Awl w/S-Bend Tip

The S-bend awl reaches around obstructions where the straight and 90° tips can't follow. The two opposing bends in the working end let the tip change approach angle twice without losing line, which is exactly what you need to fish into a recess that has a lip or a guide blocking the direct path.

The 639C is 165 mm overall with both bends formed in the hardened tool-steel shaft. The S-shape isn't ornamental: the first bend offsets the tip from the handle's axis, the second bend redirects the tip back toward the work. The result is that the tip can dive past an edge and continue along a line parallel to the handle's centerline.

What the S-bend does best

• Reaching into recesses that have a lip or guide blocking the direct path; fork-bushing seats, headset-cup recesses with the dust cap removed, certain pivot bearings on rear suspension links
• Picking out a cable end that's snagged behind an internal frame stop, where the cable has passed the stop but the end is now wedged
• Working a stuck dust seal out of a fork lower where the straight approach hits the seal's outer flange
• Lifting a small part that has rolled into a corner where the access is curved

For straight-line work, see the 639A straight awl. For perpendicular work, the 639B 90° bent awl. For cable-routing through internal frame paths, the 639D 30-degree bend with hook is the purpose-built tool.

Specs

• 165 mm overall length
• S-bend tip in hardened tool steel
• Composite ergonomic handle
• Article number: 639C

Built in Zreče, Slovenia

Unior has been forging hand tools in Zreče since 1919, and is the official technical partner of multiple World Tour and downhill teams. The 639C uses the same hardened tool-steel stock and composite handle as the rest of the 639 family. The S-bend is the rarest of the four geometries, which is part of why owning it pays; the work it does best can't be done by the other three.

Pro tip from our mechanics

The S-bend justifies its drawer the day a fork's dust seal is set 5 mm past where the straight or 90° tip can reach. The two bends let you slide past the seal's lip and then lift from behind it without distorting the surrounding bushing. Our workshop hand tools guide covers the full awl line and the rest of the workshop hand-tool layer: Workshop hand tools every bike shop needs →