FULL WINDSOR THE BREAKER CYCLE MULTI TOOL

FULL WINDSOR THE BREAKER CYCLE MULTI TOOL£44.99 249g (including pouch)

Full Windsor The Breaker Cycle Multi Tool is a seven-inch; twelve-function model with a brilliant chain tool one end and ruthlessly efficient tyre lever at the other. Designed to combine convenience and leverage; by my reckoning it’s better suited to rough/stuff tourists than racers.

Starting with aesthetic, it comes with a sturdy leather gloss black or retro “burned brown” tan pouch. Tool pockets made from recycled inner tube and hug the collection of bits very securely.

Adjustable straps allow a choice of mounting options - saddle rails, handlebar stem or top tube and sufficient expansion to accommodate an inner tube and mini pump. Personally; I’ve opted to leave my pumps riding on their brackets and pack a couple of resin tyre levers in with the tube.

Despite the old school flavour, tool bits are bang up to date and include 3,4,5,6 and 8mm Allen keys, T25 torx catering for most common fasteners including cranks, pedals and disc brakes. Last but not least, there’s a Phillips for taming wayward mechs, brake balance screws and sloppy brackets.

These connect via a magnetic extender, meaning it can be deployed like a screwdriver on lower stress parts - bottle cages, carriers/mudguard mounts - or horizontally; winding square taper crank bolts, pedals and other higher torque stuff home. The main body is also stainless steel and incorporates a spoke wrench and bottle opener.

Rather than CNC machining, it’s lost wax moulded. This is an old fashioned but extremely accurate process where, as the name suggests; molten metal is poured into a wax mold; then heat treated for additional strength.

As you’d hope; the chain function is vastly superior to any pocket tool and some budget workshop models, making short work of stripping and rejoining 8,9,10 and 11 speeds. Its’ also played nicely with some six and seven speed units and feels gentler on thumb and forefinger than traditional “Rivoli” types.

Coming from folding designs, the need to plug bits in and out feels fiddly and not what’s needed during a race. However, the magnetic end minimises the risk of them getting lost in long grass and stubborn parts soon surrender to its leverage.

I used ours to remove my Univega’s square taper cranks, then its 22tooth inner ring-which hadn’t seen a lick of marine grease in countless thousand miles.

Both rolled over like the proverbial labrador. Ditto arthritic quill stem, disc rotor and seat post binder bolts.

Despite some initial scepticism, it’s surprisingly nimble in confined spaces too - fitting bottle cages to the main triangle of small semi/compact geometry frames being prime examples.

Some minor niggles... in a pinch, it won’t tackle single speed 1/1/8th chains. Nylon coated glass fibre levers with steel cores always spell caution and you’d never come within a mile of carbon. The breaker’s no exception, demanding a more delicate touch with aluminium alloy hoops too, hence why I’ve smuggled two resin units along.

That said; the lip does a decent job of burrowing beneath and lifting tight beads and could be a godsend in the back of beyond. The same goes for the spoke wrench; it’s a decent fit on 13/14g nipples but very much in contingency territory, so I’d take a standalone key on a big tour.

Ultimately, I’ve really enjoyed using The Breaker. If torque and decent chain tool are top of your list, then it’s well worth a closer look.

Michael Stenning

Verdict: 3.5 out of 5: Unique, well-engineered tool that makes short work of stubborn jobs.

www.fullwindsor.cc

PUBLISHED MAY 2016

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