What do you carry in your toolkit?

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My number one tool is a mobile phone, the only one I own, permanently
carried on my bike, switched off so that no one can reach me; it's
sole purpose is to call the ambulance if I fall over from a heart
attack, or a taxi if I get a flat tyre.

I haven't had a flat wheel for several thousand klicks now, since I
switched to hardcase tyres (Schwalbe Marathon Plus and Botnbrager
Satellite Elite Hardcase) but I still carry a tube to offer to those
less fortunate who cycle with me or that I meet on the road.

I carry a small Park combination headset/ pedal spanner bolted up
behind my water bottle. It also fits the axle cap nuts of Shimano's
Nexus hub gearboxes, so the rear wheel can be taken off to change the
tube.

All the rest of my tools fit in a hardshell spectacles case and
consist of round multisize spoke wrench (never touched the spokes on
my current Bontrager Satellite Elite wheels in over a year, unlike
some accursed Rigida wheels I had once that had to be tightened
weekly); an 8x10mm open spanner for adjusting the brakes; Topeak's
Tool Bar (a tiny multitool with two slide-out aluminium tyre levers as
its sides, and a holder for the 3-4-5-6mm hex keys and Philips driver
bit inside plus a bigger Philips bit in the socket); a stampsized box
of Park's glueless patches; a presta to auto valve adaptor for blowing
up tyres at garages; spare batteries for my rear flasher light, my
Shimano Flight Deck and my Sigma HRM; a couple of sheets of paper
towel, one soaked in Vaseline petroleum jelly for relubing threads
before refitting; a couple of pairs of surgicaal gloves to keep my
hands clean (usually on refitting some lady's chain...). There is also
a minipump on each of my bikes, all of them OEM-sourced from SKS and
all of them pretty useless for the 37mm high pressure tyres I like
(the only pumps I have that works are an ancient Zefal frame pump and
a six-buck Beta pump I bought at a supermarket because it also takes
compressed air cartidges -- I shall replace the lot of them with an
HPX frame pump as soon as I work out how to fix it to my bikes).

I don't imagine the toolkit weighs as a much as pound. It includes
only what I need, even the superfluous bits for the Topeak Tool Bar
are left at home. I have several other multitools and all of them have
more superfluous tools than useful ones, so I leave their weight at
home.

The one thing I cannot fix on the road is a loose crank bolt on my
favourite bike, the Trek with the Cyber Nexus groupset. These are
flathead bolts in a recess, so none of my on-bike tools can get at
them and even a titanium socket and lever I bought are just too
stupidly heavy to carry; I plan to replace the flathead bolts with hex
socket bolts and carrying a long 8mm hex key as soon as I find one in
titanium. (I have an 8mm hex bit that will fit the Tool Bar but I
imagine applying 45Nm to it will rip the little thing apart, though in
fact it doesn't complain about working on the front axle where I
replaced a quick-release with a hex-socket skewer from BBB.)

Best bike tool I ever bought, that Topeak Tool Bar -- and I blew the
money fully reconciled to the suspicion that when it arrived it would
be a toy, but it wasn't, it is really very useful on your modern city
or mountain bike (one of the supplied bits I leave at home is the T25
torx key for MB disc brakes). The only thing that could make it
better, indeed perfect, is a slide-out open spanner 8x10mm on the
blank side (one side opens the compartment for the bits, two sides
have tyre levers, one side is still blank), to use with roller brakes.
(The best but bigger and heavier alternative to the Topeak Tool Bar,
if you have a modern city or mountain bike, is the SKS CTWORX if you
need a chainsplitter or SKS T-WORX if you use quick-release links on
your chain. These two SKS multitools have the correct open spanners
together with the correct hex keys and screwdrivers, and thereby
leaves the Aliens and other expensive multi-multitools for dead.)

What do you carry, and why?

Andre Jute
http://members.lycos.co.uk/fiultra/BICYCLE%20%26%20CYCLING.html

On May 30, 4:53 pm, Andre Jute <fiult...@yahoo.com> wrote:
>
> What do you carry, and why?

Park glueless patch kit and a pump. I figure anything that breaks can
wait til I get home to be fixed, or would be something I wouldn't be
able to fix anyway. Plus I don't like things rattling around. Like my
car-key is just my car key. That way no other keys to rattle around
while I'm driving. This is the only manifestation of neat-freakedness
I have. Everything else is a mess!

A catalog of the latest mechanical failures further assures me of my
choice:

Broken seatpost binder bolt (seat slipped down, I stood home).
Broken chain (I used a leaf to hold the chain while I broke off enough
to reconnect with my quick-link).
Broken free-hub (no free, so just keep pedalling home after completing
ride).
Broken free-hub (free both ways, kick-coasted home).

Other than those things (which tools would not have helped), I cannot
remember the last time something broke.

Joseph

In article
<5c86a47f-53d5-420c-a2f0-6764b6b528be@c65g2000hsa.googlegroups.com>,
Andre Jute <fiultra1@yahoo.com> wrote:

> What do you carry, and why?

More or less nothing, but I don't feel great about it, and probably
should change a little. I have a nice little topeak kit (most similar
current product is the survival gear box, but that is larger and has
more stuff) that's presently up the shop with the latest abandoned bike
I'm restoring to use (perhaps only 10 years old, while the current rider
is 15 ish, at a guess), since it's got the only chainbreaker I own.

There's a minipump that should be with that kit that I can't find
anywhere at the moment. Neither stay on my actual use bike because it
lives out in the world with a lock on on it, and I see no point in
having small bits pilfered. I use a floor pump for most things, but
that's been at the shop to see if it's "lifetime warrantee" is actually
worth anything for over a month - time to go remind them again, I guess.
With modern tubes and sturdy, not light, tires I'm generally fine if I
make sure the tires are good when I leave the house. Could be the added
tire weight is less than the pump weight and it works out better in the
end, but if you must have a pump to settle your mind, you'll end up
carrying one regardless. I run wideish tires inflated somewhat more than
Sheldon might have considered optimal, but then, I've never had a pinch
flat.

Since I don't do "cycle garb" there is usually a Leatherman attached to
me, but it's got precious little that's bike-specific, and probably
weighs more than the topeak kit - but my gut outweighs them both by a
large margin, so I'm not going to worry about them for a long time, yet,
if ever. I'm rarely anywhere I could not walk home from (tediously) in
the event of some major trouble, and I use "boring sturdy" parts rather
than "superlight racy" parts, so things tend not to break, despite my
larditude.

One thing I have never been able to understand is the "perceived need"
many folks have for tire levers - a stock item in many toolkits. They
will probably be leaving mine, as I can't remember how it was all fit in
there before, and they are superfluous, IME. While I have not
experienced every tire/rim in the world by a long shot, I have never,
ever, needed levers to get a bicycle tire on or off, from whatever was
on my 5 speed (20 or 24?) though 27 inch street and 26 inch MTB tires.
I've thought levers might be handy with lawn tractor tires (small rim
diameter, large/hefty tire cross section), but managed fine without -
bike tires (large rim diameter, small tire cross section) are as easy as
pie by hand, by comparison.

--
Cats, coffee, chocolate...vices to live by

joseph.santaniello@gmail.com wrote:
> On May 30, 4:53 pm, Andre Jute <fiult...@yahoo.com> wrote:
>> What do you carry, and why?
>
> Park glueless patch kit and a pump. I figure anything that breaks can
> wait til I get home to be fixed, or would be something I wouldn't be
> able to fix anyway. Plus I don't like things rattling around. Like my
> car-key is just my car key. That way no other keys to rattle around
> while I'm driving. This is the only manifestation of neat-freakedness
> I have. Everything else is a mess!
>
> A catalog of the latest mechanical failures further assures me of my
> choice:
>
> Broken seatpost binder bolt (seat slipped down, I stood home).
> Broken chain (I used a leaf to hold the chain while I broke off enough
> to reconnect with my quick-link).
> Broken free-hub (no free, so just keep pedalling home after completing
> ride).
> Broken free-hub (free both ways, kick-coasted home).
>
> Other than those things (which tools would not have helped), I cannot
> remember the last time something broke.
>
> Joseph

Similar.

Puncture repair kit (with glue), inner tube, chain tool and a spare
connex link. A bit more when I'm off road but not much.

Pete

http://pardo.net/bike/pic/fail-003/000.html

Jobst Brandt

In article
<5c86a47f-53d5-420c-a2f0-6764b6b528be@c65g2000hsa.googlegroups.com>,
Andre Jute <fiultra1@yahoo.com> wrote:

> My number one tool is a mobile phone, the only one I own, permanently
> carried on my bike, switched off so that no one can reach me; it's
> sole purpose is to call the ambulance if I fall over from a heart
> attack, or a taxi if I get a flat tyre.

You mean there is no person on the planet whose calls you
are not gratified to answer and are sad to have missed?

[...]

Two tubes, pump, patch kit, multitool, cellular telephone.

--
Michael Press

> Andre Jute <fiultra1@yahoo.com> wrote:
>> My number one tool is a mobile phone, the only one I own, permanently
>> carried on my bike, switched off so that no one can reach me; it's
>> sole purpose is to call the ambulance if I fall over from a heart
>> attack, or a taxi if I get a flat tyre.

Michael Press wrote:
> You mean there is no person on the planet whose calls you
> are not gratified to answer and are sad to have missed?
> [...]
> Two tubes, pump, patch kit, multitool, cellular telephone.

As a guy who stands in line next to vacuous cell conversations on a
regular basis and has so far avoided cell-impaired drivers meandering
across lanes, I just don't want one. I'd rather walk.
--
Andrew Muzi
<www.yellowjersey.org/>
Open every day since 1 April, 1971
** Posted from http://www.teranews.com **

Michael Press wrote:
> In article
> <5c86a47f-53d5-420c-a2f0-6764b6b528be@c65g2000hsa.googlegroups.com>,
> Andre Jute <fiultra1@yahoo.com> wrote:
>
>> My number one tool is a mobile phone, the only one I own, permanently
>> carried on my bike, switched off so that no one can reach me; it's
>> sole purpose is to call the ambulance if I fall over from a heart
>> attack, or a taxi if I get a flat tyre.
>
> You mean there is no person on the planet whose calls you
> are not gratified to answer and are sad to have missed?
>
> [...]
>
> Two tubes, pump, patch kit, multitool, cellular telephone.
>

Much better to use a cellular telephone than a landline when cycling,
certainly.

Pete

On May 30, 9:03 pm, A Muzi <a...@yellowjersey.org> wrote:
> >  Andre Jute <fiult...@yahoo.com> wrote:
> >> My number one tool is a mobile phone, the only one I own, permanently
> >> carried on my bike, switched off so that no one can reach me; it's
> >> sole purpose is to call the ambulance if I fall over from a heart
> >> attack, or a taxi if I get a flat tyre.
> Michael Press wrote:
> > You mean there is no person on the planet whose calls you
> > are not gratified to answer and are sad to have missed?
> > [...]
> > Two tubes, pump, patch kit, multitool, cellular telephone.
>
> As a guy who stands in line next to vacuous cell conversations on a
> regular basis and has so far avoided cell-impaired drivers meandering
> across lanes, I just don't want one. I'd rather walk.

Me too. I only take one if I know that some unplanned for delay will
cause problems like not being able to pick up the kids from school or
something. Otherwise I'd rather hoof it occasionlly than have
virtually every ride disturbed by telemarketers, bill collectors and
all manner of other people I don't want to talk to or think about.

Joseph

On May 30, 9:53 am, Andre Jute <fiult...@yahoo.com> wrote:
> My number one tool is a mobile phone, the only one I own, permanently
> carried on my bike, switched off so that no one can reach me; it's
> sole purpose is to call the ambulance if I fall over from a heart
> attack, or a taxi if I get a flat tyre.

Short ride, usually down to the wetlands for a couple loops or
intervals: Topeak micro pump, 2 levers, patch kit, phone. Epic ride:
Pump, 2 levers, patch kit, 23mm tube, adjustable wrench or PB wrench
for rear axle, folding hex keys, chain tool, and phone.

On May 30, 8:53 am, Andre Jute <fiult...@yahoo.com> wrote:
> My number one tool is a mobile phone, the only one I own, permanently
> carried on my bike, switched off so that no one can reach me; it's
> sole purpose is to call the ambulance if I fall over from a heart
> attack, or a taxi if I get a flat tyre.
>
> I haven't had a flat wheel for several thousand klicks now, since I
> switched to hardcase tyres (Schwalbe Marathon Plus and Botnbrager
> Satellite Elite Hardcase) but I still carry a tube to offer to those
> less fortunate who cycle with me or that I meet on the road.
>
> I carry a small Park combination headset/ pedal spanner bolted up
> behind my water bottle. It also fits the axle cap nuts of Shimano's
> Nexus hub gearboxes, so the rear wheel can be taken off to change the
> tube.
>
> All the rest of my tools fit in a hardshell spectacles case and
> consist of round multisize spoke wrench (never touched the spokes on
> my current Bontrager Satellite Elite wheels in over a year, unlike
> some accursed Rigida wheels I had once that had to be tightened
> weekly); an 8x10mm open spanner for adjusting the brakes; Topeak's
> Tool Bar (a tiny multitool with two slide-out aluminium tyre levers as
> its sides, and a holder for the 3-4-5-6mm hex keys and Philips driver
> bit inside plus a bigger Philips bit in the socket); a stampsized box
> of Park's glueless patches; a presta to auto valve adaptor for blowing
> up tyres at garages; spare batteries for my rear flasher light, my
> Shimano Flight Deck and my Sigma HRM; a couple of sheets of paper
> towel, one soaked in Vaseline petroleum jelly for relubing threads
> before refitting; a couple of pairs of surgicaal gloves to keep my
> hands clean (usually on refitting some lady's chain...). There is also
> a minipump on each of my bikes, all of them OEM-sourced from SKS and
> all of them pretty useless for the 37mm high pressure tyres I like
> (the only pumps I have that works are an ancient Zefal frame pump and
> a six-buck Beta pump I bought at a supermarket because it also takes
> compressed air cartidges -- I shall replace the lot of them with an
> HPX frame pump as soon as I work out how to fix it to my bikes).
>
> I don't imagine the toolkit weighs as a much as pound. It includes
> only what I need, even the superfluous bits for the Topeak Tool Bar
> are left at home. I have several other multitools and all of them have
> more superfluous tools than useful ones, so I leave their weight at
> home.
>
> The one thing I cannot fix on the road is a loose crank bolt on my
> favourite bike, the Trek with the Cyber Nexus groupset. These are
> flathead bolts in a recess, so none of my on-bike tools can get at
> them and even a titanium socket and lever I bought are just too
> stupidly heavy to carry; I plan to replace the flathead bolts with hex
> socket bolts and carrying a long 8mm hex key as soon as I find one in
> titanium. (I have an 8mm hex bit that will fit the Tool Bar but I
> imagine applying 45Nm to it will rip the little thing apart, though in
> fact it doesn't complain about working on the front axle where I
> replaced a quick-release with a hex-socket skewer from BBB.)
>
> Best bike tool I ever bought, that Topeak Tool Bar -- and I blew the
> money fully reconciled to the suspicion that when it arrived it would
> be a toy, but it wasn't, it is really very useful on your modern city
> or mountain bike (one of the supplied bits I leave at home is the T25
> torx key for MB disc brakes). The only thing that could make it
> better, indeed perfect, is a slide-out open spanner 8x10mm on the
> blank side (one side opens the compartment for the bits, two sides
> have tyre levers, one side is still blank), to use with roller brakes.
> (The best but bigger and heavier alternative to the Topeak Tool Bar,
> if you have a modern city or mountain bike, is the SKS CTWORX if you
> need a chainsplitter or SKS T-WORX if you use quick-release links on
> your chain. These two SKS multitools have the correct open spanners
> together with the correct hex keys and screwdrivers, and thereby
> leaves the Aliens and other expensive multi-multitools for dead.)
>
> What do you carry, and why?
>
> Andre Jutehttp://members.lycos.co.uk/fiultra/BICYCLE%20%26%20CYCLING.html

Two tubes, three air cartriges, and a tiny Ritchey tool that has
several functions and a chain remover. I also carry a cellphone,
wallet and granola bars or gummy fruit slices but not in my tool bag.
On rare occasions I've had more than two flats and I've tied knots on
the tubes where the holes were. I am too lazy to patch tubes in the
middle of the road. I usually take flat tubes home and patch them
there.

An easy way to carry tubes is to fold them into an eight. Put one arm
through one hole, put the tube behind your back and put the other arm
through the other whole. You can easily carry three or four tubes that
way. If you remove a tube once you get a flat, it is faster to carry
it this way, than to fold it neatly into the bag.

Andres

Most of my tool kit fits into an Altoids can and was inspired by Jobst's
tool kit(s):

http://pardo.net/bike/pic/fail-003/000.html#example-tool-kits

Mine has a Ritchey CPR 9, 8 mm allen wrench, small folding pliers
("Swiss Army"), Park spoke wrench, Rema patches and glue, Park tire
boot, a couple spare spoke nipples, and a bit of rag, mainly to prevent
rattling. In addition to that there is a spare tube and a Crank Bros.
tire lever in my saddle pack.

On May 30, 5:53 pm, Ecnerwal <LawrenceSM...@SOuthernVERmont.NyET>
wrote:
> In article
> <5c86a47f-53d5-420c-a2f0-6764b6b52...@c65g2000hsa.googlegroups.com>,
>  Andre Jute <fiult...@yahoo.com> wrote:
>
> > What do you carry, and why?

[snip]

> One thing I have never been able to understand is the "perceived need"
> many folks have for tire levers - a stock item in many toolkits. They
> will probably be leaving mine, as I can't remember how it was all fit in
> there before, and they are superfluous, IME. While I have not
> experienced every tire/rim in the world by a long shot, I have never,
> ever, needed levers to get a bicycle tire on or off, from whatever was
> on my 5 speed (20 or 24?) though 27 inch street and 26 inch MTB tires.
> I've thought levers might be handy with lawn tractor tires (small rim
> diameter, large/hefty tire cross section), but managed fine without -
> bike tires (large rim diameter, small tire cross section) are as easy as
> pie by hand, by comparison.

Oley Maloney, I wouldn't even try getting beaded tyres on and off with
my hands. A writer is a manual labourer who earns his living with his
hands on his keyboard. I can't afford as much as a fingernail torn
into the quick. Anyway, those belted Marathon Plus and Satellite Elite
Hardcase are a killer to get on even with tyre levers working at waist
height on a table, never mind scrabbling around on your knees in the
scrub beside a road. I wish someone would bring back the VAR 425 which
would be brilliant for getting these toughies on and off the rim even
under adverse circumstances. Of course, on the other hand, you pay
through the nose for these belted tyres precisely so that you never
have to take them off again...

Andre Jute
http://members.lycos.co.uk/fiultra/BICYCLE%20HUMOUR.html

On May 30, 7:53 pm, Michael Press <rub...@pacbell.net> wrote:
> In article
> <5c86a47f-53d5-420c-a2f0-6764b6b52...@c65g2000hsa.googlegroups.com>,
>  Andre Jute <fiult...@yahoo.com> wrote:
>
> > My number one tool is a mobile phone, the only one I own, permanently
> > carried on my bike, switched off so that no one can reach me; it's
> > sole purpose is to call the ambulance if I fall over from a heart
> > attack, or a taxi if I get a flat tyre.
>
> You mean there is no person on the planet whose calls you
> are not gratified to answer and are sad to have missed?

Nah, what makes me sad is that a grown man -- you are a grown man,
aren't you, Michael? -- is so insecure as to believe that people will
not call him back if he doesn't answer his phone immediately.

> [...]
>
> Two tubes, pump, patch kit, multitool, cellular telephone.

Switched on all the time, right? Why bother cycling then? On the Great
Escape, MIchael Press would leave his itenerary for the Gestapo!

> --
> Michael Press

Yeah, right.

Andre Jute
Charisma is the certain knowledge that they will call again if you
don't answer the first time, the second, third, the nth.

consider a v small hemostat/tweezers to get that tiny sliver of glass
out of the tire. Chuck

In my small Messanger Bag I carry a small cresent wrench, a set of
Metric Hex wrenches, and a patch kit. The patch kit has glue, some
patches and that scratchy thing whose exact name I don't know but we
all know what it is, right?

When I'm on a more mission critical ride I make sure the blackburn
mini pump is in there also.

I most likely have a bungee cord or two, & although they aren't
thought of as 'toolkit', they come in very handy along with the rear
rack I always install on a bike of mine.

Lastly the bag hold the rear LED and front headlight most times as
well.

What doesn't leave home most times is the big ol honk'n wrench that
fits the front forks/ neck and the thin spanners that fit the axle
innards.


TBerk

I wrote:

> > One thing I have never been able to understand is the "perceived need"
> > many folks have for tire levers - a stock item in many toolkits. They

[snippage]

Andre Jute <fiultra1@yahoo.com> wrote:
> Oley Maloney, I wouldn't even try getting beaded tyres on and off with
> my hands. A writer is a manual labourer who earns his living with his
> hands on his keyboard. I can't afford as much as a fingernail torn
> into the quick. Anyway, those belted Marathon Plus and Satellite Elite
> Hardcase are a killer to get on even with tyre levers working at waist
> height on a table, never mind scrabbling around on your knees in the
> scrub beside a road.

Huh. I'd never even consider a fingernail to be in the least danger (no
clawing at the tire required), so it may be a technique thing, or I just
have (and have always had, through various sizes of bike and tires) easy
tires/wheels. Most recent tire I put on was a wire bead Michelin
transworld city thing - supposedly also belted/puncture resistant, but I
don't know if it's "especially easy to put on (or take off)" as compared
to your examples. It's a 559. Took that off at least once in the
process, also took off the old tire, whatever it was. I suspect it's
technique, but I don't know if a text description will do the job of
demonstrating. Definitely not like Sheldon's method per his website.

To remove - if not already flat, let all the air out, or remove the
valve core if you have Schraders and a valve core tool handy. Presta
users might need to unscrew the valve stem and push it down into tire, I
don't use those so I'm not sure - it's sometimes needed with the base of
the Schrader. Squeeze tire all around to release bead from rim. Squeeze
bead together in vicinity of valve stem, push down into middle of rim.
Set that part on the ground. Grab opposite side of tire and push over
the rim - both beads at once, pushing with the heels of your palms and
balls of your thumbs, using fingers to grip tire and twist it towards
the side you are pushing it to. The rim is more-or-less vertical in the
process, so you have the ground to push against. Both beads are down in
the center of the rim as far around as possible to give the most slack.

Installation is darn near the reverse of removal. Just make sure that
the tube (barely inflated) is down inside the casing, not sticking up
between the beads. Drop the valve stem in the hole, squeeze the bead in
that area into the middle of the rim, and work the tire over the other
side both beads at once. Check both sides carefully for tube in wrong
place before inflating.

Once mounted, inflating to 5 psi or so, bouncing the tire on all sides
and then deflating before reinflating supposedly helps with tube kinks,
and seems worth doing. On the second inflation I worry about seating the
bead well when there's a little bit of pressure, then take it up. One
bead blowout bang is more than enough for a lifetime.

If the above offends since it's not the canonical method, go right on
doing what you do now - but it works for me, and it's a lot less fuss,
IME, than that whole one-bead-at-a-time method and tire levers.

--
Cats, coffee, chocolate...vices to live by

On Fri, 30 May 2008 17:43:56 -0700 (PDT), Chuck <n0azne@gmail.com>
wrote:

>consider a v small hemostat/tweezers to get that tiny sliver of glass
>out of the tire. Chuck

Dear Chuck,

Sharp-pointed tweezers might be helpful for small stuff.

I carry two small paper clips on the zippers of my bags for digging
out goathead thorns broken off flush in the tire:

http://i20.tinypic.com/2rei5v9.jpg

http://i23.tinypic.com/nq5oyf.jpg

The second paper clip comes in handy when the first one vanishes by
the side of the road.

A desperate rider can usually gouge tiny debris out of bicycle tires
with the metal tongue of a wristwatch strap, but the tongue may take a
bit of sharpening against the pavement.

Cheers,

Carl Fogel

In article
<5c86a47f-53d5-420c-a2f0-6764b6b528be@c65g2000hsa.googlegroups.com>,
Andre Jute <fiultra1@yahoo.com> wrote:

> I carry a small Park combination headset/ pedal spanner bolted up
> behind my water bottle. It also fits the axle cap nuts of Shimano's
> Nexus hub gearboxes, so the rear wheel can be taken off to change the
> tube.
>
> All the rest of my tools fit in a hardshell spectacles case and
> consist of round multisize spoke wrench (never touched the spokes on
> my current Bontrager Satellite Elite wheels in over a year, unlike
> some accursed Rigida wheels I had once that had to be tightened
> weekly); an 8x10mm open spanner for adjusting the brakes; Topeak's
> Tool Bar

> I don't imagine the toolkit weighs as a much as pound. It includes
> only what I need, even the superfluous bits for the Topeak Tool Bar
> are left at home. I have several other multitools and all of them have
> more superfluous tools than useful ones, so I leave their weight at
> home.
>
> The one thing I cannot fix on the road is a loose crank bolt on my
> favourite bike [...]

> Best bike tool I ever bought, that Topeak Tool Bar

Unless I'm very much mistaken, you can't fix all possible broken chains,
as a single pin failure still leaves you with the other pin to extract,
even if you have a spare link.

> (The best but bigger and heavier alternative to the Topeak Tool Bar,
> if you have a modern city or mountain bike, is the SKS CTWORX if you
> need a chainsplitter or SKS T-WORX if you use quick-release links on
> your chain. These two SKS multitools have the correct open spanners
> together with the correct hex keys and screwdrivers, and thereby
> leaves the Aliens and other expensive multi-multitools for dead.)
>
> What do you carry, and why?

My core multitool is a Crank Brothers Multi-17:

http://www.crankbrothers.com/multi17.php

Chain tool, four-size spoke wrench, mediocre 8/10 mm open-end wrenches,
and the necessary hex, torx, and screwdriver bits. It's surpassingly
effective.

No tire levers, so I carry those, plus a tube, patches, sandpaper, glue,
a presta extension tube, and a spare link. I usually carry a
presta-schrader adapter. I also have a compact, cheesy pump which should
be able to get a road tire up to 60-70 pounds. The loose bits aside from
the tire levers go in a tiny patch-kit box.

I added a fairly short 15 mm wrench to the kit once I got a bike with a
bolt-on rear axle (Alfine hub).

I don't really do unsupported rides into unpopulated areas (with rare
exceptions). This kit is all about getting back on the road and not
being too much trouble. I carry it as a bag for the tube, a similar-size
bag for the rest of the stuff, and the pump, but I could make the whole
bundle except the pump fit into a small tailbag. Instead, they usually
go into a back pocket or a saddlebag.

The Crank Brothers 17 is a pretty fabulous tool. I haven't seen anything
that includes a more optimal collection of tools in such a compact
arrangement. Even the other Crank Brothers tools (larger and smaller)
seem inferior.

As for tire levers, in my experience they're a wear item.

--
Ryan Cousineau rcousine@gmail.com http://www.wiredcola.com/
"In other newsgroups, they killfile trolls."
"In rec.bicycles.racing, we coach them."

In article <5c86a47f-53d5-420c-a2f0-
6764b6b528be@c65g2000hsa.googlegroups.com>, fiultra1@yahoo.com
says...
>
>
>My number one tool is a mobile phone, the only one I own,
permanently
>carried on my bike, switched off so that no one can reach me; it's
>sole purpose is to call the ambulance if I fall over from a heart
>attack, or a taxi if I get a flat tyre.
>
>I haven't had a flat wheel for several thousand klicks now, since I
>switched to hardcase tyres (Schwalbe Marathon Plus and Botnbrager
>Satellite Elite Hardcase) but I still carry a tube to offer to those
>less fortunate who cycle with me or that I meet on the road.
>
>I carry a small Park combination headset/ pedal spanner bolted up
>behind my water bottle. It also fits the axle cap nuts of Shimano's
>Nexus hub gearboxes, so the rear wheel can be taken off to change the
>tube.
>
>All the rest of my tools fit in a hardshell spectacles case and
>consist of round multisize spoke wrench (never touched the spokes on
>my current Bontrager Satellite Elite wheels in over a year, unlike
>some accursed Rigida wheels I had once that had to be tightened
>weekly); an 8x10mm open spanner for adjusting the brakes; Topeak's
>Tool Bar (a tiny multitool with two slide-out aluminium tyre levers as
>its sides, and a holder for the 3-4-5-6mm hex keys and Philips driver
>bit inside plus a bigger Philips bit in the socket); a stampsized box
>of Park's glueless patches; a presta to auto valve adaptor for blowing
>up tyres at garages; spare batteries for my rear flasher light, my
>Shimano Flight Deck and my Sigma HRM; a couple of sheets of paper
>towel, one soaked in Vaseline petroleum jelly for relubing threads
>before refitting; a couple of pairs of surgicaal gloves to keep my
>hands clean (usually on refitting some lady's chain...). There is also
>a minipump on each of my bikes, all of them OEM-sourced from SKS
and
>all of them pretty useless for the 37mm high pressure tyres I like
>(the only pumps I have that works are an ancient Zefal frame pump and
>a six-buck Beta pump I bought at a supermarket because it also takes
>compressed air cartidges -- I shall replace the lot of them with an
>HPX frame pump as soon as I work out how to fix it to my bikes).
>
>I don't imagine the toolkit weighs as a much as pound. It includes
>only what I need, even the superfluous bits for the Topeak Tool Bar
>are left at home. I have several other multitools and all of them have
>more superfluous tools than useful ones, so I leave their weight at
>home.
>
>The one thing I cannot fix on the road is a loose crank bolt on my
>favourite bike, the Trek with the Cyber Nexus groupset. These are
>flathead bolts in a recess, so none of my on-bike tools can get at
>them and even a titanium socket and lever I bought are just too
>stupidly heavy to carry; I plan to replace the flathead bolts with hex
>socket bolts and carrying a long 8mm hex key as soon as I find one in
>titanium. (I have an 8mm hex bit that will fit the Tool Bar but I
>imagine applying 45Nm to it will rip the little thing apart, though in
>fact it doesn't complain about working on the front axle where I
>replaced a quick-release with a hex-socket skewer from BBB.)
>
>Best bike tool I ever bought, that Topeak Tool Bar -- and I blew the
>money fully reconciled to the suspicion that when it arrived it would
>be a toy, but it wasn't, it is really very useful on your modern city
>or mountain bike (one of the supplied bits I leave at home is the T25
>torx key for MB disc brakes). The only thing that could make it
>better, indeed perfect, is a slide-out open spanner 8x10mm on the
>blank side (one side opens the compartment for the bits, two sides
>have tyre levers, one side is still blank), to use with roller brakes.
>(The best but bigger and heavier alternative to the Topeak Tool Bar,
>if you have a modern city or mountain bike, is the SKS CTWORX if you
>need a chainsplitter or SKS T-WORX if you use quick-release links on
>your chain. These two SKS multitools have the correct open spanners
>together with the correct hex keys and screwdrivers, and thereby
>leaves the Aliens and other expensive multi-multitools for dead.)
>
>What do you carry, and why?
>
>Andre Jute
>http://members.lycos.co.uk/fiultra/BICYCLE%20%26%20CYCLING.html
tire levers, two tubes, Park quick patches, Rema kit, topeak tool w/
various hex & screwdrivers, 3-way park spoke nipple wrench, copy of
Drivers License & Medical insurance card, money. All fits into a medium
small under saddle bag. SKS mini-pump on bike that actually works and
will get me home.