Here in the U.S. we don’t hear a ton about Unior, but that’s changing as more and more distributors pick up the torch – just not in blue – U.S. tools will have orange/red handles to avoid an obvious trademark infringement. With around a decade or so of making bicycle specific tools, their heritage as a tool manufacturer is far more impressive overall, dating back to 1919. Like many companies here proud to still make things in the U.S., Unior is fiercely proud to still make almost everything in Slovenia.
That includes their new products like the new multi tool line up. As far as Unior is aware, this is one of, if not the first European-made multi-tool, and it will be available in 4 styles to suit your needs…
Called the Euro 6, 7, 13, or 17, the Euro obviously corresponds to their place of manufacture, while the number correlates to the number of functions each tool has. Fully made in house, the tools use plastic handles which are warm to the touch and are made from the same polypropylene material as their tire levers for strength. The metal tools use the same quality tool steel as their T-handle wrenches and use blackened black oxide tips for increased precision and chrome plated shafts for rust proofing. Available in early 2017.
When Unior talks about making almost everything in house, that includes complex and massive forging operations like that needed to make their new 12mm cassette lockring tool. Shown in the four stages of production from right to left, the 200 ton forge is apparently the “smaller” one they have at their disposal.
The 6 main manufacturing techniques are highlighted in their presentation set which is now available for dealers and anyone else who wants the specific set of tools that was first shown last year at Eurobike. The selection which of course includes a bottle opener spans process from laser cutting, forging and cold forging, CNC machining, plastic injection molding, and sintering, all of which is done in house.
There is also a new Pro Road Tool set (bottom, right) which features a more compact selection of tools than their Pro Home set, with the choices tailored by Team Sky.
New products continue with a 15mm allen socket to remove Shimano free hubs, and an adjustable height rear wheel stand.
Their new tread cutters may have been seen along with Schwalbe tires as the tool was made for the tire company by Unior. Now it will be made available to the public and features an adjustable height cutting depth so you can cut it the same height each time.
DT Swiss wheels with Squorx nipples will soon have a new drive available from Unior which adds a machined metal handle to the reverse torx fitting.
Anyone who already has a Unior 1689 truing stand will soon be able to accommodate fat bike tires up to 5.0″ on rims from 50-100mm in width with the new adapter calipers. The only catch is that the calipers won’t work with rims narrower than 40mm which will require swapping between the two if you only have one stand.
New additions to their bike stand line up include the Event Stand and the Team Sky Team Stand. The Event stand is a super light, 7.5 kg A-Frame stand that can hold up to 10 bikes. The stand ships with an extension that can be added to make it long enough to fit 10 bikes, as well as a storage bag.
The Team Sky Stand is of course made to meet the demands of Team Sky and was being shown in a prototype form since it had already been spotted at the Tour. With a few changes still to come, the two leg design with have thru axle adapters available and the tray itself will be sold separately to fit other Unior bike stands.
Finally, Unior has been expanding into work benches and tool cabinets, and their latest addition includes stainless steel tops that fit over the current wooden work surfaces. The benches/cabinets are available in a number of configurations with or without tools with precision cut foam storage dividers. Work bench risers will also be offered soon which will raise the benches for those that are tired of bending over to reach work heights set for average humans.
