Metric Hex Key, Ball-Tip, Long

The long-arm L-key with a ball-tip end. The format that combines the reach of a long arm with the angled-access geometry of a ball-tip, in a single tool for the fasteners where both reach and angle matter at the same time. Available across the bike-relevant metric hex sizes the 220/3SL line covers.

The long ball-tip L-key is the right tool when two access conditions stack up. A stem face-plate bolt behind the bar bend needs the angle the ball-tip provides; a seatpost binder at the bottom of a long seat tube needs the reach the long arm provides. The 220/3SL is the format that handles both at once: the ball geometry engages the bolt at up to about 25 degrees off-axis, and the long arm gives you the reach to put the tip on a bolt the short L can't touch.

The shank is chrome-vanadium steel, hardened and tempered, with the ball-tip finished to a precise spherical radius. The black-oxide tip treatment gives the ball a clean fit into the hex recess across its angle range. The non-tip shank surfaces are nickel-plated for corrosion resistance.

Where it earns its place

The 4, 5, and 6 mm sizes in the 220/3SL line cover the most-reached angled-access fasteners on a bike. Specifically:

• 4 mm ball-tip long: stem face-plate bolts behind a bar bend; SPD cleat bolts where the shoe geometry blocks straight-on access
• 5 mm ball-tip long: seatpost binder bolts at the bottom of a long seat tube; some saddle-rail bolts on integrated-clamp designs
• 6 mm ball-tip long: caliper-mount bolts on some frame geometries where the brake mount sits below a frame stay

Above 6 mm the ball-tip's small contact area starts to limit the working-torque range the tool can safely deliver; the long-arm straight-tip 220/3L in 8 and 10 mm is the better choice for high-torque pulls at that end of the range.

Specs

• Single-size long-arm ball-tip L-key hex wrench (size selected at order)
• Chrome-vanadium steel shank, hardened and tempered
• Black-oxide tip treatment for corrosion resistance and recess fit
• Nickel plating on the non-tip shank surfaces for additional corrosion resistance
• Ball geometry engages the bolt at up to about 25 degrees off-axis
• Manufactured to the ISO 2936 dimensional standard for metric hex keys
• Manufactured in Slovenia

Built in Zreče, Slovenia

Unior has been forging hand tools in Zreče since 1919, and sponsors professional road and mountain-bike race teams. The long ball-tip L-key shares construction with the short and long straight-tip L-keys in the line; the ball geometry's spherical radius is held to the same precision as the straight-tip's recess fit, so the ball-tip's working range is limited by the geometry, not by tip-fit slop.

Pro tip from our mechanics

The long ball-tip is the wrong tool for the final torque pass on a high-load fastener. The ball's contact patch is small, and concentrated torque on a small patch is exactly the geometry that rounds a recess; once the bolt is in the recess and turning freely under angle, switch to the long straight-tip 220/3L for the snug-down. The ball-tip's job is reach plus angle; the straight-tip's job is torque on the full hex flat.

For the long-arm vs short-arm decision, and the angle-access switchover point between ball-tip and straight-tip in the long format: Hex and Torx wrenches: how to pick the right tool for the job →.