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 is the official technical partner of multiple World Tour and downhill 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 →.