Crank Bolt Wrench

Our René Herse cranks come with classic 15 mm crank bolts. They are beautiful and easy to tighten. However, it can be hard to find a matching 15 mm wrench. Most wrenches have walls that are too thick to fit inside the hole of the crankarm. (We cannot make the hole larger, since we want to use a standard extractor that fits inside the threaded hole.)
When 15 mm crank bolts were the industry standard, many companies offered crank bolt wrenches. The most famous was Campagnolo’s, but TA and others offered similar versions. These wrenches were beautiful and tactile. Aficionados sometimes called them “peanut butter wrenches,” even though I don’t know of anybody who actually has used them to spread peanut butter. Well, you could, and the chrome-plated finish should be dishwasher-safe, too!
Since most companies have gone to Allen heads for their crank bolts, crank bolt wrenches for 15 mm bolts have become hard to find. Many customers instead have used Allen head bolts on their René Herse cranks. Allen bolts work fine, but don’t look as nice.

Now we introduce a new René Herse crank bolt wrench. It’s made from tough CrMo steel, so it will tighten and loosen your crank bolts thousands of times without wearing out. (We’ve tested prototypes for over a year now.) The wrench is polished and chrome-plated, so it looks even nicer than the old-style wrenches from Campagnolo & Co.

In addition to crank bolts, the 15 mm wrench also works for track-style axle nuts. It’s much lighter and a bit smaller than a standard wrench, so fixed gear riders can easily carry it.
The thin wrench has one additional benefit: If you tighten your crank bolts to the point where the wrench starts being uncomfortable, because it digs in your hand, you have reached about 25 Nm, the recommended torque for our cranks. So you don’t need a torque wrench, yet you won’t over- or undertighten your crank bolts.
The crank bolt wrenches are in stock now. Click here for more information.
P.S.: Many of you have asked when we will have the René Herse double and triple cranks back in stock. (Single-speed cranks are in stock.) The new production run has been forged, and most of the machining is complete. The cranks just need to be checked for quality control and polished. We hope to have them in stock in a February, but we cannot predict the inevitable manufacturing delays. Thank you for your patience.