March is here and we’re starting to see the first signs of the spring tune ups roll into the shop. This can only mean more folks are getting out on rides or planning to do so in short order. Unfortunately, this nasty winter has left us with tons of debris in the road, often times cleared from the path of cars and right into our unsuspecting and comparatively small tires. If only we had any sort of street cleaning system here in Philly…
With all that being said, roadside mechanicals are abound out there on the still thawing roads and trails (but you shouldn’t be on the trails yet anyway! wait for that thaw!). Our last “Office Hours” zoom class focused on roadside repairs: what to expect, what to watch out for, and how to hopefully fix it well enough to get you home or to the nearest bike shop.
Seemed like as good a time as any to talk about what is in our personal repair kits, and share some photos! Ryan asked the crew for some pics and a breakdown of what all’s in there, and a few of them obliged.
Up first is Woody’s kit. Perhaps the most trim and reasonable of everyone’s. It includes an extra strong flex in the form of her name laser etched on a Park Tool I-beam multi tool that we believe came from her time at UBI? Very sick. Here’s the break down, with some comments from Woody:
top to bottom, left to right:
- Lezyne Pressure Drive pump (I carry this one or their Micro Floor Drive for longer rides)
- extra zip ties for misc issues
- patches & vulcanizing fluid (make sure this tube is fresh!! they dry out after they've been opened)
- few extra links of chain (never had to use them but still carry them around)
- extra m5 hardware (especially if I'm on a bike with fenders or racks)
- Quick link
- Spare tube
- small flat head screw driver
- Pedros tire levers (two in case I break one)
- Park Tool chain tool CT-5
- Park Tool Multitool IB-2 (this is a recent addition so can't recommend it yet, but I'm not picky about multitools)
-All this wrapped up in a made in Philly RELoad tool roll!
Zack’s kit has a focus on cleanliness, safety, and spare parts for friends. Extra points for hand wipes with a name that sounds like a mad scientists secret formula.
From top to bottom, left to right:
-Bottle of something
-”Tire boot”
-Bag ‘o’ rim savers, in case you have to play it fast and loose with your rim and tube valve combo
-four different quick links, ‘cos we all ride a multitude of bicycles with diffrerent drivetrains
-CO₂ cartridge and pump
-3 sided spoke wrench
-Park Tool multi-tool
-Topeak Alien II. Boasts something like 52 tools in one!
- nitrile gloves, for cleanliness
-spare contacts (other four eyed riders know what’s up)
-sanitizing hand wipes
-stick style pressure gauge
-Park Tool CT-5 portable chain breaker
-small bottle of lube
-Ikea made reflective vest size M. cheap, packable, effective
-patch kit
-Pedro’s tire levers. Really the only ones you ever need. (Ryan says, “Pete Shelby once told me pink is the strongest of the colors”)
-USB charger emblazoned with a Rivendell Bicycle Works sticker
-spare tube
-Not Pictured: Chrome Industries Tool Pouch within which this is all housed.
Ryan’s tool kit would certainly be regarded as excessive by most, and they would be right. There is a number of reasons for it’s verbosity, and most of those reasons have happened out on the road far from home with no option but to keep the bike rolling. Whether its a used wheel breaking spokes every day of a multi day tour, a shifter paddle snapping off 80 miles into a 225 mile ride, or a brake lever blade popping out after being smashed into the side of a covered bridge in the middle of Vermont, Ryan wants to be prepared to deal with it. And if he wasn’t when it happened, he adds the solution to the kit when he gets home. Anyway, enough justification, here’s the rumpus:
Top to bottom, left to right:
Photo 1:
-grip of zipties, multiple sizes and colors. Feels silly to carry them until you got a problem nothing else can fix. Grouped with a rubber band, in case a need arises for one of those.
-tire boot or two
-1 shift cable, 1 road brake lever cable
-Topeak Pocket Rocket HP, now called something else. Not the best pump, but small and usually being carried as a back up to a frame pump
-Blackburn digital tire gauge. Good for those low low pressure MTBs
-Blackburn tire plugger
-below that is a Wheels Manufacturing emergency derailleur hanger. In case things go real bad
-above the plugger is a valve core remover
-quick link, probably 10 speed. Usually have an 11 speed one somewhere too
-big tube of patch kit glue (possibly dried out)
-2x Park Tool Super Patches. Glueless, work well, patch most small punctures
-another tube of glue (also probably dried out)
-extra valve core
-presta valve adaptor, just in case
-little patches, big patches
-extra disc brake pads (changes depending on bike)
-spare derailleur pulleys (“It’s a long story, but I’ve needed them before, might need them again…” - Ryan)
-bag ‘o’ bolts, mostly 5mm hardware. some disc rotor bolts, some countersunk in case a cleat bolt is lost. Probably some safety pins in there too
-Ruthworks X-pac Pouch size medium to carry it all (“if you don’t know Ruthworks bags, check them out!”)
-Three black mystery squares. Top: sand paper. Middle: makeshift spare tire boot Bottom: square of folded up gorilla tape
Photo 2:
-spoke wrench. The multi tool has one built in, but boy, is it annoying to use
-one half of a Topeak Alien II. A solution for almost every problem is built in to this thing, as well as some solutions for problems you’ll probably never have
-Fiberfix emergency spoke
-Roadrunner Bags tool roll in leaf camo that holds this stuff
-other half of Topeak Alien II
-more tire boots
-more super patches
-Pedro’s tire lever. It really just is the best
-not pictured: a tube…. (“I swear I usually have one, it just stays with the bike it goes with!”)
-also not pictured: a shimano bar end shifter and small run of housing (“I carry this for long excursions on any bike with integrated shifters. It’s come up….”)
So there you have it, a bunch of stuff we carry around hoping to never have to use. Nothing feels better than a bike ride unhindered by technical issues, but let’s be real, something’s gotta happen sometime. Better to be prepared for that moment than not!
Got any cool additions to the “oh shit kit” you’d like to share? Add it in the comments! If you see something clever you want to add to yours, feel free to get in touch and we’ll get it in your hands lickety split!
Keep an eye out for snow drops out there. The time is upon us for the first few flowers to show themselves!