Marque Cycling Tools Quick Review

Marque Cycling Tools Quick Review – by Guitar Ted

The darker days of late Fall and Winter may bring more indoor training and alternative activities to cycling. They also may bring you more time to do maintenance on your bike. Perhaps you are upgrading the old bike with new parts? Maybe you are lucky enough to be getting a brand new bike and you will need to be making tweaks to it in terms of fit. All of those scenarios require tools.

Three Marque Cycling brand tools on a bench
(L-R) The Y Wrench, Mini Lite 10 multi-tool, and the Torque Wrench from Marque Cycling.

What It Is: Today we have a couple of handy tools from Marque Cycling. You may remember that brand from a handle bar tape review we did a while back. (Seen here) Well, they have a few tools available that may make your home maintenance chores a bit easier and safer. We have three items to go over here. The Mini Lite 10 multi-tool ($14.99USD), the Torque Wrench ($37.99USD), and the “Y” Wrench ($14.99USD).

Close up shot of some of the tools on the Marque Cycling Mini Lite 10 multi-tool
Detail of the Mini Lite 10 multi-tool.

First up is the Mini Lite 10 multi-tool. This one is pretty straight forward. It’s an on-the-bike tool made from stainless steel and features the following tool bits: Philip head #1 and flat head #5 screwdrivers, a Torx T-25 wrench, and spoke wrenches with compatibility with 14G and 15G nipples.

This tool is the one you put in your bag for those rides where space is limited. Maybe this goes in a jersey pocket for a quick spin, or in that special little slot in your bag for that long 100 mile event where you don’t want that huge multi-tool. It is easy to use, although the spoke wrench, being where it is, may not work on wheels where the spoke count is high and you cannot twist the tool on a nipple without interference from neighboring spokes. (Unlikely, but if you have an old school tandem…..) About the only negative here is that it is so slim and compact, you might actually lose it in the swirling vortex of a cycling bag.

Detail shot showing the hidden bit caddy of a Marque Cycling Torque Wrench tool.
A screw-off end on the Torque Wrench reveals a caddy with the extra bits.

Next up we have the Torque Wrench. This one is pretty handy for those of you that do home maintenance and for upgrading to new components that are torque sensitive, like stems, for instance. Setting saddle height and torquing a seat collar would be another common usage for this tool. The Torque wrench has a hidden compartment which has more bits. Here is what the tool comes with and its toque ratings: 3, 4, 5mm Allen keys and Torx T-25 wrench – Torque settings of 4, 5, and 6Nm.

A close up of the adjuster dial of a Marque Cycling Torque Wrench
The pre-set torque settings are selected by using this dial with a 6mm hex key.

The carbon steel bits should last a long time in a home shop environment. I found that the torque settings were pretty spot on when checked against my shop quality torque wrench. The wrench works by setting the grey dial to the desired pre-set torque rating, then by choosing the appropriate bit, you will find a resounding “snap”/over-locking feel lets you know when the torque rating has been reached.

My only critique of this tool is that you have to use a 6mm hex key to change torque settings. Thankfully, Marque includes one with the tool. The other thing to watch out for is that the bits are held in the tool magnetically, and if you pull off the tool “just so”, the bit will be left in the fastener. If you aren’t aware of this, you could lose the bit. Watch for that and you’ll be fine.

Finally we have the classic shop “Y” Wrench tool, with a twist. This one has removable bits which are also reversible. So, in reality you get six tools instead of just the usual three. Those tool bits fit the following: 2, 4, 5, 6mm Allen keys, there is a T25 bit, and you get a cross-head screwdriver.

Detail of Marque Cycling Y Wrench Tool
The Y Wrench is really six tools in one.

Anyone that has spent any time in a bicycle shop already understands the usefulness of a “Y” wrench. This is a really handy version of that tool and would be a great addition to any home shop or for a person that travels to a lot of events. The size and feel of the wrench is really good in the hand and lets you get a good amount of torque on fasteners. The only gripe I have is that it isn’t really easy to reverse the bits as the collars on the ends of the tool hold bits pretty tightly. This is exacerbated if you have greasy gloves/fingers or cold hands. Otherwise, it is a great tool.

At The Finish: The Marque Cycling tools would be great for the person setting up a home shop as these tools are all great basics to have and cover a lot of ground. The pre-set Torque Wrench alone might be a life saver in that fasteners could be safely set to proper torque on critical components of your bike. I also can see where people that travel and are required to break down and then build up their bikes would be people that would benefit from these basic tools as well.

None of these tools are perfect. I probably would choose differently if my job required daily usage of tools like these to make a living, but for anyone that will only be occasionally wrenching, these are great choices. For under $70.00 you can get all three and with their multiple usages, that money would cover a lot of ground. (Keep in mind the torque wrench is over half of that figure. Good torque wrenches are not cheap.) My favorite one of the three is the Torque Wrench as it is a handy tool which I can rely on to not only tighten fasteners, but tighten them to safe levels. The fact that it has multiple bits is even better. The “Y” Wrench is a classic. Every home shop should have one. The Mini Lite 10 is really a classy looking tool with that polished steel look. It is a great space saver item, so if that is important to you, this is a great multi-tool.

You can check out the Marque Cycling tool page here. https://marquecycling.com/collections/tools

NOTE: Marque Cycling sent Riding Gravel the three tools in this review at no charge for test and review. We were not paid, nor bribed, for this review and we always strive to give our honest thoughts and reviews throughout.

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Author: Guitar Ted

Guitar Ted hails from Iowa. Home of over 70,000 miles of gravel and back roads. An inaugural member of the Gravel Cycling Hall of Fame and Co-creator of Trans Iowa in late 2004- Guitar Ted has been at the forefront of the growth of gravel events and riding since then. Creator of Gravel Grinder News in 2008, he produced the premier calendar of gravel and back road events. GT joined forces with Riding Gravel in late 2014.

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