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Rehook Plus multitool

5
£26.99

VERDICT:

5
10
A brilliant chain-reseating tool with a far less successful set of extras
Excellent for getting filthy chains back on
Limited tool choice
Limited access to awkward spots
Tyre lever end blocks rotation
Weight: 
60g
Contact: 

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The Rehook Plus Multitool is an ingenious way to avoid getting grease all over yourself and your kit while getting a chain back on. Its other tools are just a bonus, if a somewhat fiddly and impractical one.

Chain retention has come on in leaps and bounds in recent years, with single-chainring groupsets featuring shaped teeth and derailleur clutches, and more traditional twin-ring setups benefiting from better-designed mechs and chainrings.

Yet, with big tyres and wide-range 12-13 speed cassettes pushing chain angles ever further, the arms race to keep it all together is still in progress.

2020 Rehook Plus multitool - open.jpg

Getting a filthy dropped chain back on is never fun, and neither is the search for some grass, a cloth or a dusty gutter that still never stops you irrevocably smearing your nice new jacket with irremovable crud.

You could carry nitrile gloves, or poke at the thing with a stick, but it's a faff.

2020 Rehook Plus multitool - detail.jpg

Enter the Rehook. Made in the UK and born out of a literal Dragon's Den after the founder received almost-unheard-of unanimous interest from investors, the original was a very simple affair – the unique 'rehook' tooth-jaw-hand-thingy that picks up the chain, on a handle.

No longer minus the plus

This £26.99 Rehook Plus adds two tyre levers, two spoke keys (3.23mm and 3.4mm), two hex keys (5mm and 6mm), three box spanner cutouts (8mm, 9mm and 10mm) and a Phillips (PH1) screwdriver.

There are no Torx bits, though, and if you're running a modern mech you may want a 3mm hex. As the bits are the standard size, you can swap one over, of course, but that's arguably missing the point.

2020 Rehook Plus multitool - inside.jpg

Annoyingly, the design means you can only fit the bits (held in by magnets) at 90 degrees to the tool, and they're a good 20mm in from the end of the tool body. This means if you want to adjust a bolt or screw that's in a corner or up against something else – such as a seatpost bolt or mech – you're almost certainly out of luck.

Even with a bottle cage you're forced to remove and reinsert the tool every rotation as it fouls on the cage itself.

Storage wars

When stowed, the bits are covered by the blue tyre lever, so they're safe enough, but they have to be stored in a specific order for it to close over them. I was able to swap the Philips for a T20 Torx, retaining the 5 and 6mm hexes without issue, but there's no room for a pedal-friendly 8mm hex.

The 8-10mm box spanners are pretty much irrelevant on a modern bike, and suffer even more from the obstruction of the rest of the tool.

Strap on tools

The whole package is wrapped by a grippy 12mm-wide rubber strap with that can clamp the Rehook Plus to a frame tube. Whilst it stayed put during the test, the strap isn't that strong and the single attachments at each end aren't exactly bombproof.

The rehooking tool itself is a work of genius. Few tools have won a place so quickly on my bench as the Rehook, and having had it within reach for a month or two, I don't want to give it back. There will be inevitable comments along the lines of 'solution looking for a problem,' but until you've used it, don't knock the execution.

It doesn't matter how filthy the chain is – your hands stay squeaky-clean – though you may still want to clean up the tool, of course.

Value

As a standalone chain-reseating tool, the Rehook is without peer. The design of the teeth is perfect. If you're prone to dropped chains, having it handy could de-stress the operation considerably – and it only has to save one badly-greased jacket or jersey to have paid for itself.

Luckily for everyone, Rehook still sells the standalone chain reseating tool for £12.99.

Turning it into a multi-tool seems a no-brainer, but the letdown of the Rehook Plus for me is the execution – the 90-degree bit insertion and rotation-blocking tyre lever make most jobs aside from stem bolts difficult or even impossible. Meanwhile, the box spanners are pretty much irrelevant on modern bikes.

The basic Rehook tool remains the one to have, then. Bar the tyre levers, the Rehook Plus only adds features that are either severely restricted in use or useless on modern bikes – and that doesn't exactly justify a £14 premium.

Verdict

A brilliant chain-reseating tool with a far less successful set of extras

If you're thinking of buying this product using a cashback deal why not use the road.cc Top Cashback page and get some top cashback while helping to support your favourite independent cycling website

road.cc test report

Make and model: Rehook Plus multitool

Size tested: n/a

Tell us what the product is for and who it's aimed at. What do the manufacturers say about it? How does that compare to your own feelings about it?

It's for people wanting to get their chains back on without getting filthy, with some additional functions to free up space in your tool roll.

Rehook says:

"The definitive cycling multi-tool. Includes tyre levers, spoke keys, chain tool, wrenches, hex keys and more."

Tell us some more about the technical aspects of the product?

Includes:

Rehook chain tool head

2x Tyre levers

2x Spoke keys

8mm, 9mm and 10mm wrench

5mm and 6mm Hex / Allen keys

PH1 Phillips screwdriver

Tool dimensions: 148mm x 28mm x 14mm

Weight: 60g

Rate the product for quality of construction:
 
9/10

Really well-made, nice engraving on the bits.

Rate the product for performance:
 
5/10

The Rehooking part is brilliant, but the rest sits between okay and substandard, leaving it average overall.

Rate the product for durability:
 
10/10

Can't see it ever wearing out.

Rate the product for weight (if applicable)
 
7/10

It has a steel core, so not the lightest.

Rate the product for value:
 
3/10

The £14 premium over the standard version is high for tyre levers and a few less-than-useful bits.

Tell us how the product performed overall when used for its designed purpose

As a chain reseater - awesome. As a general tool, not great, bordering on bad.

Tell us what you particularly liked about the product

The actual rehooking tool. Genius.

Tell us what you particularly disliked about the product

The 90-degree fixed bit setting.

How does the price compare to that of similar products in the market, including ones recently tested on road.cc?

It's unique as a chain-hooking tool, but our multi-tool reviews start at £12.99 for the likes of the 98g Topeak Mini 9. The original Rehook tool is also £12.99.

Did you enjoy using the product? For reseating chains – hell yes

Would you consider buying the product? No

Would you recommend the product to a friend? Yes (with caveats)

Use this box to explain your overall score

The Rehook part of this tool works as brilliantly as always, but the multitool parts that earn the Plus name have significant limitations and flaws. To score higher, the tool selection needs to be more modern, the bit insertion needs a redesign and the storage needs to be less cramped and fiddly.

Overall rating: 5/10

About the tester

Age: 47  Height: 183cm  Weight: 77kg

I usually ride: Sonder Camino Gravelaxe  My best bike is: Nah bro that's it

I've been riding for: Over 20 years  I ride: A few times a week  I would class myself as: Expert

I regularly do the following types of riding: cyclo cross, general fitness riding, mtb, G-R-A-V-E-L

Living in the Highlands, Mike is constantly finding innovative and usually cold/wet ways to accelerate the degradation of cycling kit. At his happiest in a warm workshop holding an anodised tool of high repute, Mike's been taking bikes apart and (mostly) putting them back together for forty years. With a day job in global IT (he's not completely sure what that means either) and having run a boutique cycle service business on the side for a decade, bikes are his escape into the practical and life-changing for his customers.

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23 comments

Avatar
Sriracha | 3 years ago
0 likes

"Excellent for getting filthy chains back on"
I can't be the only one who sees a problem there. My waxed chain has not fallen off, but if it does it won't be filthy! I already have two tools for getting clean chains back on.

Avatar
Dingaling | 3 years ago
3 likes

Interesting, nobody appears to use the front derailleur to pull the chain back on. I can't remember the last time that didn't work. 

Avatar
BadgerBeaver | 3 years ago
0 likes

Literally staggered that a tool for putting on a chain has been made into a not very good multitool, when ALL multitools can be used to slip a chain back on. Did we even need a tool for putting a chain back on? What a waste of money. Cycling just jumped the shark.

Avatar
KiwiMike replied to BadgerBeaver | 3 years ago
0 likes

I may have missed it, where's the functionality built into 'ALL' multitools to enable easy, clean reseating of a chain? Happy to edit the article if I've missed something. 

Avatar
Chris Hayes replied to KiwiMike | 3 years ago
0 likes

My Silca xmas present has one. I was looking at it just yesterday wondering what it could be for.  Reading this I now know.  Saved £26.99! 

https://silca.cc/collections/mobile-repair-1/products/italian-army-knife...  

I'm not sure that I'd dip into my rear pocket if my chain ever came off.  I still think that a hand works just as well. 

BTW - I hope this is crowdfunded...at least the cycling community can let them know it's a sh1t idea subtly.

Avatar
KiwiMike replied to Chris Hayes | 3 years ago
0 likes

Interesting. Can you point to the chain reseating tool? Silca don't list it. Maybe you've mistaken the two spoke wrenches for one? Can you share a photo of you using it as a chain reseating tool? It looks like it wouldn't fit under a chain being dragged around the chainring to seat properly 

As per the article, it was funded by the investors on the Dragon's Den program. 

Avatar
Chris Hayes replied to KiwiMike | 3 years ago
0 likes

Tried to upload the photo, but am having difficulty.  If you're looking at one, I think it's the flat-blade screwdriver with the two cut outs. Just tried it. It works on the chain perfectly. Doesn't work on spokes. 

....Actually, it's the bottom left blade on the photo in the link...

https://silca.cc/collections/mobile-repair-1/products/italian-army-knife...

Avatar
Sriracha replied to Chris Hayes | 3 years ago
0 likes
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Chris Hayes replied to Sriracha | 3 years ago
0 likes

....Yes.... that would be the one! It fits the chain too, but like you my regularly waxed chain is always clean to touch....

But if it is for spokes only why are there two cut outs the same size side by side?

Avatar
Sriracha replied to Chris Hayes | 3 years ago
0 likes

Ha ha! I'm starting to get how it works as a chain re-seating tool now. It's like one of those optical illusions - Silca see two cutouts, you see a central peg for engaging the chain. Maybe you should message Silca and claim a "finder's fee". Mind you, they'd need to rename the tool "quattordici".

Avatar
Chris Hayes replied to Sriracha | 3 years ago
0 likes

I still don't get why they have two spoke keys the same size next to each other.... 

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Sriracha replied to Chris Hayes | 3 years ago
0 likes

No, I agree with you. It's just difficult to sound sincere on the web, and I've yet to learn how to fake it.

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BadgerBeaver replied to KiwiMike | 3 years ago
0 likes

Fair question. I've found that any allen key or screwdriver will work, in lieu of the tradition stick-method. Added benefit of using a metal tool over using a stick is that allen keys don't generally have bits of bark or moss that might come off and attach themselves to the chain. 

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Prosper0 | 3 years ago
2 likes

Don't you think that £27 would be better spent on 20 minutes of a competent bike mechanic's time to setup your derailleur properly so you don't get chain drops in the first place? Madness 

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KiwiMike replied to Prosper0 | 3 years ago
0 likes

We've seen TdF riders drop chains - were those mechanics 'incompetent'? Chains can come off for a multitude of reasons. Like being in the back of cars, or back-pedalling at the wrong time, or lack of mech tension in low-low gears. Not sure what your definition of 'competent' is, but sounds like you're after 'Actual Wizard' to cast some sort of No-Drop spell 😉

Avatar
KoenM replied to KiwiMike | 3 years ago
0 likes

U can use any hex key for example, or a wooden stick or your hands!
In the last 2 years I only dropped 2 chains an both times I could just put it back on without anything just stop and pedal forward calm.
How many times did u see a dropped chain this year in pro-cycling? It just doesn't happen a lot anymore and we are not pro's we don't put the power on our gears like they do! Honestly if u drop a chain frequently (with a modern groupset) your doing something wrong or your not using it properly (wrong terrain for example)!

Avatar
Chris Hayes | 3 years ago
1 like

Chain reseating tool? Er, hand? More landfill. 

Avatar
KoenM | 3 years ago
2 likes

I've seen about this tool when they showded it in Dragons Den and I found it silly than.
I found that this guy's video shows u exactly why: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TPBoZS38Kk8&t=2s

Anyway it's even sillier now because the groupsets have become so good that dropping a chain is hard to do, maybe if u use the roadgroupset on single track (or gnarly gravel) but even than carrying a tool just for that is just stupid!
I've dropped 2 chains this year, once the ride after I just installed a new eagle groupset (didn't adjust the limitbolts right), the other time I backpedaled when I crosschained (50 on the front 32 on the back) and with both I could get chain back on with pedaling!
Tip, if anyone really needs this tool they should look into a derailleur with a clutch! 

Avatar
KiwiMike replied to KoenM | 3 years ago
0 likes

Clutched, narrow-wide setups can still drop chains. It's not that common, but it still happens. As per the review I wouldn't buy this device but I still find it handy, especially in the workshop. My bikepacking rig has an extremely-offset chainring to deal with 3" tyres, and a Box2 mech with a clutch you can't turn off. It doesn't drop chains pedalling but back-pedalling is another story. The Rehook tool makes it ridiculously easy to reseat the chain when needed. 

Avatar
KoenM replied to KiwiMike | 3 years ago
0 likes

If it happens it's mostly enough to just step of the bike and pedal forward, that did it for me the last 2 times it happened! Also look into Microshift they have clutches u can turn off and on.

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KiwiMike replied to KoenM | 3 years ago
0 likes

It's a 1X chainring. If the chain falls off a 1X then it's laying on the chain stay/BB and there is no way it's going back on without a tool or your hand getting involved. 

Avatar
Spangly Shiny | 3 years ago
3 likes

1Pair of Black Mamba heavy duty nitrile gloves 13.35g @ 15 pence - no brainer for me.

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Richard D replied to Spangly Shiny | 3 years ago
2 likes

Even better, the gloves are a true multi tool.  Also Useful when fixing a puncture or dealing with a different sort of mechanical, carrrying out first aid or even pressed into use as an emergency water carrier.

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