One thing to tool them all? Topeak Mini PT30 review

Nobody wants to be stuck by the road or trailside with a mechanical failure – particularly one that could be so easily fixed with an allen key or chain breaker. But equally annoying is the need to carry around a growing collection of different tools, from simple ones that tighten bolts, to power link pliers and tyre repair kits. To help you avoid looking and sounding like a literal bag of spanners, What’s The Best’s Adam Binnie takes Topeak’s latest function-packed masterpiece, the Topeak Mini PT30, for a ride in the woods.

Verdict: The Topeak Mini PT30 contains all the tools you’ll realistically need. Add a CO2 inflator and some tubeless plugs/inner tube patches and you've got a pocket-sized workshop. It’ll be slight overkill for some (roadies, or those of you still using inner tubes) but an essential accessory for everyone else.

It's the best and most comprehensive multitool we've ever used.

Jump to:

Build

• Solid and precisely machined

• Feels substantial and built to last

• Smaller than a deck of playing cards

Fed up with having to pack and unpack a toolbox every time I visited a bike park, I recently bought a product that, with no irony, described itself as a 'Tactical Waist Pack' (reader, it’s a bumbag) and proceeded to stuff it with a selection of essential tools.

The idea was I could just chuck it in my boot or around my waist and go riding, sidestepping the need to spend precious minutes faffing around searching for tyre levers or whatever. If you regularly ride bikes you will know all about The Faff, and the pre-ride fun-vacuum it can create.

I needn't have bothered - I could have just put a Topeak Mini PT30 in my pocket instead. This gadget, which is smaller than a pack of playing cards, replaces pretty much all of the tools in my waist bag. The ‘30’ in the name PT30 refers to the number of functions it offers – I won’t name them all now (they’re in the table above) but I’ve been over my bike with it and there isn’t a single fastening I can’t loosen or tighten - even my 10mm crank bolt cap.

The selling point of this model over the smaller ones in the Topeak range is the reamer and tyre plug insertion tool – removing even more bulk from your backpack in the form of a tubeless puncture repair kit.

That’s a serious punch for something so small, and Topeak manages this remarkable feat of packaging by covering literally every surface in some sort of feature, whether it’s the reamer on the shaft of the T10, or the spoke keys, power link splitter and chain breaker combination tool. Which is also a tyre lever.

So it’s small enough to be chucked into the bottom of a bag, strapped to your frame, or even stashed in the pocket of your shorts or jersey – and the included neoprene case will keep it (and your clothes) safe while it’s there.

Usability

• A bit fiddly with gloves on

• Opens with reassuring stiffness

• Not everyone has tubeless tyres

All of the tools open from the inside outwards like a big pair of barn doors, and they’re quite stiff at first. This is admittedly preferable to my old multitool, which over time became so loose the various elements would flap about like a 90s downhill jersey.

They’re also packed in there really tight with very little space between them, which of course is how Topeak can make the PT30 so small. In practice that combined with the above can make picking an individual tool a bit tricky, especially with gloves on.

You can move the chain breaker aside and push the allens and torx bits through from the other side - an extra step, but not exactly hard, and seemingly a fair trade for that compact design.

While it’s not aimed specifically at mountain bikes, those of you without tubeless tyres could slash weight even further by picking a Topeak Mini 20 Pro or even Mini 9 Pro Carbon (only 73g!) if you’re baulking at the idea of carrying around extra grams in the form of tools you’ll never use.

Performance

• All the tools have precise, sharp edges

• Confusing L-shaped 2mm allen

• Chain breaker is multifunctional brilliance

When it comes to tightening or loosening bolts, the PT30’s tools are all super sharp-edged and engage really positively in the fastening. No worries of stripped out heads here. It’s very intuitive to use and smartly packaged - the 10mm allen takes the form of a socket that slips over the 8mm, for example, although the 2mm allen is an L-shape, which makes it a bit tricky to slot into your derailleur adjustment screws.

The serrated knife and tubeless plug insertion fork are locked out with a retaining clip that must be pinged back before they can be rehoused. This is a great touch considering the force you need to use to insert a plug into a tyre, and the annoyance of it folding up while you do so.

Around the other side is the chain breaker, which screws into the PT30’s body using the tool’s driver. As mentioned earlier this piece features loads of other functions, not least a very clever power link splitter and a ‘third hand’ for holding a loop in your chain while you work on it (replacing the bent spoke in my tool bag I used for this purpose). This isn't held on very securely though, and has a habit of pinging off, but is easily stored off the tool inside the neoprene case.

Price

At the time of writing the PT30’s RRP was £44.99, but it’s available on Amazon for under £40. That sounds like a lot of money, but works out as £1.50 per function, which makes it better value for money than Topeak’s smaller tools.

Plus, if you were to buy a cheaper multitool alongside things like a separate chain breaker and tubeless reamer/plug insertion tool to gain the same number of functions as the PT30, the final bill would be a lot more than £40.

Verdict

The tiny Topeak Mini PT30 contains all the tools you might realistically need either on or off-road, save for a CO2 inflator and some tubeless plugs/inner tube patches.

A small toolkit containing those items would easily fit in the pocket of your shorts or jersey, however, and then only the most catastrophic mechanical failures would stop you. Like a snapped frame. Although even then, the PT30 is so comprehensive you could probably bodge something to get you home.

Some of its tools are a bit fiddly to unfold, but that’s the only real criticism, and in fairness it’s a small price to pay for the compact design. I really can’t emphasise this enough – the PT30 is absolutely minuscule. A masterpiece of design efficiency.

Having 30 functions means it’ll be overkill for some, particularly if you don’t have tubeless tyres, but otherwise it’s exquisitely machined, a joy to use, and an essential companion.

Adam Binnie is the Commercial Content Editor and reviewer for WhatsTheBest, specialising in bikes, fitness, cars, parenting and cooking.

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