Clever Standard's Clever Tools - Taipei Cycle Show 2024

Mar 9, 2024
by Brian Park  
Taipei Cycle Show 2024
This little injection molded kit snaps out of a frame and combines into a clever (sorry) tire plug kit. Super fun to build, and seems easy to use.

Tomo Ichikawa is a Japanese designer who makes (you guessed it) clever designs to solve some of mountain biking's most annoying issues—especially involving flats and chains. You'll find his designs across many different companies' catalogues, but Clever Standard is his own brand.

As Tomo graciously walked us through his product lineup, we couldn't help but laugh as "but wait, there's more" moments piled on top of each other. The way all of his products work with each other and build on the system is like grown up Lego for bike nerds and I absolutely love it.

Tomo has his products manufactured in Taiwan, often using recycled nylon from fishing nets reinforced with glass fibre. I really like this material, it's strong and resilient like nylon, but also incredibly stiff. Bonus that it's using recycled material.

Taipei Cycle Show 2024
Grown up Lego.

Taipei Cycle Show 2024
Once you snap out the parts and build this DIY plug tool it's very nice.
Taipei Cycle Show 2024
Storage for rocket plugs.

Taipei Cycle Show 2024
The plastic plugger is robust enough for long term use if you're careful, but there's an optional aluminum upgrade as well.
Taipei Cycle Show 2024
The rocket barb stays in the tire.

The Anchor Stack Net is a tubeless tire repair plugger that holds a spare link, has room for a bunch of preloaded barbs, and uses a captive plug plus bacon strip to seal a hole. The optional metal barbs are reuseable, although if you're careful you'll be able to reuse the plastic ones too.

Taipei Cycle Show 2024
Clever Standard's barbs fit on 2mm and 3mm allen keys for alternative plugging methods.

Taipei Cycle Show 2024
Modular plug options.
Taipei Cycle Show 2024
Tomo's aluminum TCS Rocket Plug kit is licensed by WTB.

But wait, there's more.

Taipei Cycle Show 2024
The Captain Hook is a valve cap that doubles as two different spoke key sizes as well as a valve core tool.
Taipei Cycle Show 2024
Use two to undo stubborn, gunked up valves.

Taipei Cycle Show 2024
The $8 Adaptool 2.0, licensed by Maxxis, adapts presta to schrader...
Taipei Cycle Show 2024
...but it also doubles as a valve tool to pull the valve core and maximize airflow for seating tubeless tires.

And still more.

Taipei Cycle Show 2024
The C02ools ratchet threads onto a new or spent C02 cartridge for full-size leverage on a tiny ratchet.
Taipei Cycle Show 2024
The $15 C02ools truing tool is a 3.23mm and 3.3mm spoke wrench, a disc brake truing wrench, and a tubeless tire plugger that uses 3.5mm plugs.

Taipei Cycle Show 2024
Oh wait, a bunch of his tools also fit into a spent 22.2mm lock-on grip for leverage.
Taipei Cycle Show 2024
And the ones that don't you can attach via an adapter that also has a bunch of functions I've forgotten. Sorry it's all a bit overwhelming.

You can buy Clever Standard's tools through their e-commerce site. The DIY Anchor Stack Net will be available in April and cost around $20 USD. The first batch of Captain Hook valve caps are waiting for anodizing but should be on the site soon as well; they will cost $8 USD for the pair. You can also follow Clever Standard on Facebook and Instagram.

Taipei Cycle Show 2024
Tomo Ichikawa, a clever guy.


Author Info:
brianpark avatar

Member since Dec 29, 2010
214 articles

38 Comments
  • 64 2
 im I the only one that is disappointed the ratchet isn co2 powered
  • 36 0
 Don’t give him any ideas!
  • 4 1
 @brianpark: how about a tool that enables you to extract the valve core, dump a co2 cartridge into your tyre and then reinstall the valve without losing the tyre pressure? Perfect for reseating a tyre on the trail and inflating it at the same time…
  • 21 0
 The risk of absolutely obliterating the bolt threads and freezing myself stuck to the tool is a risk i’m willing to take
  • 19 0
 @Freddye: I am also willing to let you take that risk.
  • 2 0
 @sargey2003: they have it for HVAC, could probably modify it.
  • 3 0
 @sargey2003: Like ARB tire deflators makes for the 4x4 crowd.
  • 26 0
 Love this kind of stuff.
  • 18 0
 There's a lot of cool shit going on there.
  • 17 0
 Having the plugger head able to key right onto a metric 2 or 3 is genius.
  • 7 0
 Tomo is one of the nicest guys to boot. Had the pleasure of knowing him back during my college/first bike shop days.
  • 2 0
 Same! Go Wolfpack!
  • 2 0
 Likewise! He never raced but went to every event and was always there to help. So cool to see him still doing cool stuff.
  • 5 0
 I'd have called the valve cap the Clever Hooker tbh Smile
Loving all this tool content from great designers.
  • 2 1
 *handy hooker
  • 4 1
 @Steadite: I prefer the mouthy ones
  • 2 0
 Never used the barbed tire plug system, but it seems like if the barb ever breaks off, it would be rattling in your tire/wheel? I don't see how it can be much better than the fork system.
  • 2 3
 I'd also be concerned that if you flatted again then the barb would damage the rim
  • 2 0
 The fork method is really the best method, especially since it only puts the material you need to fix the hole into the tire. I’ve used the dynaplugs with the brass tips and those have eventually delaminated from the plug and came free. They rattled and sounded like a tiny little stone. There’s not much space for them to get enough energy for damage to the rim tape but yea it sounds not great.
  • 1 0
 @abueno: Yeah, that is what I was curious about. I have had rattles that would come and go and couldn't figure it out until I found a broken nipple in my wheel.
  • 1 2
 @korev: not sure how this would happen. Say you a loose barb flopping in your tire. Let’s say, for the sake of argument, that it hangs out in the bottom of the tire and spin around with the tire due to centripetal force.

Ok. Now we get a flat and our tire is pressed between the ground and the sidewalls of the rim. Seems like there are two possible places for the barb to be:
1) out to the side, pinched between the layers of folded tire sidewall.
2) flopping around in the between the tire and rim’s center channel.

What am I missing?
  • 1 2
 @pmhobson: I was thinking of your second scenario when the metal gets pushed into the rim by a rock pushing it through the tyre
  • 1 0
 @korev: but there’s always rubber or air between the barb and rim, right?
  • 1 1
 @pmhobson: you’re not wrong
  • 1 0
 @abueno: I guess if you rolled a fully flat tire over a root or rock that was narrow enough to fit between the sidewalls of the rim, you could press the barb against the tape. But those are long odds, IMO.
  • 1 0
 @pmhobson: if I know anything about mtb people, there’s someone out there that’s done just that
  • 2 0
 Ah yes, $8 for an adapter that can be had for like a dollar. How generous of them to make it less than $10.
  • 1 0
 U get 4 in the pack I believe….
  • 1 0
 My only issue is how hard this stuff is to get a hold off. They make a chain tool and tire levers too!
  • 1 0
 I would love someone to make a conversion kit for the OneUp Components using these barb-style fittings.
  • 1 0
 Very stylish. I may give up my IPA's for a lathe.
  • 2 1
 Has anyone ever successfully patched a tire with those little sausages?
  • 1 0
 Looks like that you are new to mountain biking. People do this sausage thing for decades already (cars and motor bikes even longer). Works perfectly even for big holes where you sometimes need more than one sausage. But keep in mind, that it only seals when you have some more or less fresh sealant in your tires. I had tires with more than 10 sausages in it and kept rolling for month.
  • 1 0
 Works well for mountain bikes. As long as the hole isn't huuuge you'll be fine to at least get home. Bit sketchy for road tubeless to be honest. IME you'll get home riding carefully and with lowish pressure, but lightweight road tyres have such a flimsy carcass they don't really hold the anchovy in place. I personally always do a permanent fix with a tyre mushroom when I get home. Others are more hung ho
  • 1 0
 @ridebullit: I think the tear I had was too big when I tried. Patching the tire worked great.
  • 1 0
 Yes....My last 9 flat tires and a few for my friends. Even somehow successfully did a sidewall tear 2 days ago. I carry a tube but never seem to need it.
  • 1 0
 Good good stuff
  • 1 0
 Sum ting wong







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