Park Tool EK-1 tool kit review

Park Tool is a brand that’s synonymous with bike workshops and with that sort of heritage it probably shouldn’t come as a surprise that this kit has all the tools you could need to carry out most common home maintenance tasks.

Just opening the box is impressive – it has a clear layout and easy-access design, and there are spaces for you to add extra tools, meaning you really can pack your entire workshop in. It even comes with a Park Tool catalogue tucked into the lid pocket. This is heavenly bike geek reading and browsing its pages is almost certain to throw up a tool that you didn’t know even existed.

The standout items are a good pedal Allen key that has a long handle that’s both contoured and helpfully grippy, a set of master link pliers and a firmly effective cleaning brush to seek out the hardened dirt that lurks in small places even after washing.

There are other extras in the form of a hammer, tape measure, and super-practical knife. How often do you find yourself searching for something to cut zip ties or even just get into packaging? 

The Allen keys are our second-favourite Y-shaped ones so our first upgrade to this kit would be to add some T-shaped sizes as well. The quality of the tools at point of bike contact is good. It’s a small detail, but some of the handles are flat, which makes them less pleasing to use.

This article was originally published in What Mountain Bike magazine, available on Apple Newsstand and Zinio.