This post isn’t so much for you dear reader. It’s for the loved one in your life who hasn’t a clue how to buy cycling stuff for you. Let’s be clear: It’s not their fault. Cycling is hard to understand if you don’t actually do it.
Honed over centuries, my family has a refined sense of what constitutes a stocking stuffer. The gift should be just pricey enough that it’s a splurge. It should also speak to a passion of the recipient, like cycling or guillotines. The gift should make the recipient feel seen, which means a cycling gift can’t be just any cycling item. A windbreaker two sizes too big is worse than no gift because it seems phoned in. Finally, it can’t duplicate anything in the cyclist’s arsenal—unless you’ve heard them announce to no one in particular that they could really use a second set of thermal bib shorts. (If you listen very hard…. [Apologies to Led Zeppelin.])
For those reasons and a few more to come, I direct you to the Feedback Sports Reflex Fixed Torque Ratchet Kit. This useful too extravaganza comes ensconced in a small, zippered folding case that measures 9.5cm x 8cm and roughly 3cm thick at its thickest, or about 3.75 x 3 in. and just more than an inch thick. Inside there are two mesh pockets to hold everything and the everything is considerable. There’s a small ratcheting handle—we’re talking 7.5cm long and two sockets, one fixed and one that includes a 5Nm torque socket.
For bits, it features 2, 2.5, 3, 4, 5 and 6mm Allen keys, T10, 25, and 30 Torx heads and an SL3 screwdriver bit, which is a small flat-blade screwdriver. There’s room enough in the case to add a couple more bits if necessary, like an 8mm or Philips. The ratchet handle has three different sockets—two fixed in addition to the ratcheting one in case the angle of attack is inconvenient.
I’ve tried more mini-tools over the years than I care to remember. While I consider the lack of a Philips bit or 8mm Allen bit to be oversights, making this tool not quite perfect, it is otherwise, the best mini-tool for on-the-bike adjustments and repairs I’ve ever used. Any time I’m headed someplace where I may be riding a bike that’s not mine, or may need to make some unexpected adjustments, this little baby is what I pack. Saying it has become my go-to is the highest compliment I can pay it.
At $65, the Reflex Fixed Torque Ratchet Kit is splurgy, helping to make it ever more ideal as a gift. That the case features a belt loop makes it easy to add to a saddle bag. I’ve used it in a variety of circumstances and can report that the knurling on the handle makes it easy to grip when summer sweat slickens my hands.
Final thought: This thing is small enough that if you use it to stuff the stocking in question, it will slip to the toe and require an arm-deep reach to extract. First world problems.