Japanese Vise-Grips

Made by KTC, the Japanese maker of Shimano’s best tools. Vise Grips (“locking pliers”) have been around a long time and it used to be easy to get good ones. Then the original company that made them (Petersen, no relation) sold out to Irwin, and Irwin started making them in China and made them worse. China is as capable as any country of turning out ultra-superbe stuff, but so often when a company goes to China for something, they want it cheap, and that’s what they get, and that’s what happened. I know this because—if I do say so myself— I’m something of a Vise Grip nerd, and use them for unexpected jobs on and off the bike. With a quarter as tire levers.  To straighten chainring teeth and chain guards. To grab frayed cables during derailer adjustments. Tightening hex bolts on racks, or even socket head cap screws. As pedal wrench. I’ve worked on gates with them on bike rides. I broke a seat binder bolt a few years ago (when your bike is a demo also, the bolt fatigues sooner and breaks)—and I used a Vise Grip to close the seat lug tight enough to keep the seat post from slipping (this was a design criterion for our current seat lugs).  With a small Vise Grip and a couple of screw drivers, you can get yourself out of a jam even without any genuine bike tools.

This KTC model is “German-plus” quality at half the price. It’s light enough to fit into a tool kit. The best small vise-grip-like tool in the world.

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mini Locking plier  KTC-100WR (mice grips)

Shown next to a mouse -not included- for scale purposes only. 

Locking plier with curved jaws and wire cutter.

CrMo construction
Length: 110mm (4.33")
Cutting capacity: 1.2mm (0.05")
Open width: 26mm (1.02")

Made in Taiwan