Review

McQuade’s eBike chain tool in review – Lubricate your eBike chain the easy way!

15.09.2020
by Rudolf Fischer

Have you ever tried to lube the chain of an eMTB? In that case, you’ve probably noticed that with some motors you can’t just spin the cranks backwards to rotate the chain – which makes cleaning and lubing significantly harder. Now, McQuade’s came up with a simple but ingenious system, which allows you to lock the crank with the chainring and lube the chain without having to put your heavy eBike on a stand.

If you own an eMTB, you’ve been there: You get your bike out, lean it against the wall and bend down towards the chain with a bottle of chain lube in one hand and the cranks in the other. You give the bottle a gentle squeeze and slowly start spinning the cranks backwards. But hold on! Nothing moves, the chain stays where it is and seems to be staring at you unimpressed – unless your bike has a particular Bosch motor. Oh yeah, of course… with most eBike motors, the chain doesn’t move when you spin the cranks backwards. Until now, you only had two options: either you had to get your hands dirty, moving the chain, cassette or chainring by hand or think about a way to lock the crank with the chainring.

The McQuade’s eBike tool in all its splendor

That’s probably what happened to the inventors of the McQuade’s e-bike tool before they came up with this simple yet ingenious tool, which consists of nothing more than a cord and a wooden pin with a groove.

First you have to thread the rope through the chainring

One end of the cord is fixed in an eyelet at the end of the wooden pin. Thread the other end of the cord through the inside of the chainring. Now spin the crank backwards and align it perpendicularly to the cord. Once in place, wrap the cord around the crank arm and guide the loose end through the groove in the wooden pin – twice!

Spin the crank backwards and wrap the cord around it
Thread the loose end of the cord through the groove in the wooden pin twice… job done!

That’s it folks! Now you can spin the cranks backwards and the chainring will turn with it, making it easier to clean and maintain the chain – awesome!
With a slightly deeper groove in the wooden pin, you could wrap the cord more than twice and thus secure the tool more firmly – with stiffer motors, the cord unwound itself from the pin on a few occasions. Important info: Always switch off the motor when servicing your eBike.
Click on the link to find out how to lube an eMTB chain correctly.

Now you can lubricate your chain by turning the cranks backwards

The tool is 100% made in Germany, the wooden pin is made of oiled walnut wood. The Mc Quade’s tool retails at € 9,65, weighs just 5 grams and fits in a small pocket or even on a keyring. The scope of delivery includes a cardboard plate with printed instructions and easy to follow numbered tabs.

If you’re still in the dark about how the tool works …
… you can follow the instructions printed on the inside of the card.

McQuade’s E-Bike Tool or should we say MacGyver’s eBike Tool?

Conclusions

Simple yet ingenious, the McQuade’s eBike chain tool shouldn’t be missing from anyone’s tool box. Using just a rope and a wooden pin, it locks the crank with the chainring and allows you to spin the chain when pedalling backwards. It’s easy to install, stylish and does exactly what it says on the box – lubing the chain the easy way! With stiffer motors, the cord tends to unwind itself – a deeper groove would do the trick!

Tops

  • Small and handy
  • gets the job done

Flops

  • The cord unwinds itself with stiffer motors

Price: 9,65 € including shipping
Manufacturer website: mcquades.de

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Words & Photos: Rudolf Fischer

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About the author

Rudolf Fischer

In his previous life Rudolf was a dab hand at promoting innovation, putting his brain behind big-ticket patent assessments that easily ran into six-or-seven-plus figures. These days, the self-confessed data nerd’s role as editor at DOWNTOWN and E-MOUNTAINBIKE is no less exciting. Given his specialism in connectivity, Rudolf’s often placed on the front line of future mobility conversations, but he’s also big into testing new bikes–both on the daily as a committed commuter and intensively for our group tests. The business economist graduate is as versatile as a Swiss penknife, and that’s no hyperbole. Away from two wheels, his background in parkour means he’s a master of front, side and backflips, plus he speaks German, English, French, Russian and a touch of Esperanto. Japanese remains woefully unmastered, despite his best home-learning attempts. Good to know: Rudolf’s sharp tongue has made him a figure of fear in the office, where he’s got a reputation for flexing a dry wittiness à la Ricky Gervais... interestingly, he's usually the one laughing hardest.