In my opinion, every mountain biker should carry some sort of multitool with them to be able to deal with minor adjustments or problems on a ride. For me personally, whether it was the early days with a full camel back with almost every full size tool imaginable to more recently having a tiny 3″ by 3″ tool in my pocket, I have always struggled with carrying or remembering to carry tools with me on my rides. That is, until now…

As soon as it came out, I thought that the One Up EDC tool was a very innovative way to carry a tool for a ride. My main problem recently is that I often forget to slide my little Crankbrothers multitool into my pocket while i’m in a rush to get out on the trails. I wanted something that was always with me that I wouldn’t have to remember. There are a few other options for these kinds of tool systems, Specialized SWAT being one of them. I would have bought one of the SWAT water bottle cages with the multitool attached to the bottom of the cage if it had been in stock in my local bike shop. In some ways, I’m glad it wasn’t in stock because then I probably wouldn’t have bought the EDC tool as the alternative.

The tool has almost everything you would need for a minor trailside repair. 2mm-8mm allen key, T25 Torex, one tire lever, chain break, Flat head screw driver, all size of spoke keys, spare chainring bolt, and storage for a very small CO2 canister, or anything else you can fit in the little tube that screws into the bottom of the main tool compartment. The allen keys are obviously shorter than your average multitool keys, but not shorter than any other similar compact tool. The leverage is actually better than my compact Crankbrothers multitool that I used to carry in my pocket. The tool itself is long enough to get a good grip on it, but small enough to get in all the difficult to reach bolts that you may have to tighten or adjust. The tool has a special key to be able to tighten the specific One Up top cap for the steertube if you chose to go that route, which is something very important that could be overlooked. I’ve had to use the tire lever, and it is indeed strong enough to get a DH casing tire off a rim Stans Rim.

One concern I have is that to achieve an 8mm key, you have to combine the 5mm key and the flat head screw driver. I’m not sure if using it in this way would be strong enough to loosen say a tight pedal or a main pivot bolt which would normally be an 8mm key, but I guess I’ll have to find that out when the time comes. Right after I purchased this tool, I had to replace my chain. I thought this would be a good opportunity to try out the chain break to see how it worked so I wouldn’t have to figure it out in the middle of a ride. I actually had to google search how to use it because I couldn’t figure it out. As it turns out, you have to bend the chain so it’s at at least a 90 degree angle to be able to get the pin out/in. This is one negative that I have against the tool. Having the bend the chain in that way would be extremely difficult when you’re alone on the side of the trail trying to get a new chain pin in. The solution to that would be a quick connect, which the tool has space for built into the housing. This is a great addition to the tool, my only complaint with it is that the quick connect easily falls out of the housing. After experiencing this, and luckily finding the quick connect link, I easily remedied it with a small strip of tape over the quick connect.

8mm key

Using the chain break out in the field could be a little tricky.

Little piece of electrical tape over the quick links

The tool can be used in a couple different configurations most common being inside the steer tube of the fork. This requires you to buy a tap kit, remove the star nut from your fork, and tap threads into your steer tube to be able to tighten down the new cap which holds the tool at the top of the steertube. One Up says that the tap can only be used three times, but I’m pretty sure the one I borrowed was used more than three times and it works just fine. I would recommend asking around before purchasing a tap kit. One thing I don’t like about using the tool in this configuration is that it decreases the potential height of your bar/stem. I had put all four headset spacers under my stem to increase my bar height, but tapping threads and storing the EDC tool didn’t allow me to have my stem/bars as high as I would have preferred. I wasn’t too concerned about this because I purchased this tool in the fall, and I  knew I would be getting a new bike/fork in the spring so I could account for that when it came time to tap threads into the new fork.

Tapping threads into your steertube is a lot easier than I would have thought. Make sure to use lots of Triflow!

With One Up cap screwed into the newly tapped threads

The second way to use the EDC tool is to purchase one of One Up’s pumps. Looking back on it now, this is the way I should have gone. My thinking was, I already have a good pump that Is attached to my bike, so why spend the money on another pump? The One Up pump I found out, is not a normal pump, however. It also has a CO2 cartridge adapter so if you’re in a hurry, you can just use a CO2 to inflate the tire instead of using the pump. Using the pump configuration, you don’t have to tap threads into your steer tube, altering your potential stem/bar height and you eliminate the ability to use certain Garmin or other computer/video mounts that go directly on top of your steer tube.

The One Up EDC tool is a great solution for people like me who like to be prepared for a trailside repair or adjustment, but don’t always remember to put a tool in their pocket. It’s not overly expensive, especially compared to other similar products, has mostly everything you’d need in an emergency, and can be carried in two unique configurations that you wouldn’t usually have to worry about forgetting when you’re on a rush to go for a ride. Like anything, it’s not perfect. I could see the chain break being a little difficult to use on somebody’s bike who doesn’t use a quick connect, the lack of a Phillips head screw diver for a cable or other derailleur adjustment, the uncertainty of how the 8mm key would fair against a tight pedal or main pivot bolt, and I have recently noticed that the tool has begun to rust. It is Vancouver in the winter, with all the wet conditions and constant washing of the bike, I should have expected and taken steps to prevent this. These are little details which, in my opinion wouldn’t make or break the tool, they are just something to keep and mind and be prepared for.

Little bit of rust in the corner of the tool and on the chain break pin.