Thinking of a Park or Pedros Y hex wrench to leave in the car for the usual nip n tuck stuff. Nearly all my current hex / allen keys have a ball end. But now i'm faced with a choice. Which do i want??
Both.
Though if I could only have one I'd probably choose straight unless I knew I had a specific need for the ball end.
Depends on access. My ball ended ones get used a lot for brake bolts and saddle clamps.
The contact area with the ball type is tiny and its easy to damage a fastener with too much torque. Simetimes its convenient for arkward places, but for me they are a last resort
Ian
Straight every time for me - ball ended hex is the easiest way to round off a bolt I know.
ball-ended have their place for difficult to reach bolts! The short end is straight though so if access is not a problem should usually be able to use that? Only so much torque you can apply with the long end anyway unless you're He-man. So I'm going BALLS 😃
(actually I have some Wiha hex wrenches which not only have balls but little o-rings on them which help retain the bolt once you've removed it which is very cool/handy!)
ball-ended have their place for difficult to reach bolts! The short end is straight though so if access is not a problem should usually be able to use that?
^ that. Ball ended are only a ball on one end.
Ball for nipping, straight for torquing!
I have the same Wiha hex set, it's great.
Ball for nipping, straight for torquing!
This.
Get a straight set of T or P handles then a bunch of short ended/angled ones, should never need a ball headed one ever again.
I have a set of the short Wera ones in the van and in my backpack. Never had a problem with rounding with either end
Persoanlly I like ball ended for proper keys, when you have a straight end option for doing the proper tightening, and can use the ball end for twiddling.
If you only have a single Y tool, then I think it should be straight. I'm not a massive fan of them though.
Definitely worth having both but I use straight 99% of the time unless there's some sort of access issue.
Definitely worth having both but I use straight 99% of the time unless there’s some sort of access issue.
This.
I have a BBB 'Y' tool - it straight ended - as its quite short it doesn't need ball-ends.
Having worked as an industrial engineer for 37 years as many good quality sets of both as you can afford.
If you put a gun to my head to only have 1 set then it would be a set of these 1mm up to 16mm in as many increments as I could get & the same in imperial
Buy wera and never round a bolt off again. You're welcome.
Wera, Bondhus, Usag, Beta, Facom. You know they are better quality because they fit a little bit snugger in the bolts compared to cheapo hex tools, and when you check the tolerance with a caliper they're always bang on the mark.
yep @devash
def one of the tools (especially ball ends) to get from proper quality tool manufacturers rather than 'bike' tool suppliers.
Right, you lot win. I have sacked off the Y tool idea and bought a set of those Wera Allen Keys.
Nothing wrong with T handles, just best to get them from decent manufacturers.
Ball end are great for hard to reach bolts but for the smaller sizes - shimano limits screws etc I always use standard. The more material in contact the better.
I think the other think to remember here is you'll get better value for money buying a set of hex keys from an established mechanical tools brand like Facom/Britool/Wera, etc than you'll get buying a set from a 'bike specific' brand.
My personal fave is Bahco - this is a good place to start -
I'm not convinced by Wera, for bike use. Their shaped ends are really good with decent sized, tough bolts. But bikes have lots of tiny, crap bolts. Aluminium, or ill-fitting heads which are common on OE, doesn't play well with them ime. And then we fill them with dirt to make it worse. I'd pretty much always choose a plain, high quality hex. And yes straight/square for most use, ball is convenient but will round bolts that straight won't.
I do like my Weras, I've just retired them to good-bolt territory, which has mostly meant around the house, my 3d printer etc. And the bigger ones are good on the occasional big hexes on the car. But I think of all the quality hex keys I own they're the ones I'd miss the least.
You don't have to pay a lot, the Bahco set freeagent posted are good quality, well-fitting... They don't have any real mod cons but they'll do the job really well. I have a set of midrange teng p-handles that I use pretty much all the time, for bikes, P or T handles are just nicer to use. And a lovely set of Inbus small ones that I use on the printer and RC cars, they're a pretty ridiculous luxury since they're no better on bolts than the Bahcos, they're just fancier and nicer to hold. But they are lovely. Plus a couple of Bondhus long Ts for little bolts. Having a few sets is better than one expensive set.
Ball end hex tools are a bodge by design. I tend to use them for awkward stuff like seat clamps, or to do the easy spinning out of a bolt as the ball end is on the same tool as the straight end on mine, just that the ball end is longer, so better access vs less leverage.
The less you use ball ended hex keys, the better shape your bolt heads will be in. Literally. 🙂
I had the Facom t-handle set above but sold it as I don't use it much. They were too bulky for many bike jobs. I still keep reaching for a Halfords Pro set I bought 20 years ago.
Although some of those Park Tools spinner t-handles are on a wish list
Mini ratchet driver with straight heads gets you in all the difficult to reach places.
Nowadays I use Wera hexaplus, years ago I used to use Bondhaus. This is for use in heavy industry.
The ball end is for running bolts in/out you shouldn't be putting any pressure on with it. You can tell you haven't served as one of my apprentice's😖
The ball end is for running bolts in/out you shouldn’t be putting any pressure on with it.
This ^ 100%.
I have the Facom set linked above and if access is too tight to get the short straight end in for the pressure parts then this:
Mini ratchet driver with straight heads gets you in all the difficult to reach places.
Although I usually use a small torque wrench for the final part.
