Kit

[Simon_m]

What bike repair kit do you take with you on your trips away? What if weight and space were not an issue.

e.g. rags, oil, allen keys, torque wrench, chain repair tool...

 

[PaulSB]

Depends on trip distance and location but:

Tubes
P******** repair kit
Multi tool
Chain splitter
Links
Chain (if very rural abroad)
Small bottle of oil (hotel shampoo bottle)
Baby wipes
Gloves
Cables
Zip ties
Strip of old tyre to make a shoe
Spare screws for rack

Only ever used the tubes and spare screws! Plus the baby wipes to clean up at lunchtime!

Anything more mechanical is beyond my capability.

 

[Simon_m]

thats good, a few things i had not thought about. thanks

 

[MichaelW2]

Spare screws for rack: Make sure your water bottle screws are long enough to re-purpose.
Bit of wire, thinner than coathanger, for holding chain ends together.
Sawn off toothbrush. several m of duck, gorilla or other animal-themed adhesive tape.

 

[Gravity Aided]

I also add a good pump, some tire irons, and the gear and brake cables, as they are light, and take up little space.

 

[Simon_m]

Spare screws for rack: Make sure your water bottle screws are long enough to re-purpose.
Bit of wire, thinner than coathanger, for holding chain ends together.
Sawn off toothbrush. several m of duck, gorilla or other animal-themed adhesive tape.

whats the toothbrush and tape for?!

 

[steveindenmark]

I wouldnt take a torque wrench on tour. I have 8 bikes and do not own a torque wrench.

Take only the allen keys you need. But take 2 of each.

I take a spare folding tyre but my tyres are 47x622 which are a bit unusual.

Small first aïd kit.

 

[MichaelW2]

whats the toothbrush and tape for?!

Cleaning the chain on longer tours (using diesel) , patching tears in bags, coats, saddle, bar tape etc.

 

[Ajax Bay]

Tubes, inner x 2
Pump
P***ture repair kit, patches + levers
Presto/shraeder adapter
Multi-tool/set of allen keys, flat and + screwdriver
Spanner 8mm with spoke slot 15
Folding mini knife
Chain tool
Cables (1 each: brake & gear)
Tape, small roll electrical, 50cm of duct tape
Zip ties and wire (10cm, thin/stiff)
Bolts – shoe cleat bolt and spreader, bottle cage bolt, rack bolt
Chain ‘magic’ link and spare 3 links of chain
Tyre boot (plastic)
Spare spoke (maybe)
Chain lube
Plastic gloves (v thin)
Wet wipes
Lights, emergency

Consider a spare folding tyre (280g for the 622-28)

 

[MarkF]

For Bilbao to Malaga this June I'll be taking:-

• Cycle multi-tool.
• Puncture repair kit/spare tube.
• Lube

I used to be laden down with "What if"? tools when I toured with a partner yet, on my bike, no chain ever snapped, no bottom bracket failed, no spoke popped. They've never done so in all my normal non-touring cycling days either. On my own I revert to my normal "Why should it"? mode and carry a lot less weight. Surely it depends where you are going? If I was crossing the Nullarbor Plain then of course I'd take more but I tour in western Europe, nowt much can go wrong...............if it does, I'll catch the bus to the nearest town.

 

[mmmmartin]

the only thing that will stop you dead is a busted wheel.

take spokes, maybe three for each length (you have the same length spokes on each side for the front wheel but if you have derailleurs you will have different length spokes on each side of the rear wheel) plus spoke key and something to get the cassette off: there is a Next Best Thing available: weighs nowt, works well. you can get them here

if you don't carry one, when a spoke breaks (which they do sometimes) you'll regret it for a long time.

And yes, I know you can get a bus to the next town. If you're on a bus route. You could call a taxi, if you had a mobile signal. And if your phone had a charge. And if you knew the phone number of a local taxi firm. And if you could speak the language. In Albania?

Who looks after the bike while you're gone or do you think you'll just throw it into the back of a passing taxi? I had two spokes break on the rear wheel when I was cycling alongside a canal in France. If was a long way to the road, let alone a bus stop.

Just about the everything else likely to happen on a bike leaves the bike much slower rather than completely immobile.

 

[MarkF]

Each to their own, I'd rather not have the weight thank you, and it's weight rather than possible calamities that concerns me more. http://ultralightcycling.blogspot.co.uk/

 

[Ajax Bay]

the only thing that will stop you dead is a busted wheel

Not easy to have much mobility with a broken chain or a tyre that fails (ie bulges) and fouls fork/chainstays. Of course if you're carrying a chain tool and a spare tyre (or a boot at least) then sorted in no time, and no buses.
Except after an accident (ie direct impact with vehicle, wall or street furniture), the chances of a wheel buckling to "stop you dead" is, I suggest, low - well below threshold of @MarkF and most others. A spoke breaks; bit of a buckle; if not far to go, undo brake release and soldier on; if further, rough spoke work (if carrying key) to take up tension in adjacent spokes; ride via bike shop that day or next morning and get a new spoke. If you go for a short spare spoke (ie for front) then that should do for either side of rear, albeit with less engaged thread if left side rear needs replacing.

 

[mmmmartin]

a magic link will fix a broken chain in a minute. a tyre boot will fix a tyre bulge enough to get you going. spokes do break in isolation sometimes but often one goes followed by another. if they are on the drive side you will be happy you carried something weighing a couple of ounces, given that you might weigh 80k, the bike 12k and your kit 10k.

 

[Kevoffthetee]

Space should never be a problem https://www.facebook.com/missgrapebag/