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 sponsors professional road and mountain-bike race 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 →.