Tubeless - what tools/spares do you take on rides?

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JhnBssll

Veteran
Location
Suffolk
Hi all,

With the new bike only days away I'm starting to think about putting together a kit of tools and spares. On my Roubaix and commuter I've got saddle bags so can carry plenty of kit. I want to keep the lines of the Bianchi clean so don't want to fit a saddle bag if I can help it. What do you think - Ditch the spare tube and just carry CO2 and a small multitool in jersey pockets? What do you carry with your tubeless setup?

I've already got a bottle cage mounted kit case but obviously that takes up a bottle cage and I'll likely want that for a second bidon on longer rides but will probably use it for shorter distances...
 

mjr

Comfy armchair to one person & a plank to the next
Putting tools in pockets is a bit of a game of roulette (what happens in a crash?), although with better odds.

Clean lines, my eye! A bike not working, more like. Stop fighting it, fit a longflap camper and have done with it! :laugh:
 
OP
OP
JhnBssll

JhnBssll

Veteran
Location
Suffolk
To be honest I don't much like the idea of carrying them in pockets either hence the bags on the other bikes - I'm rather hoping someone has a neat solution they can share with me :laugh: My Stumpjumper has the neat SWAT door so I store all my bits and bobs inside the downtube, I don't know why more manufacturers don't do it like that to be honest...

I just had to google longflap camper - golly that's a saddlebag and a half isn't it :laugh:
 

mjr

Comfy armchair to one person & a plank to the next
I just had to google longflap camper - golly that's a saddlebag and a half isn't it :laugh:
I think @raleighnut can show you pictures to make your hair curl.

Mine's just a cheap copy but I can fit a tail roll behind it on one bike...
tour2017-jpg.jpg
 

steveindenmark

Legendary Member
Most people I know who ride tubeless carry a spare tube and a mini pump with them. It can be a real faff getting a tubeless to sit right when you are trying to fix it at the side of the road. Just make sure you have something to help remove the tubeless valve.
 

Milkfloat

An Peanut
Location
Midlands
I take, 2 CO2 canisters, a pack of anchovies (with tool) and a spare tube with levers. These are in a small saddle pack with my other non-wheel related tools.
 

KneesUp

Guru
My bikes aren't tubeless. I carry a pump, some tyre levers and a repair kit. So, it seems, do people that ride tubeless, except that instead of a repair kit they bring a tube or tubes, meaning they can cope with one or two punctures once they've cleaned all the self sealing goo out of the tyres.

Remind me again what the advantages of tubeless are :smile:
 

Milkfloat

An Peanut
Location
Midlands
My bikes aren't tubeless. I carry a pump, some tyre levers and a repair kit. So, it seems, do people that ride tubeless, except that instead of a repair kit they bring a tube or tubes, meaning they can cope with one or two punctures once they've cleaned all the self sealing goo out of the tyres.

Remind me again what the advantages of tubeless are :smile:

The fact that you rarely have to use any of the kit you took with you. I have toyed with not taking it all. On top of that there is rolling resistance and comfort. I am not saying that tubeless is the Holy Grail and without flaws, but for me the experience has been fine.
 
The fact that you rarely have to use any of the kit you took with you.
I have a micro saddle bag containing all my roadside repair kit, including a pump, tube, tubeless repair kit, tyre boot, normal repair kit, levers, mutlitool, butyl gloves, umm..... chain link, zip ties. In about 24,000 km I've opened it five times, all of which were to do things to other people's bikes. (Which is fortunate since it's really fiddly to pack all that in and then close it.) I've had a couple of punctures which took a disconcertingly long time to seal, but even the worst of those did seal and didn't require pumping up at all. All the other punctures - evidence of which from the sealant balls when replacing the tyre - were 'silent'.

Remind me again what the advantages of tubeless are :smile:
I've had two punctures which required more than sealant as they carried on leaking slowly (one time I patched the inside of the tyre and the other one I've just used a 'worm' on recently, in part to practise using the things - less easy than it might appear as it turns out). In both those cases, however, I cycled about 60-70km after the puncture with no roadside intervention. Clearly, bad things could happen with tubeless, and sprayed sealant is a teeny bit irritating for the remainder of the ride, but generally the 'effort', such as it is, is confined to indoors in the warm rather than by the side of a road. Much nicer.
 
I carry the same as I do for tubed, with the addition of tubeless plugs and insertion tool. Hardest bit about plugging a leak that won’t seal on its own is getting the plug into the tool. Only had to do it twice in around 1800 miles riding 60/40 road/off-road.

Got one of those dinky Lezyne road caddies, containing: 1x tube, 2x tyre boots, 6x self-adhesive patches, 2x levers, spare link, 3x tubeless plugs (was 5x), insertion tool, pair nitrile gloves, zip ties, multitool, additional 4 & 5mm Alan keys, leatherman micra.

Top tip: put a bit of plastic tubing over the insertion tool prong; they like to poke holes in things otherwise.
 
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