Metric Hex Key, Straight-Tip, Short

The short L-key in a single size, sized individually. The format that goes in a saddle pack, a tool roll, or the small tray of a workshop hex set where the wrench needs to be compact enough to pack without being too short to deliver useful torque. Available across the bike-relevant metric hex sizes the 220/3 line covers.

The L-shape (Allen-key format) is the most basic hex driver geometry, and the most enduring; the short version of the L lets you choose between the long-arm pull (high torque, slow) and the short-arm pull (high speed, low torque). The compromise is reach: a short L doesn't have the length of a long-arm L or a T-handle's full shank, which is exactly the trade-off that makes it the right tool for packing.

The shank is chrome-vanadium steel, hardened and tempered. The tip is black-oxide treated for corrosion resistance and a clean fit into the hex recess. The shank is nickel-plated on the non-tip surfaces for additional corrosion resistance. The tool is made in Slovenia, on the same lines as the standalone T-handle and Y-handle hex wrenches in the line.

Why buy individually

Tools go missing, especially the 4 and 5 mm sizes that get reached for most. Replacing a single L-key costs less than buying a fresh full set every time the cassette drawer eats one of yours; the 220/3 line is sized to that exact replacement workflow. Common sizes ordered individually: 4 mm, 5 mm, 6 mm (the most-reached working sizes), plus 2 mm, 2.5 mm, 3 mm for the small-fastener cluster and 8 mm, 10 mm for the high-torque end.

Specs

• Single-size short 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
• 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 220 series of L-keys is the standalone individual format, sized to let a shop or a home mechanic replace a worn or missing size without buying a fresh full set; the construction is the same chrome-vanadium and tip-treatment specification across short, long, and ball-tip variants in the line.

Pro tip from our mechanics

The short L-key earns its place in two contexts: seat-pack and on-bike kit, where size and weight matter; and as the compact format for a workshop set where a longer L-key would foul against a tool tray's geometry. For bench work where reach matters, the long-arm 220/3L is the better format; for packing, the 220/3's short shape is what makes the tool actually fit where you need it.

For the short L-key vs long L-key vs T-handle decision tree, and when each format is the right call: Hex and Torx wrenches: how to pick the right tool for the job →.