Halfords Bikehut 30pc Bike Tool Kit review

Although Halfords sells professional-level tools in its range – designed mostly for automotive use – the Bikehut 30pc Bike Tool Kit fills the gap between its low-cost Essential series and more expensive Advanced kits.

• Best bike toolkits
• Best workshop chain tools

Halfords Bikehut 30pc Bike Tool Kit details

The 30-item kit is supplied in a rigid plastic carry case with metal snap-close clasps that lock shut. Internally, the tools snap into their shaped cut-outs thanks to plastic lugs, although not every tool has a dedicated slot, instead some sit in the case’s belly.

Between the two sides of the case there’s a thin removable foam insert.

Included in the kit is a 2mm to 6mm Allen key set, a separate L-shaped 8mm Allen key with removable 1/2in driver and individual Torx T20, T25 and T30 keys, as well as a Phillips screwdriver and two sizes of flat-head screwdriver.

There are three tyre levers, a chainring bolt tool, a spoke key and a chain hook. Also included is a 12-speed compatible chain whip come 15mm pedal spanner, XD driver compatible cassette tool, a chain breaker – with a spare pin included – and crank extractor.

There’s a spoke key, a Shimano crank preload tool, internal bottom bracket tool and Hollowtech II, BB9000 and BBR60 bottom bracket tools. A set of chain master link pliers and cone spanners ranging from 13mm to 18mm finish off the set.

Halfords Bikehut 30pc Bike Tool Kit performance

The carry case doesn’t feel especially luxurious, the plastic is quite hard and shiny. However, it is robust and the tools all remained in their correct positions during transit thanks to the central foam section.

They did rattle, though, caused by the plastic case and metal tools making frequent contact. The loose tools in the case’s belly also moved around a lot but didn’t dislodge any of the tools holding them in place.

The chain whip, while compatible with 12-speed cassettes, was a tight fit. The chain’s width getting incredibly close to making cassette engagement impossible. Care needed to be taken to not slip when removing cassettes.

The rubberised handles of the larger tools create the feeling of quality, but there’s no glossing over how blunt the Allen keys feel compared to more expensive kits.

Although they’re not severely rounded, it would be possible to make a mess of worn bolt heads much quicker with these Allen keys compared to higher quality sets.

The Torx key quality is also questionable, with plenty of movement before the splines engaged in the bolts they were tried on.

The Allen keys are also quite short, and although this reduces the chances of over-tightening, longer keys are easier to use. The separate 8mm Allen key is useful and the removable 1/2in driver is a nice touch, but there isn’t a locating ball bearing so the driver can fall off the end of the Allen key when in use.

This means using the cassette tool and internal bottom bracket tool can be tricky unless an adjustable spanner is to hand.

The all-in-one chain whip and pedal spanner is frustrating to use because the chain can flop around under use. However, the tyre levers are robust thanks to their metal centre and a sprung chain hook is a nice addition.

Notably, a full Torx set was missing as was a set of cable cutters, although the main culprits were all included.

Halfords Bikehut 30pc Bike Tool Kit bottom line

For £50, the Halfords Bikehut 30pc Bike Tool Kit is a solid performer and should complement the budding mechanic with a host of bike-specific tools that serve well as a segue into more technical tasks.

Just be careful not to damage your bike by using too much force through some of the tools.