If you were able to look past the stunning sets of co-branded Speedvagen tools at NAHBS, you already knew this was coming. But Sea Otter marked the official launch of the Rock Shox x Abbey tool range. According to Jason Quade of Abbey fame, the decision to embark on a co-branded tool set was made right after Sea Otter 2016 with the help of Geoff Przekop, the Product Manager of Accessories at SRAM. As a company of their size, SRAM could have easily made tools to do these jobs by themselves, but they seemed to recognize that Abbey has the precision and the reputation to make it a great collaboration, and that co-branding would be the better option.
As a result, these tools will be part of an exclusive distribution through SRAMnation.com through the end of the year…
Built specifically for Rock Shox suspension and dropper post maintenance, products like the Flangeless Dust Seal Installation Tool have Rock Shox specific sizing of 32 and 35mm. Once the exclusive is up you might see 34, 36, and 40mm heads available, but not for the Rock Shox tools. Since the seal driver hits the bushing first, it ensures perfect alignment of the seal every time without damage. Sold as a set with 32 and 35mm pucks, the set is available for preorder at $100.
Depending on the part you want to service, Rock Shox is offering a service wrench for Reverb (23 and 34mm), Charger (23 and 25mm), and Charger 2 (two different 15mm ends), each for $70. Jason said that questions have arrived based on the torque values of the wrench, but as long as the body of the torque wrench is perpendicular to the tool, it won’t change your torque values.
Already available in other sizes, the Rock Shox x Abbey suspension sockets are available in Rock Shox specific 24mm and 30mm sizes for $35 each. There is also a special suspension top cap/cassette tool for any forks that use a cassette tooling for their top caps (SID, Revelation, Reba, Paragon, Pike, and Lyrik). Specially shaped to fit these top caps, the tool doubles as a cassette installation tool and is available for preorder at $50.
Finally, the Rock Shox x Abbey Bushing Removal/Installation tool does just that – installs and removes the 1/2″ x 1/2″ rear shock bushing. Built with typical Abbey precision, the tools runs $30. All are available for preorder and should ship in 1-2 weeks.