Halfords advanced 90 piece socket set: What a tool   

What is it?

In a nutshell, it’s a handy little tool kit with all the common spanners and sockets that you might need for simple, everyday maintenance on your bike. The tools are made from ‘advanced quality’ chrome vanadium steel and it includes 1/4”, 3/8” and 1/2” drive ratchets, metric and imperial size sockets, from 4mm to 23mm, and 5/32” to 7/8”, respectively. There are some deep sockets and some spark plug sockets, combination spanners in sizes 10mm, 12mm, 13mm, 14mm and 17mm, and an assortment of screwdriver bits with a 1/4” bit adaptor. Oh, and a 3/8” breaker bar and universal joint. I think that is everything. And to keep it all tidy, it comes in a hard plastic carry case, which clips together with plastic clips at the side and two metal clasps at the front. And it’s all covered by a lifetime guarantee (provided you are using the tool in the manner for which it was designed…no, that ratchet is not a hammer).

Is it any good?

I’ve bought a few of these tool kits in my time and they really are mega handy. I’ve had this one for about five years and it’s been all over with me – even when I’m at home working out of my big tool kit, I still tend to have this one to hand as everything is laid out for you nicely (which is more than I can say for my main tool kit). You don’t get everything you need to work on a bike in a kit like this and although there are bigger, more expensive kits in the same range, a lot of them are full of more stuff that you probably won’t use; like the imperial sockets in this kit, I can’t remember ever using any of them. If there was an option to get the kit without the imperial stuff, I would have done. The quality of the stuff is ok, although it’s not amazing. You tend to find after a year or so the screws holding the ratchets together start coming a bit loose, but it only takes a second to tighten them back up, provided you catch it in time (the lifetime guarantee should take care of it if not). The box is good, but the plastic clips on the side aren’t very strong, and if you don’t keep hold of the foam sheet that comes with the kit, when you close the lid and pick the box up, some of the sockets fall out of their holes. It’s not the poshest kit in the world, but for convenience and portability (and price), I don’t think you can beat it.