Beta Editors’ Choice: Feedback Sports T-Handle Wrench Set
Simple, elegant, precise, and exactly the right proportions. Not every Feedback tool rules, but this set is superb.
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Sign InTake a look inside the toolbox of almost any pro bike mechanic and you’ll likely find T-handle wrenches of some fashion. T-handles are infinitely more convenient, faster, and more comfortable to use than standard L-shaped Allen and Torx wrenches, and are vastly more versatile than the Y-wrenches that unfortunately still proliferate shops and toolboxes worldwide. Can we please rid the world of Y-wrenches already?
The ubiquitous blue-handle Park Tool T is for sure the most well-known, but discerning mechanics have been looking elsewhere for many years. Beta tools of Italy is the maker of the sliding T-handle that everyone from Park, Pedros, and Silca started ripping off after they noticed every World Cup mechanic on the circuit had a set of Beta sliding Ts in their box.

But I’ve never been a huge fan of the sliding T, despite its obvious usefulness. I’ve just never quite been able to feel comfortable with the fact that the short end is constantly on the move. I’ve always preferred the fixed style T-handles. But most of those have unnecessarily bulky molded plastic handles and often times are single or double ended.

I love the fact that sliding Ts have bits at all three ends, and I love how elegantly simple they are—just two pieces of metal with Hex (or Torx) tips. No big grip, no plasti-dipped handle that’ll just start peeling in a few years. What if I could get a set of T-handles that had the professional-level build, high-quality finish, and simplicity of the Beta sliders, only without the sliding action?

Enter the Feedback Sports T-Handle Wrench Set, the perfect T-handle for wrenching on bikes. With a simple symmetrical T design, excellent build quality, solid S2 steel construction, and a durable high-polish finish, these tools are truly pro-level. Feedback Sports makes the world’s best and most popular portable professional repair stands and bike storage solutions, but isn’t at the tip of the tongue when it comes to hand tools. And to be fair, not all of Feebacks tools are winners—actually, most of them are just sort of alright. But the T-handles are excellent.

Other than the high-quality construction and precision fit, the thing I love most about the Feedback Sports T-Handles are their size. Most T-handles, from the fanciest stuff right down to the garbage at Harbor Freight, have similarly long proportions. The long end is 43.4 feet longer than necessary for bike work. Sure, it makes sense when working on cars and motorcycles, where you’re constantly having to reach through stuff to get at the bolt head. But that’s hardly ever the case on bikes. Plus, most fasteners on bikes are 6mm or smaller with relatively low torque specs. Long handles aren’t only cumbersome to use relative to shorter ones, they actually make it way too easy to over-torque stuff. Nobody needs a 12-foot-long 2mm Allen key.

I love that even the largest hex size in the kit, the 6mm, is nice and short. It’s just long enough that I can easily get up to around 15Nm—about all you’d need on just about any 6mm fitting on a bike—without straining my wrist. The shorter handles give me better control of the tool, and allow them to more easily fit in tight places such as between chainstays and seatstays, or inside front triangles.

I’ve had the set pictured here since 2017 and I use them constantly. They’re holding up super well so far, and at this rate they’ll provide many more years of service. And they should. At $140 for seven tools (M2-M6 and T-25) they’re priced at least as high as other pro and boutique-level tools. They do come with a high-quality carrying case that when open props the tools up sort of like an iPad case does, which could help justify the cost, but to be honest, most people won’t ever use it because the tools will just wind up being mixed in with a larger tool kit. I don’t even have a photo of the case because it went in the trash bin years ago. While it’s a neat effort, it’s a bit of an unnecessary expense that likely does affect the price of the kit. I’d much rather see more tools in the set.

Which leads right into the part where I talk about what I don’t like about this set. There’s not enough of them. I’d like to see a full range of Torx handles, from T-8 to T-40, as well as an expansion of the Hex handles, up to at least 10mm. That would be huge. Also, while I love the high-polish finish, some knurling on the long handle would really help with bolt spinning. Finally, perhaps a slight redesign—or even just more attention during assembly—would help the tools stay together better. The two parts are held together with a small set screw at the top of the long handle, with an indent in the short handle for the set screw to land in. But those all came loose in relatively rapid fashion, causing the two halves to jiggle a bit. I was able to create a long-term solution by adding a small amount of sleeve retainer where the parts come together and a dab of high-strength thread lock compound on the set screw. The fix has kept the tools tight and jiggle-free ever since. Maintaining tools isn’t out of the ordinary, but requiring service basically out of the box isn’t ideal.
Thankfully, it was a minor issue and a simple solution. Over the long haul, these awesome T-handles have become my faithful friends and the best one’s I’ve found for bike work.
