Interesting Tools from 711L - Taipei Cycle Show 2024

The Taipei Cycle Show is chock full of interesting and clever tools, but as it so happens one of the most interesting we found wasn't even in the city of Taipei at all. While exploring Taichung, the second largest city in the country, Brian and I stumbled into a tool store/bar/hairdresser/golf simulator that definitely appealed on at least one of those fronts. The tool selection was diverse and interesting, but one in particular caught my eye - this shiny red bit holder called the Lollipop. Created by a company called 711L (easy to pronounce in Mandarin, and morphologically similar to TOOL if you look at the logo), the Lollipop is one of many novel tools coming out of their creative little outfit.


711L is the brainchild of Kenny Yan, who's one of those characters that seems to have hand in more interesting and important projects than you'd think feasible given the timeframe. Realistically it might just speak to his time management skills and how easy it is to workshop ideas here in Taiwan. Kenny started 711L as something of his own, bucking the trend of working on other people's projects and within their ranks - a creative outlet and a business venture.

That creativity has yielded a few novel creations, and the Lollipop might just be my favorite of the bunch. Principally it's a bit holder with a pivoting leverage arm, but the way that mechanism works is what makes it fun and unique. The anodized bulb at end is attached to a steel rod that has a machined ball at the end, serving as a detent and a pivot point when the arm is extended. The body of the tool fits satisfyingly perfectly into the bulb, allowing the knurled shaft to spin as if on a bearing when you're initially driving a bolt into place. As you have to tighten things up, just slide the arm out and give it some torque.


Bits are held in via a strong magnet, and 711L even makes their own ratchet handle that fits into the 1/4" drive hex bit socket. That little cutie can also be used on its own, and would be a good pocket carry if you're into accessorizing like that. From a bike mechanic perspective, the Lollipop isn't going to replace my L-keys, but it's got plenty of utility, especially if you only have a couple bits you'll be swapping between.


For those willing to sacrifice style for absolute convenience, 711L is making an in interesting take on the 3-way. Featuring a quick release 1/4" drive at each end, this is meant to be customized to fit whichever bits you please, allowing for a custom configuration to suit the job at hand. Typical 3-way clunkiness still comes into play, but having used one plenty of times I can honestly say it's a perfectly fine tool for many jobs. This one has the added benefit of each chuck being able to spin, so you can quickly twirl things into place for assembly.


After initially discovering the tool (and each buying one), Brian did some sleuthing and found the team behind 711L. We had a great conversation about some deeply nerdy topics, played with some tools, and learned more about Kenny's career as an engineer for some of the major players in the bike world. From the sounds of it, there are quite a few interesting and ingenious projects on the way, so stay tuned and we'll be sure to update.


For more information on the 711L lineup, you can head to their website - which is not yet available in English - or check out their Amazon webstore.

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Reviews and Tech Check Out Tools 711l Taipei Cycle Show 2024