The Touch Adjust multi-tool is the brainchild of Cape Town bike geek (fellow bike geek, obviously) Raoul de Villiers, and it is a thing of beauty. And supreme function.
We all have a multi-tool, possibly many, that we carry grudgingly, or simply leave at home most of the time. Why? Half the ‘tools’ are useless for our personal bike configuration, and the other half are awkwardly positioned when you do need to use them. This is where Raoul has stepped up with a customisable solution that is wonderfully simple, and equally effective.
The Touch Adjust – unboxed
Let’s cut to the chase – R900 is a lot for a multi-tool. But, bear with us, the Touch tool is a value proposition, right from the first moment you hold the sleek cardboard box it is delivered in, in your hot-and-sweaties. Slide the drawer out, (and in again, and out again just because the magnetic closure is such fun) and you are faced with a Meccano-esque setup; two aluminium side pieces, 9 tool-bit options, three differently-lengthed pairs of Loctited Allen bolts, 16 CNC washers and a hex key to assemble it all.
We found accessing those pesky rear flat-mount brake bolts a whole lot easier
The modularity is the Touch Adjust’s party-trick – choose between 2-bit, 3-bit or 4-bit configurations and assemble with the appropriate bolts and washers, and you suddenly find yourself holding a tool that is perfect for you and your needs, slim and light in the hand, but with plenty of leverage (just under 9cm) for stubborn bike bits, and seems hard-wearing enough in all departments for you to chop and change configurations as you either buy new bikes, or find the need for a particular bit to be positioned differently within the Touch Adjust for your particular bikes peculiarities – we found accessing those pesky rear flat-mount brake bolts a whole lot easier with a little planning.
The bits are all CNC-machined for accuracy and longevity – as is the rest of the Touch Adjust – and in our short experience with it, we found the usability – particularly with sweaty and gloved hands – to be superior to virtually every other multi-tool out there. You can tell there is a whole lot of bike nerd in the background. And, with our limited experience to date, it is worth every cent.
Touch Adjust specifications
Contents:
- 2 x 6061-T6 CNC aluminium arms (silver/clear anodised, or custom colours)
- 2 x each: 2, 3 & 4 tool bit width bolts – so a choice of 4, 6 or 8 tool bits per tool – all bolts have thread lock compound pre-applied
- 9 tool bits: Allen keys 6/5/4/3/2.5mm; T25 & T30; 1 x 2mm Allen key with two spoke key sizes
+ 1 x flat/rounded screwdriver with 2 spoke key sizes - 16 x CNC curved washers
- 2.5mm, L-shape Allen key for assembling the tool
Available at class bike shops, or from Touch Bike Parts.
