BikeHut is Halfords’ own brand for accessories, clothing and tools, and is aimed at keen cyclists. That’s why we chose this over the £35 Halfords toolkit, which is a similar size but more suited to casual leisure riders with, well, terrible old bikes.
The Allen keys are on three-pronged handles and run from 2mm to 6mm, and there’s a separate 8mm for pedals. There’s a hefty pedal spanner too and the mini Cyclo chain breaker is joined by a chain stretch gauge.
The two three-pronged sockets (8mm-15mm) and cheap, reversible flat/cross screwdriver are of little real use, though if you have Shimano hubs you’ll appreciate the Cyclo cone spanners.
The two tyre levers are big and solid, if a little thick at the ends, while the patches are the easy self-adhesive type. A three-size spoke key and a roughly formed bottom bracket tool round out the contents of the chunky, tough case.
The BikeHut kit isn’t a bad option for those who only do very occasional bits of adjustment or parts replacement, but unfortunately it’s far from essential. The screwdriver and Allen keys are low quality, which increases the risk of damaging bolts and screws, and there are no Torx keys. Sadly, there’s plenty else you can live without here too.
This kit offers convenience, but the same outlay will buy you the useful bits separately – and at much higher quality.