Park Tool 3-Way Ball End Hex Wrench AWS-8

Initial Impressions

I began my "home mechanic" journey by checking out the tool section of my local shop. I was looking at another Y style hex wrench, when one of the employees snagged this off the shelf.  He told me that the balldriver head was super useful and that if I was only going to buy one Y hex wrench this would be the one.  I took it home and have been using it ever since.  The switch from the previous allen wrench I had been using was incredible.  It was like the first time you realize a ratcheting wrench exists.

Function

Y handle wrenches are really convenient when building a bike or making adjustments at home.  Using a multi tool requires you to fold and open the different allen keys repeatedly.  When you add the simple but amazing feature of balldriver ends, look no further for your new most used tool on the bench.  Park Tool even has added the colored ends to make it easy to differentiate between the 4, 6, and 8mm ends.  The tool feels good in the hand and helps reach those awkward spots on the bike (think bottle cage, saddle bolts, etc).

Durability

The one weakness of this tool is the same thing that makes it amazing.  The balldriver heads will eventually wear out.  I have had my tool for over 7 years and it is starting to show some signs of wear.  It could be that I needed to be more careful with over torquing a few times.  For such a reasonable price (you can usually find it for $10-13) it would be an easy tool to replace if you ever wore it out.