Lindarets Terske Travel Disc Brake Rotor Lockring Tool

The Lindarets Terske Travel Disc Brake Rotor Lockring Tool is a super-light and compact solution to Centre Lock woes, at least for those times when carrying a foot of steel with a regular tool on it just isn't going to work. Your bike will need 12mm thru-axles with decent wall thicknesses and externally-notched rings to make it work, though – plus using it to the usual 40-50Nm torques can be hard – so it's a pretty niche device. If it suits you, though, it's great.

Anyone who's packed a bike into a case or a car likely knows the annoyance of finding, within just a few turns of the cranks at the other end, that a rotor got bent in transit. Cue suffering the noise and drag, plus the faffing trying to get the rotor true using your fingers, as you almost certainly didn't pack a rotor truing tool.

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The answer is to remove your rotors and pack them carefully away where they can't get whanged. But the tools required are typically large and heavy – at 40-50Nm typical lockring torque, you need heft to deliver the beans.

The issue is leverage – how do you get the length needed to deliver the torque? Not from a stubby multitool, that's for sure. But now axles have pretty much standardised at 12mm, at least at the rear, you have around 130-150mm of bar already there on your bike.

US design house Lindarets came up with the idea of using the axle as a lever, and this is the result (it also does a 6/8/16mm hex tool for pedals and Race Face Cinch cranks).

The tool is machined from 6061-T6 aluminium, then laser-etched. It's gorgeous, and at 17g it's also ridiculously light for something capable of handling 50Nm torque. The secret is in how the tool spreads the force from the axle across two wide, hollow ports, each with a rubber ring inside to prevent the axle slipping out.

The tool is 4.6mm deep, giving maximum opportunity to mate with the lockring. Some lockrings can run pretty thin, and Lindarets warn to 'take care to ensure full engagement and avoid stripping.'

Torque of the devil

40-50Nm is a fair amount to shift if you can't get your full hand around a handle, and that's an inherent issue with removing or installing a rotor lockring. If you are running a big rotor (160mm or larger) and you're using a front axle as the handle, it leaves only 2-3cm outside of the rotor, and part of that is aggressively threaded. I found it best to wear gloves to cushion my palm and to protect in the event of slips.

Don't be tempted to use your foot, a rock or any other extra leverage, warns Lindarets – and make sure your axles have a 3mm or thicker wall (so a 6mm max central hole).

Having tested with a torque wrench, I can confirm that 40Nm is a fair amount of welly to apply in this manner. With practice you appreciate how much is enough – I've been securing rotors after travelling for years with other tools, and have yet to experience any subsequent looseness.

I find there's a lot of safety margin in the typical 40Nm spec, and any working loose of the lockring will be evident due to rotor rub / noise long before it becomes dangerously loose.

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I once completely forgot to add a lockring in a flurry of sleep-deprived pre-ride excitement, only realising when I got to the end of a long campground driveway having braked multiple times. Not recommended, but goes to show the Centre Lock standard can survive torque variances without bursting into flames.

Learn to live with it

I found the amount of force you can comfortably and safely apply here is more than adequate. If you're in doubt you can always whip the tool out mid-ride and see if anything's changed – if there's slippage it's easily rectified by applying more force, until you settle on how much is enough. I trial-and-errored at home until I recognised roughly how much oomph to give, and then rode the bike hundreds of miles without any slipping at all.

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Note this is for externally-notched lockrings. There also exist internally-notched lockrings, which use a standard Shimano internally-splined cassette lockring tool, and it would be nice to see Lindarets offer that option too. Still, if you're keen (and your rotor has the clearance with the caliper) you could always swap to external lockrings.

Value

There's nothing like it on the market. A normal full-size version like the LifeLine Shimano Steps Lockring Tool and a 1/2in drive breaker bar will cost you about the same, but will obviously have much, much more weight and bulk. For travel, the Terske is in a class of its own.

Overall

If you're rocking external lockrings (preferably at low torques), chunky 12mm axles and need to remove / reinstall them wherever you are, this is a neat, clever and very light solution.

Verdict

Unique, lightweight tool that uses your axle as a handle, if a long way from universally useful