I could feel my heartbeat increasing. It may have been an ordinary and unmarked building in a cliche industrial business area, but what lay inside were the machines and hands that made a few of my most well-loved products, some that have seen over a decade of consistent use.
Abbey Bike Tools came from humble beginnings, with former industrial and aircraft welder turned race mechanic Jason Quade getting a request from fellow race mechanic Jeff Crombie (recently with Ineos, now with EF) to make a cassette tool that would fit over the nut of a quick release skewer without removal. Quade quickly realised there was something to the idea and produced a batch of them. And it didn’t take long before those early Crombie cassette tools were found in the toolboxes of most professional race mechanics.
Fast forward to today, and Abbey Bike Tools is commonly regarded as a benchmark product within the limited range of tools they offer. With cleverly simple designs manufactured to a higher standard, the tools carry an heirloom-like quality. Also somewhat rare is that as much as 85% of what Abbey Bike Tools produces is done under their roof in Bend, Oregon, with the few other processes contracted out to nearby specialists.
Perhaps what stood out most is how much Abbey produces with a small team of five (actually four if counting those in the building) and with no duplication of machines. Indeed, this is one efficient operation. Enjoy the tour!
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