Advice- Seat and a Multifunction Tool

Lyzine makes great tools.

Saddles are a very personal choice and what one person loves, another hates. I love my thinly padded SDG Bel-Air Comp, but some other people hate it. After realizing it was such a good saddle for me, I scoured qbike.com and bought a spare. Sorry, but I have no reference for an opinion of the Bontrager saddle.

For mountain biking, I like a multi-tool to have a chain tool on it. Break a chain 10+ miles from civilization and you will understand why. I bought my multi-tool years ago on sale from specialized.com, but I'm sure there are plenty of other comparable models by other manufacturers. A full suspension bike has a lot of bolts, so be sure to buy one that has the majority of allen keys or other tools that fit your bike. To me, something like this seems plenty: Cycling Pro Shop - Topeak Mini 18+ Mini-Tool

Thanks for the advice- I went ahead and added that tool set to my Amazon purchase. It does look like it's about all I'm going to need (when combined with my patch kit).

As far as the saddle goes, I agree completely. I like the generic seat that came on my old steel Mongoose much more than the ergonomic/gel seat that the original owner of my Haro put on it. The trick is that I don't think I can ID a good one until I've put 25 miles or so on the bike (two trips out- day 2 to see how everything feels after day 1).

I'm getting to the end of riding season anyway, so I'll see what I can figure out over the winter.

BigSharks said:

Thanks for the advice- I went ahead and added that tool set to my Amazon purchase. It does look like it's about all I'm going to need (when combined with my patch kit).

As far as the saddle goes, I agree completely. I like the generic seat that came on my old steel Mongoose much more than the ergonomic/gel seat that the original owner of my Haro put on it. The trick is that I don't think I can ID a good one until I've put 25 miles or so on the bike (two trips out- day 2 to see how everything feels after day 1).

I'm getting to the end of riding season anyway, so I'll see what I can figure out over the winter.

If your patch kit doesn't include tire levers, you might want to carry a second one with you as the ToPeak Mini 18+ only has the one. I don't know about your tires, but I don't have any tires that can be dismounted with just one lever.

kdelong said:

If your patch kit doesn't include tire levers, you might want to carry a second one with you as the ToPeak Mini 18+ only has the one. I don't know about your tires, but I don't have any tires that can be dismounted with just one lever.

for mtb's you'll need 3 levers sometimes

The patch kit has one, so I'm at two.

Watching some eBay auctions, seems like saddles can be had pretty cheaply- $60 varieties like the one I'm considering are going for $15 or so (new). I'll probably take a flyer and hope it works out- Bontrager models seem to get decent reviews on mtbr, but like you say, everyone is different.

(whoops, double post)

+1 on the desirability of the chain tool
+1 on seats being a personal choice. I will add that my Avocet gel seat broke down on a long tour, and despite them eventually replacing it, it was wicked uncomfortable in the meanwhile. I like the ones with a big cutout for the family jewels.