Unlike many of the competition Park’s IB-3 multitool is never going to win a beauty competition, but seeing as it’s a tool we don’t think that should count against it one bit. It has clearly been designed to do it’s job as well as possible, and not a single compromise has been made to aesthetics, and that’s why we like it so much.

At 9cm it’s a bit longer than most multitools, and combined with the I-beam design this means that you really can get a decent bit of leverage with this tool when compared to most other designs. This could prove to be a particularly useful feature in some circumstances. The tradeoff of course is that this extra leverage and bombproof build results in a tool that weighs in at 177g. Although that’s a fair chunk more than some other multitools we still think it’s a reasonable weight and we think many riders will feel that the benefits more than make up for it.

Tool wise you get pretty much everything that you’re likely to need. There’s 1.5mm, 2, 2.5, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 8mm allen keys, a T25 Tork key, straight blade screwdriver, a sturdy tyre lever that has curves on both ends for if you manage to damage one, two spoke keys, and one of the best chain tools that we’ve ever used on a multitool. The tyre lever clips onto one side of the tool and we like the fact that should the tool ever start to develop any play and start to rattle you can simply tighten everything up with an allen key and a spanner as it’s all just bolted together.

In conclusion then the Park IB-3 might not have any fancy bells and whistles, or catwalk looks, but it’ll last you for years and get you out of sticky (or should i say seized) situations where other multitools might fail. We reckon it’s a good price too.

Price: £19.99
www.madison.co.uk
www.parktool.com

And incase you missed them, here are our other top picks…

Lezyne SV-10
Topeak Ratchet Rocket Lite
Birzman E-Version 15
Pedros ICM