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Abbey Team Issue Toolbox draws from toolbox wars to offer the very best

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If you follow Abbey Bike Tools on social media, you should be familiar with #toolboxwars. No, this isn’t people throwing toolboxes at each other in a battle of bike shop supremacy. Rather, it’s a way to highlight the amount of detail and precision that goes into the toolboxes of pro mechanics around the globe. And for a company that specializes in pro-level tools, it was also a bit of a research project to find out what worked, and what didn’t – in order to create the ultimate all-in-one toolbox kit.

Abbey Team Issue Toolbox draws from toolbox wars to offer the very best

Abbey Team Issue Toolbox draws from toolbox wars to offer the very best

Sold as a turnkey kit, the Team Issue Toolbox offers the best of the best, starting from the outside with a Pelican iM2200 case. A custom engraved name tag gives it a pro look from the outside, and on the inside…

Abbey Team Issue Toolbox draws from toolbox wars to offer the very best

Kaizen Inserts make sure all of the tools stay where they belong. But as Abbey’s founder Jason Quade points out, the design of the foam cutouts is more complicated than you would believe. It’s important for all of the tools to stay put, but it’s also critical that they have the right “pull” when you go to remove the tool from the custom made slot. Also, tools on the lid require more hold than tools in the trays thanks to gravity. To ensure everything is just so, Kaizen Inserts uses a CNC router to make the perfect cut.

Abbey Team Issue Toolbox draws from toolbox wars to offer the very best

Quade also points out that one of the biggest omissions from other toolboxes in his opinion is the addition of extra room. While the Team Issue Toolbox has an incredible selection of tools, undoubtedly there will be a few more things you’d like to carry with you, so there is an entire layer devoted to extra storage space. The kit includes four sections of Kaizen foam that have been cut but left in place, and a Plano Box for storing small parts. Use the rectangular openings to store bleed kits, lube, or other items, or you can cut out your own shapes in the remaining foam to add more tools.

Abbey Team Issue Toolbox draws from toolbox wars to offer the very best Abbey Team Issue Toolbox draws from toolbox wars to offer the very best

But wait, there’s more! A lot more, with pro-level tools from Knipex, Wera, Klein, Starrett, and of course, Abbey Bike Tools. All together, the kit comes in at 18lbs /8.16kg. The toolbox isn’t cheap at $1,350, but for all the tools included with the level of organization, it looks like it could we worth the price.

Full kit contents:

Abbey Bike Tools:
Crombie – Dual Sided TA
Whip-it for Dual Sided
HAG
Decade Chain Tool
Wash Buddy, Complete
Pedal Wrench
Crank Preload Tool
4 Way (2.5-3-4-5)
4 Way (T10-T15-T20-T25)
Stu Stick

Knipex:
Diagonal Flush Cutters
Pliers Wrench
Cable Cutter
Needle Nose

WERA:
9 piece Hex Plus Set With Ball End
1mm  flat blade  Screw Driver
#2 Phillips Screw Driver
9pcs Ball End Torx Set
2.0mm Hex Plus Driver
3.0mm Hex Plus Driver

Other:
Pelican case #iM2200
Pelican 1920 Flashlight
Klein Scissors
Plano Box
Starrett Tape Measure in/cm
Size: 16.2 x 12.7 x 6.6 inches, 41.1 x 32.3 x 16.8cm
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22 Comments
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Eggs Benedict
Eggs Benedict
5 years ago

Where are the channel locks?

KB
KB
5 years ago
Reply to  Eggs Benedict

Knipex: Pliers Wrench = Channel Locks

Dominic
Dominic
5 years ago

(deleted)

Gregory Thomas
Gregory Thomas
5 years ago

I’d go with some Wiss 8″ scissors, the Klein are a bit small IMO. And all the Knipex should have the dual compound grips because they feel a lot better. And PB Swiss > Wera, but I get the huge price difference.
Overall, it’s pretty dang good.

Shafty
Shafty
5 years ago
Reply to  Gregory Thomas

The single component grips last a lot longer, once you start exposing them to various fluids and greases. For the same reason I’d swap out the Wera screwdrivers for PB Swiss basic plastic handles. They never die when exposed to anything. Not the hex drivers though. The wera hex plus can’t be beat for small fasteners.

Anyone know a good foam laser cutting/milling service? Most want big orders.

Gregory Thomas
Gregory Thomas
5 years ago
Reply to  Shafty

I’ve been using my PB Swiss screwdrivers with soft touch handles for at least ten years as a bike mechanic. Only now is it hard to read the product number on the #2 Phillips, and are otherwise in perfect condition.

Shafty
Shafty
5 years ago
Reply to  Gregory Thomas

Sounds great, but SwissGrip isn’t comparable to most comolded or dual component grips. It’s merely a soft covering over a standard hard grip.

You’re anecdote is appreciated, but not particularly meaningful. A table with fluid/solvent resistance would be much more convincing.

Gregory Thomas
Gregory Thomas
5 years ago
Reply to  Shafty

The Knipex dual grip isn’t particularly soft. It is textured and it has more shape (such as a flange before the tool head) . I would consider it comparable in feel to the PB Swiss, hence my comparison.
As far as chemicals, well, there’s all sorts of lubricants, with the weekly-ish cleaning with Clean Streak or alcohol.
I haven’t had dual compound Knipex all that long, but I don’t see them deteriorating particularly quickly.

Ira
Ira
5 years ago

(deleted)

Jason West
Jason West
5 years ago

I would love that! Expensive but i totally get it!

Bmx
Bmx
5 years ago

I have loads of goofy hope tools and other stuff that just needs a big box to knock around in. like the idea but no go for my rides.

Robin
Robin
5 years ago

Why no torque wrench?

Huffagnolo SuperMagna
Huffagnolo SuperMagna
5 years ago

I would certainly add PB Swiss Allens and ditch the Phillips for JIS like the park derailleur screwdriver. Also need to add one of those nice Snap On digital torque wrenchs and maybe some of their ratcheting box wrenches.

Jason Quade
Jason Quade
5 years ago

The #2 Philips is a DIN and is JIS comparable. The PB Swiss keys are consistently undersized which leads to rounding out fasteners. Which is why we went with the Wera instead.

Huffagnolo SuperMagna
Huffagnolo SuperMagna
5 years ago
Reply to  Jason Quade

I know it is comparable but not the same! I have switched to JIS for everything crosshead these days. Never had any issues when using PB Swiss but then again I don’t use them as often as I have a nice set of Silca and am doing less wrenching these days.

Still a neat box and one I would love to own someday

Gregory Thomas
Gregory Thomas
5 years ago

Huffagnolo actually it’s the same now.
PB Swiss hex keys are undersized exactly the same as Wera hex keys, about 0.05mm on a 5mm key. Bondhus measure exact.

Huffagnolo SuperMagna
Huffagnolo SuperMagna
5 years ago
Reply to  Gregory Thomas

I don’t subscribe to that first part maybe things have improved but using a JIS vs a Phillips screwdriver I notice a difference but maybe it is me.

Time to break out the vernier calipers and get some measuring going on some Allen keys!

Josh
Josh
5 years ago

Damn. Nice looking kit. Don’t need it but definitely want it…

Mike
Mike
5 years ago

Needs a BFH, but otherwise, that seems like pretty good value?

EcoRacer
EcoRacer
5 years ago

Always wanted to do this to my own toolbox because it looks awsome, but I soon figured out that I have too many tools to make them fit like this. This is great if you know exactly what you need and what bikes you are going to be working on. Or only do small repairs in the field. But if you are like me and work on all kinds of different bikes, you are going to need a lot more tools.

Foam cutouts are clean and nice, but everything takes up so much more room. Still really really nice though, and the price is not too bad.

Aloysius Theodore-Ursus
Aloysius Theodore-Ursus
5 years ago

Lots of wasted space here. You don’t need foam to cushion bike tools like they were sensitive optical equipment. They are tools and get dropped and banged occasionally. Smacks of fetishism and ‘just-rightness’ as espoused by lifestyle magazines and OCD photographic shoot directors. My toolbox (am I’m an event and race mechanic of 30+ years experience) is neat, tidy, but always being rearranged and reconfigured in and out of pouches and pallets, depending on what tools I need for what event. And, as bike companies pursue their marketing-led quest to make rich people spend more money to be cool like their wannabe-pro mates. A bit like this, really.

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