle opener.

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The Mini Ten is designed to take with you on your travels and comes in a neat padded pouch. At only 7cm long it will easily fit into a saddle pack or disappear into a jersey pocket. But it’s quite heavy at 92 grams, as all the tools are made of steel. This does mean that they’re super-durable though and it would be hard work to round them out.

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The tool selection is comprehensive, including a Phillips head, four different torx drivers and a range of small allen keys. These are useful for items such as seatpost and saddle clamps and stems, as well as the tiny bolts in gear mechs and brake levers. But the largest allen key is only 5mm, so you may find you’re lacking wrenchability for some of the larger bolts on your bike such as pedals and rear mechs. And I found it hard to discover any bolts which needed the full range of torq drivers (although these are becoming more prevalent on new bikes and components) or the 1.5mm allen key.

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Despite the Mini Ten’s diminutive size, the different heads are easy to use as there’s plenty of comfortable leverage from the aluminium tool body. And the small size means that you can get at awkward bolts easily, such as those on bottle cages.