Bike Perfect Verdict
Topeak’s Alien has a high theoretical feature count in a cunning two-piece format, but not all of those features are useable and there are neater, more functional tools for the money from Topeak and others
Pros
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High-quality steel tools
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Plenty of them
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The knife is a useful touch
Cons
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Chain pliers are hard to use
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Steel tire lever is a rim killer
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Missing tubeless tools
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Expensive
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Bulky pouch
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The Alien has been a flagship tool for Topeak for a long time with its distinctive clip-together two-piece nylon body housing a ton of tools. The new Alien gets a Roswell head logo, but there are still some modern essentials missing and some of the ones you get are hard to use.
Design and performance
The two-piece plastic clamshell design makes the tools easy to unfold, adds leverage and also allows combinations of tools on each side such as the chain pin breaker and the 4mm that drives it. That should also include the two long multi hooked, flat 1.5mm and 2mm Allen key heads which hook together to theoretically make a set of pliers for squeezing split chain links. That’s really awkward to use in practice though and using the metal tire lever is asking for trouble on alloy rims, let alone carbon ones. While the anodized steel tool quality is excellent and the small covered knife/saw, pockets for a spare split link and unclippable pad spacer elevate it beyond basic multi-tools, it’s still lacking a tubeless repair stabber/fork which they include on other tools. The pouch doesn’t have a belt loop either and the pronounced seams make it bulkier than it needs to be.
Verdict
The Alien X has plenty of top-quality tools in an easy-access format, but not everything is actually practical to use and there are some useful bits missing considering the very high price, so we’d save $10 and get Topeak’s Mini PT30 tool instead.
Tech Specs: Topeak Alien X multi-tool
- Price: $64.95 / £54.99
- Weight: 203g (219g with pouch)
- Tools: 1.5-L, 2-L, 2.5, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8mm Allen wrenches, 10mm Allen socket, T10, T15, T25 Torx® wrench , T30 Torx® socket, 14G, 15G, Mavic M7 and Shimano® 4.5mm spoke wrenches, chain tool, chain hook, power link pliers, tire lever #2 Phillips and flat head screwdrivers, serrated knife and saw with cover, Presta valve tool, spoke holder, disc pad spacer, chain pin breaker
- Size: 7.8cm x 4.5cm x 4cm
