Bicycles

Review: Fixing your bike with a tool called The Breaker

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Gizmag tries out The Breaker
Ben Coxworth/Gizmag
You can purchase The Breaker now, for £44.99 (about US$64)
Ben Coxworth/Gizmag
The Breaker's carrying case is made from leather and repurposed inner tubes
Ben Coxworth/Gizmag
The Breaker can be slung beneath the saddle – some better than others
Ben Coxworth/Gizmag
The Breaker has two magnetized holes for receiving its bits – one on the very end (seen here) and one on the side
Ben Coxworth/Gizmag
Removing The Breaker's bits from their rubber storage sleeves takes a bit of work, particularly if gloves are being worn
Ben Coxworth/Gizmag
We found that The Breaker worked just as well as any other chain tool
Ben Coxworth/Gizmag
Gizmag tries out The Breaker
Ben Coxworth/Gizmag
View gallery - 7 images

Back in October of 2014, British entrepreneur Mark Windsor turned to Kickstarter to fund production of his chain-removing cycling multi-tool, The Breaker. A couple of years and a design award later, the unique gadget has been supplied to backers and is now heading to retail store shelves. We recently had a chance to try it out for ourselves, to see what makes it so special.

The Breaker follows on from Windsor's previous creation, the Nutter.

In both cases, the basic concept is that of a flat stainless steel tool which incorporates a nylon-covered tire lever, a spoke wrench, a bottle opener, and that can accept an included selection of interchangeable bits. These consist of five sizes of hex tools, a Philips head screwdriver, a flat head screwdriver, a T25 torx bit, and a magnetic tool bit extender. All of them are stored in a carrying case made from leather and repurposed inner tubes, which can be mounted beneath the saddle using built-in Velcro straps.

In the case of The Breaker, however, an included hardened steel chain pin can also be threaded on. Using the bit extender as a magnetically-attaching handle, that pin can be used to "pop off" a damaged or worn-out chain. Of course, dedicated chain-break tools can do this too. The Breaker's flat form factor makes it less obtrusive to carry, however, plus it's always nice to have all your tools consolidated in one device.

We found that The Breaker worked just as well as any other chain tool
Ben Coxworth/Gizmag

We found that The Breaker worked just as well as any other chain tool. It also serves as a perfectly good tire lever and spoke wrench. Using its interchangeable bits to tighten and loosen nuts was likewise no problem. It's worth noting that it has two magnetized holes for receiving those bits – one on the very end, allowing it to be used like a screwdriver, and one on the side, giving it a long lateral handle for added torque.

We did notice that removing the bits from their rubber storage sleeves takes a bit of work, particularly if gloves are being worn. Fortunately, there's a magnetized slot on The Breaker for keeping two of the more commonly-used bits within easy reach. Should you ever actually use its bottle opener feature, it does work, but it doesn't pull the bottle cap off in one nice fluid motion. You more have to work it around the cap, taking it off in a couple of stages.

Removing The Breaker's bits from their rubber storage sleeves takes a bit of work, particularly if gloves are being worn
Ben Coxworth/Gizmag

It's also worth noting that the case doesn't hang all that nicely from narrower saddles – that said, it can instead be slung around the top tube, or just stuffed in a pack or jersey pocket.

Small quibbles aside, though, we would definitely recommend The Breaker. It's got all the functions you'd want in a cycling multi-tool, and is considerably slimmer than a stand-alone traditional chain tool (although for another take on one that stays out of the way, check out the Mini Bar/Barstow system).

You can purchase it now, for £44.99 (about US$64).

Product page: The Breaker

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3 comments
Expanded Viewpoint
Like people actually need to break their chain on a regular basis or something? Did they stop making master links for some reason? I converted my chain over to a master link system, and have never taken it apart since!!
Randy
TheSplund
I'll stick with my Cool Tool from several years ago that did that and didn't need a pouch someone's pic here: http://s253.photobucket.com/user/Multitooldotorg/media/CoolTool01.jpg.html
Nik
Doesn't look exactly pocket friendly to me, and leaving it on the bike when unattended is an open invitation to thieves, it wouldn't stay there for very long. It appears to be a series of solutions looking for a problem.