Torque Covert 7 Crank Multi Tool

The Torque Covert 7 Crank Multi Tool is cleverly designed to hide away inside your bike's hollow crank, held in place with strong magnets. It's reasonably light and totally unobtrusive – you wouldn't know it's there unless you were looking. You get fewer tools than on conventional multi tools at less than half the price, though, and it only works with certain types of Shimano and SRAM cranks.

We've previously seen tools that fit into bar ends, fork steerer tubes and even hubs, but this could be the smartest place for one yet – provided you have a hollow crankset that's at least 21mm diameter internally. If so this slots straight in and stays put thanks to a strong neodymium magnet. Both on and off road, on rides that were particularly bumpy in places (though not involving any big jumps), the Covert 7 didn't budge.

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If you're going to add weight to a bike this is probably the best location for it – low down and central, where it has the least effect on handling. Also, it's really easy to get to, so you don't waste time searching around in bags.

The Covert 7 has six steel tools (3mm, 4mm, 5mm, and 6mm hex keys, a T25 Torx and a cross head screwdriver) and a chain tool made of 7075 aluminium alloy. The body is 6061 aluminium alloy, and cleverly, each tool is held in its slot magnetically. A bit driver is located at the end of the tool's shaft.

There's also a recess in the main body for a spare master link, and I found some 10 and 11 speed links fit perfectly, but a kidney-shaped 10 speed KMC master link proved slightly too big. However, putting them in the wrong way round – not in the recess, but hanging out towards either end of the multi tool – works. It's not ideal, but definitely usable.

Due to the standard size of the bits you can easily replace them with alternatives, though the slots probably won't fit anything bigger than a 7mm hex key.

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The Covert 7 is very easy to use, and particularly effective. Due its design, you can get a decent hold on it to tighten or loosen stubborn bolts, and if you need a bit more purchase, the bit driver rotates 90 degrees, allowing you to apply a decent amount of torque.

The chain tool is easy to use too – just unscrew it from the main shaft, insert the chain, and screw it back in to break the link.

Torque says the Covert 7 will fit in hollow cranks at least 21mm wide inside, which is true but overlooks any length issues – it slotted perfectly into a Shimano GRX 600 crankset, but proved too long for my mountain bike's SRAM GX crankset.

Torque may have missed a trick with the colour-coding crowd by not offering the endpiece in a plethora of hues, but the black is very stealthy. Covert, you might even say... bright purple, please!

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The only issue I had was the main shaft unscrewing itself from the chain tool, presumably thanks to the rotational forces. Perhaps I didn't have it tight enough, or maybe it's an inherent issue, but either way there's an easy solution – threadlock.

An anti-corrosion spray such as ACF50 might be a good idea too, simply because if where these steel bits are sitting, but to be clear the whole thing sealed well throughout the test. After several wet rides with some decent puddles thrown in for good measure, there wasn't a drop of water inside.

Value

At £39.99, this looks expensive in terms of how many functions it offers, but then you're getting that clever design. If you just want loads of tools, Pedro's RX Micro-20 has more than twice as many (20), including tyre levers. It's around 30g heavier than the Covert 7 though, and bulky to tuck away.

Alternatively, The Granite Design Stash RCX fits neatly inside your fork steerer and offers the essentials too, though it lacks a chain breaker and is slightly more expensive at £49.95.

Overall

If you typically carry just the bare essentials, this is a really great option – in fact, it's probably one of the best solutions out there. It's discreet, easily accessed, and very effective.

Verdict

Clever, effective and unobtrusive, if not quite comprehensive in its functions – and it won't fit every crankset