Early this year and unusually for me, I just happened to be in the right place at the right time and I was given a Lezyne Port-a-shop toolkit. Obviously I said “thanks very much” and graciously accepted it.
I duly took it home and it sat on the desk in my office for about 6 weeks as for that period my riding was always from home on the same bike, so it was simply a matter of getting my kit on, putting some air in the tyres and lube on the chain and heading out the door.
Then came a day when I needed to travel somewhere first and I thought – ok great, I can put that Lezyne tool kit in the car in case I need any tools. That was the beginning of a beautiful relationship that’s gone from strength to strength. In fact, if I’m going to a sportive or a ride with friends where we meet somewhere by car, the Port-a-shop is now one of my essential bits of kit. I literally don’t leave home with my bike in the car without it.
It’s quite simple in concept: A compartmentalised soft case canvas zip up tool kit containing:
– A Lezyne Allen Block of seven different sizes including some right angles (2, 2.5, 3, 4, 5, 6 & 8mm)
– A torx T Block with 9 different sizes (T6, T7, T9, T10, T15, T20, T25, T27, T30 and it’s a surprisingly useful tool not just for bike riding)
– A (physically) larger Multi Block with an 8 mm Look pedal compatible allen key, Phillips and flat head screw drivers, disc brake wedge, tyre lever (with open 10mm) and bottle opener
– Leyzne Sabre levers that are a pedal spanner and a heavy duty tyre lever
– Leyzne Power tyre levers (a strengthened matrix plastic material) that clip together
– a 9/10 speed Chain Drive tool
– two different Lezyne puncture repair kits (smart and classic)
– Spoke tools (2x square spoke & 1x Mavic)
These are all neatly packaged together with a separate zipped compartment for any other small bits and piece (like chain links) you might want to carry.
I’ve used this at events like Sportives, it’s now also my go to at home for most small jobs as I’ve found it easy to keep everything in its compartment and I keep the toolset in the same place, so I always know where it is. It’s also gone to my office with me in my rucksack when we’ve been doing lunchtime rides in case anything needs a tweak on either my colleague’s bike or my own.
It’s not a full tool set but it’s far more useful than I would have anticipated. The tools are Lezyne’s usual high quality as is the bag. I’ve added in a pair of needle nose pliers to mine which comfortably fit in the case and I usually put my torque wrench in the car when I head somewhere too.
If you travel to rides at all and like to not have to rely on other people having brought the tools you may need, the Lezyne Port-a-shop is a fantastically useful piece of kit. As I found, before you have one you might wonder if you’d ever need one. Once you have one, you’ll probably soon be certain that you’d never leave home without it.
My suggestions for Lezyne would be perhaps to add some needle nose pliers as I have, a torque wrench and perhaps tools for getting cassettes changed as well (chain whip and cassette tool). That being said these are easy things to put in your car anyway when you’re travelling and I always do.
More info here: http://www.lezyne.com/product-mtools-portashopkit.php#.U5cBPVJdV8E
More reviews here:
http://road.cc/content/review/12039-lezyne-port-shop-toolkit
Thanks for reading.
