OneUp Components EDC (Everyday Cary) Tool system is a compact and convenient way to store tools on your bike.

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It’s a storage tube, containing a selection of tools, simply slots into the steerer. It’s been around for a while but has recently been given an update.

With the original you needed to thread the top of the steerer tube (you bought a £31 cutter to do this) but the problem was this was impossible with carbon and also several fork manufacturers said they wouldn’t warranty the fork if you’d done this modification. To get around the warranty issue, and allow the EDC to work on any steerer, OneUp has developed a new EDC stem.

The EDC Tool now fits into a proprietary stem

This stem has an integrated pre-load adjuster so you can remove the star-fangled nut as normal and then take any slack from the hedaset by just tightening a collar on the bottom of the stem. This actually works in a similar way to the old Dia-Compe Diatech headset system but because it’s housed inside the bottom of the stem, it’s much lower profile. Rather than screwing into the steerer, the coloured top cap that holds the EDC tool, clips into a dedicated washer on top of the stem.

Once the stem is in place eliminating play in the headset is a little counter-intuitive because you have to lock the stem in place first and then tighten pre-load adjuster, which expands slightly. The thing about doing it this way is you have to have everything aligned first and if the stem is crooked or gets knocked off-line, you will need to repeat the whole process.

The EDC tool storage is modular, which means you can mix and match depending on how much space you have or personal preference. In the upper part of the EDC there’s a multi tool, a tyre lever and a chain breaker but threaded on the bottom is another small storage chamber, which is big enough to take OneUP’s Plug and Pliers kit (£29.50); essential a set of mini chain link pliers and a motorbike-style, tubeless repair kit. Alternatively, you can remove this entirely and thread in a single 20g CO2 cartridge.

The best thing about the EDC is the multi tool – it has T25 torx, 2, 2.5, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 8mm Hex, although the latter is part of a tool that also lets you compress a split link. It’s slightly trickier to use than the pliers but it’s okay in an emergency. What I couldn’t get to work was the chain tool. Not only do you have to insert the chain at a right angle, there’s very little leverage and the pin is also slightly larger than most and just didn’t want to push through the link. The tyre lever attached to this tool also had sharp edges on the tip, which caused it to dig in the bead as it slides around the rim.

Setting up the EDC stem is much easier than the first generation and won’t void your fork warranty but that convenience is going to cost you more. If you add up the stem, EDC tool, Plug and Plier kit and pre-load kit you’ll not get much change for £200. It also contains tools, like the chain breaker, that don’t really work that well. There are way cheaper storage solutions available and other ways to carry conventional tools on your bike, but the EDC system is the most polished. I think it’s one of the best tool storage components out there, if you can afford it.