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Before we were able to dive into the incredible assortment of bicycles awaiting for us at MADE Show, a tiny new tool from Abbey Bike Tools drew us in.

OK, it was actually the CNC Machined mini corn hole boards. But then we saw the new tool. OK, OK, there are actually two new tools, but one in particular that seems like it’s going to have a big impact on the world of bikes.

That would be the new Abbey Post Mount Facing tool – a diminutive circle of tool steel with precision ground teeth that rides on a bolt with a machined shaft. At this point, there are a number of brake mount facing tools available, but they all tend to be very expensive and complicated. That likely means that most bikes never see a facing tool before they’re out the door to a customer.

Where the Abbey tool is different is how it attaches to the frame, and essentially how it is locating the surface to be faced. Most facing tools use an axle-mounted system to ensure that the brake mounts are perfectly square to the axle, so that when you mount the caliper it is parallel to the rotor.

The Abbey tool simply uses the threaded hole of the post mount as a guide, and faces the individual post mount so it’s perpendicular to the threads. The tool can be driven with a socket on a drill, or potentially with a 13mm wrench in situations where you can’t fit the drill like a post mount inside a rear triangle.

Abbey Founder Jason Quade points out that in manufacturing of the frame and fork, the threads are usually fixtured off the axle for fork building, and frames are usually fixtured off existing threads, meaning most of the time, this method of facing to the threading should yield great results. Jason also mentioned the fact that many of the existing tools have far more moving parts which makes maintaining precision much more difficult. Here there is just a bore and a shaft to machine properly.

But he’s also honest about the potential flaws in this method. His take? Start here. The Abbey tool is just $65 and will more than likely result in a vastly improved result than an unfaced brake mount. If you’re still having problems after using this tool, then you can bust out the $600+ facing tools – or more than likely, bring it to your local bike shop who has one.

To me, the difference here is that this tool is affordable enough (not to mention extremely portable) that every home mechanic and bike shop should could own one. Brake mounts are often just covered in paint that can shift calipers enough to cause issue in adjustment or cause them to move slightly under hard braking. It’s one of those things that most people just learn to live with, but a properly faced brake mount can make a world of difference in brake setup and performance.

Admittedly, almost none of the bikes I’ve owned or tested have had the mounts properly faced, and an informal poll around the show revealed the same. But there have certainly been a number that have had brakes that have been a pain to adjust properly, or had mounts that were so bad I had to use a file to make them workable. With this tool, there will be no excuse not to quickly face every post mount that comes in for the best brake performance possible.

I’m extremely excited about this tool, and apparently so are many other mechanics. Abbey released their first batch this week, and they sold out immediately. While the main parts of the tool are machined by Abbey in house, the teeth are ground by another shop in Portland, and then shipped back to Abbey so the production takes a bit longer. The next batch is expected to arrive in late October, so if you want one, keep an eye on the Abbey website before they sell out again.

As mentioned, the facing tool itself retails for $65, and if you want the 13mm socket which can be run on a drill (the same one sold for Fox bleed valves), that is an additional $26. To be clear, this will only work with post mounts, not IS or Flat Mounts, and proper RPM for different materials are listed below.

• Aluminum or Magnesium, up to 1000 rpm 
• Steel, 400
• Stainless steel, 275
• Titanium, 150

In other tool news, Abbey has introduced their most affordable tool – the presta valve core tool. Pretty self explanatory here, but the tool does have a nice long knurled surface to make gripping the tool easier to remove stubborn valve cores.

There’s also a plug in the end that allows you to store replacement valve cores inside. The tool is just $15, and available now.

abbeybiketools.com