Many of us from years past think of classic indestructible floor pumps, (their frame pumps, though pretty, weren’t so tough), when we think of SILCA. Since taking ownership from what was the oldest family owned company in the cycling industry in 2013, Josh Portner and his crew have made a bee line for producing some of the most ridiculously drool worthy and well thought out products that this industry has seen. Not for everybody, but for those that will still crack a smile 5 or even 10 years later when they look at their investment, it takes on a whole new meaning when justifying such a purchase. To add to their growing collection of family heirlooms, SILCA is introducing the HX-One Essentials Kit, which is a set of hex keys that look and are simple, but what went into them is another story…
Being the most common tool used on any bicycle, nothing is more important than having a dependable easy to find set of hex keys, and SILCA put every consideration into making what they feel is the best hex keys one can buy. Knowing how quickly a cheap hex key’s fragile end points can deform, later damaging or completely stripping out the fastener’s head, I can attest to how important it is to invest in quality tools.
For the HX-One, SILCA started with S-2 Steel which was refined by Swiss and German Tool makers to yield a metal that possesses an optimal balance of strength, hardness, shock resistance, and dimensional control, (so it won’t bend, break or twist under an extreme and abusing load). The keys are coated with a thin-but-dense chrome that is the hardest and most stable finish available and is usually reserved for optical grade surfaces inside molding tools. To top it off, each tool is spray coated with a high grip, high visibility textured polymer finish to give even the greasiest of fingers a fighting chance.
Included with the HX-One Essentials Kit is the proprietary SILCA 17-4 Stainless Magnetic Adapter that turns the 6mm Hex key into a 1/4″ adapter which can fit their included driver bits….. or any of your old ones that got lost under the work bench. The SILCA HX-One Essentials Kit is nicely housed in a CNC machined box made of sustainable beech wood that is then hand sanded and finished before receiving the stainless steel SILCA shield on the lid.
“One of our goals with this lifetime set of tools was to have it be completely one-hand accessible (we’ve all been there..). The fine Beechwood Box uses a magnetic closure system and each tool rests in a CNC machined slot, held in place by a single elastomeric tab. Each tool fits into and out of its slot with a satisfying ‘click’ so that even when stretched one-handed from work stand to workbench, you can be confident in your placement,” says Josh Portner, president of SILCA.
The SILCA HX-One Essentials Kit is due to start shipping in limited quantities on September 1st. Retail on the HX-One is $125, or roughly about $7 per included tool and a really nice container.
