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We first stumbled upon Fix It Sticks some time ago and tested out two of their models: The Replaceables and The T-Way. We really liked those products and recently the small startup reached out and sent us “The Originals” with a bracket. This tool is aluminum, lighter weight and the bracket was made for the sole purpose of mounting it discretely between your bottle cage and your frame.
Details
- 2.5mm hex
- 4mm hex
- 5mm hex
- T-25
- 51 grams(tested)
- $24.99
Installation
Bolting up the bracket can be either really straight forward or somewhat tricky depending on the cage & frame that it’s going on. It might require the use of washers or spacers to move it far enough away from the bottle cage, the frame or both. If this is the case, you might need to grab longer mounting hardware as well. Providing you’re somewhat mechanically inclined, this is no big deal and it certainly doesn’t cost much.
For instance, our Trek Remedy test bike had a HUGE downtube that is completely flat in shape; it needed a small(3-5mm) spacer to put the bracket far enough away from the frame so that you could mount it without smashing it. On the other end, we tested this bracket with a Specialized brand bottle cage (pictured above). Because of its broad mounting tabs, it required a spacer about 3-5mm thick to get the cage far enough away from the bracket. In any case, it was pretty easy to mount and once we got it bolted up, it stayed put and didn’t get in our way.
In use
Once set up, “The Originals” were low profile and stayed put. The wrenches are easy to pull out, even with wet, gloved fingers. Perhaps the best attribute is that you have much more leverage with these tools compared to the average multi tool. The dexterity is also far better. However, we love that the other Fix It Sticks are magnetic and the bits stay put. Because these are aluminum they don’t…therefore the bits are permanently glued in. The good thing is that they are light weight and easy to carry, plus you won’t lose any of the bits. The bad news is that you can’t swap them around. The unit we tested featured 2.5mm,4mm,5mm allens and a T25 Torx. It’s quite practical for most intents and purposes but these days, 3mm screws are far more common place than 2.5mm screws. With single clamp grips becoming more popular and with most derailleur B-tension & limit screws utilizing 3mm screws we think it’s far more important to have a 3mm as opposed to a 2.5mm. “The Originals” are available in a ton of different configurations (12 in fact) but not quite the one we’re looking for. At the moment we’re quite content taking the small weight penalty and riding with steel “Replaceables” in the configuration that we prefer.
Overall
All in all this is a rad tool. If you have big hands, hate fumbling with a multi tool and despise its lack of torque, this could be perfect for you. Especially if you hate carrying tools in your pocket. The only limiting factor is that you can only carry 4 bits. It’s not a huge deal, but 6 would be far more ideal; it’s just not in the cards from a design standpoint…If you aren’t a weight weenie, grab this bracket and “The Replaceables” with 2,2.5,3,4,5,6,T25 and call it a day. Just don’t forget to pull the extra bits out of your pocket before you do the laundry.
