touring tool necessities

In article said:

In preperation to take a few months to tour, should i take specific tools like chain-whip,
cassette tool (to unlock cassette), etc., or just be intuitive until i get to a bike store for
repairs.

If you'd have to replace a cassette or cog, you'd have to visit a bike shop anyways, and they'd have
the appropriate tools.

Quoted message said:

It seems like a lot to bring, and i've popped spokes in the past while touring, but i had to
"limp" home a couple days by truing around the missing spoke. Just trying to get an idea of the
minimum to bring, with still being most self sufficient.

Lemme just peek in my tool kit (which is discretely stored in a plastic Anchor-Hocking[tm] food
container):

- allen keys for everything
- chain tools (2)
- spare chain links
- 1 each 8/10 mm and 9/11 mm spanners
- patch kit
- tire levers
- screwdriver for derailer limit screws
- screwdriver for top-mount shifters and brake levers
- clothes peg
- speaker magnet on a string (great for picking up dropped parts out of tall grass)
- one of those triangular spoke wrenches that slips around in your hand and rounds the corners of
spoke nipples
- a length of silversmiths' iron binding wire
- spanners for old style seatpost anchor bolt
- 1 long forgotten joint (hmm, serendipity.)

All that, a pump, inner tube or two, some spare inner cables, some spare spokes-&-nipples, and you
should be off 'n running.

And maybe a pair of electrician's pliers. And a 6" crescent wrench. And a Bic lighter.

Now I've gotta remind myself of what's in my first aid kit.

cheers, Tom

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Thu, 3 Jul 2003 22:26:49 -0700, <[email hidden]>, [email hidden] (Tom

Keats) said:

If you'd have to replace a cassette or cog, you'd have to visit a bike shop anyways, and they'd
have the appropriate tools.

I think he was talking about replacing drive side spokes, not cogs.

I'd carry the proper tool to fit a freewheel figuring I can always find a vise. For a cassete, I'd
carry the removing tool figuring I could always improvise a chain whip where I found the vise. If
that's a bike shop, I won't unpack it.
--
zk

In article said:

Thu, 3 Jul 2003 22:26:49 -0700, <[email hidden]>, [email hidden] (Tom

Keats) said:

If you'd have to replace a cassette or cog, you'd have to visit a bike shop anyways, and they'd
have the appropriate tools.

I think he was talking about replacing drive side spokes, not cogs.

Oh, yeah. I forgot about that. I haven't broken a spoke in years. I'm probably [over]due for it.

cheers, Tom

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Thu, 3 Jul 2003 23:34:48 -0700, <[email hidden]>, [email hidden] (Tom

Keats) said:

Oh, yeah. I forgot about that. I haven't broken a spoke in years. I'm probably [over]due for it.

Nor have I broken any lately, except on the truing stand. I've had a few taken out by mallet swipes
that sheared the nipples off at the rim. The spokes were okay.

Two things I always carried touring and never needed was a crank puller and a spare rear axle.
--
zk

[email hidden] (eric) wrote in message
news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

In preperation to take a few months to tour, should i take specific tools like chain-whip,
cassette tool (to unlock cassette), etc., or just be intuitive until i get to a bike store for
repairs. It seems like a lot to bring, and i've popped spokes in the past while touring, but i had
to "limp" home a couple days by truing around the missing spoke. Just trying to get an idea of the
minimum to bring, with still being most self sufficient.

I carry a Topeak "Alien" and the $10 version of a Leatherman tool. extra cables (brake /derail) good
pathc kit and a 6" adj. wrench just in case. All fits in my seat bag. A tube of superglue and a tube
of spare nuts & bolts. I have spokes taped to a frame stay but I keep the nipples in my screw case
so they won't vibrate off.

ED

"Tom Keats" <[email hidden]> wrote in message "]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

In article said:

In preperation to take a few months to tour, should i take specific tools like chain-whip,
cassette tool (to unlock cassette), etc., or just be intuitive until i get to a bike store for
repairs.

If you'd have to replace a cassette or cog, you'd have to visit a bike shop anyways, and they'd
have the appropriate tools.

Quoted message said:

It seems like a lot to bring, and i've popped spokes in the past while touring, but i had to
"limp" home a couple days by truing around the missing spoke. Just trying to get an idea of the
minimum to bring, with still being most self sufficient.

Lemme just peek in my tool kit (which is discretely stored in a plastic Anchor-Hocking[tm] food
container):

- allen keys for everything
- chain tools (2)
- spare chain links
- 1 each 8/10 mm and 9/11 mm spanners
- patch kit
- tire levers
- screwdriver for derailer limit screws
- screwdriver for top-mount shifters and brake levers
- clothes peg
- speaker magnet on a string (great for picking up dropped parts out of tall grass)
- one of those triangular spoke wrenches that slips around in your hand and rounds the corners of
spoke nipples

Er, why not the proper size spoke wrench (Park, et.al.)?

Quoted message said:

- a length of silversmiths' iron binding wire
- spanners for old style seatpost anchor bolt
- 1 long forgotten joint (hmm, serendipity.)

You need to toss all that stuff and go for more serendipity!

Quoted message said:

All that, a pump, inner tube or two, some spare inner cables, some spare spokes-&-nipples, and you
should be off 'n running.

And maybe a pair of electrician's pliers. And a 6" crescent wrench. And a Bic lighter.

Now I've gotta remind myself of what's in my first aid kit.

Holy cow, Tom, are you touring through third world countries? I carry what I normally carry on any
old road ride (far less than that).

--
Robin Hubert <[email hidden]

"Zoot Katz" <[email hidden]> wrote in message "]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Thu, 3 Jul 2003 23:34:48 -0700, <[email hidden]>, [email hidden] (Tom

Keats) said:

Oh, yeah. I forgot about that. I haven't broken a spoke in years. I'm probably [over]due for it.

Nor have I broken any lately, except on the truing stand. I've had a few taken out by mallet
swipes that sheared the nipples off at the rim. The spokes were okay.

?? Room-mate conflict?

Quoted message said:

Two things I always carried touring and never needed was a crank puller and a spare rear axle.

--
Robin Hubert <[email hidden]

"eric" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

In preperation to take a few months to tour, should i take specific tools like chain-whip,
cassette tool (to unlock cassette), etc., or just be intuitive until i get to a bike store for
repairs. It seems like a lot to bring, and i've popped spokes in the past while touring, but i had
to "limp" home a couple days by truing around the missing spoke. Just trying to get an idea of the
minimum to bring, with still being most self sufficient.

Let's see. Here's what I carried on a tour I just returned from:

Park multi-tool (their version of the Topeak Alien) Tube Patch Kit tire levers Duct tape wound
around seat post zip ties small crescent wrench wax chain lube a kevlar emergency spoke (I have used
this 3 times, and each time it has gotten me back to civilization).

Zoot Katz <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

I'd carry the proper tool to fit a freewheel figuring I can always find a vise. For a cassete, I'd
carry the removing tool figuring I could always improvise a chain whip where I found the vise. If
that's a bike shop, I won't unpack it.

I carry a Fibre-Fix emergency replacement spoke, which'll get me to a bike shop. I've actually used
it, though not on tour.

If I ever find a Hypercracker, I'll carry that.

I find 6" of chain and a pair of Vise-grips makes a good chain whip subsitute, by the way.

In article <[email hidden]>, [email hidden] says...

...

Quoted message said:

If you'd have to replace a cassette or cog, you'd have to visit a bike shop anyways, and they'd
have the appropriate tools.

That's what I was going to say, but you beat me to it <GG>.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

It seems like a lot to bring, and i've popped spokes in the past while touring, but i had to
"limp" home a couple days by truing around the missing spoke. Just trying to get an idea of the
minimum to bring, with still being most self sufficient.

Lemme just peek in my tool kit (which is discretely stored in a plastic Anchor-Hocking[tm] food
container):

- allen keys for everything
- chain tools (2)
- spare chain links
- 1 each 8/10 mm and 9/11 mm spanners
- patch kit
- tire levers
- screwdriver for derailer limit screws
- screwdriver for top-mount shifters and brake levers
- clothes peg
- speaker magnet on a string (great for picking up dropped parts out of tall grass)

That's one I would have never thought of, but is a great idea!

...

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REAL programmers write self-modifying code.

In article <[email hidden]>, "Robin Hubert"

Quoted message said:

"Tom Keats" <[email hidden]> wrote in message

...

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

- one of those triangular spoke wrenches that slips around
in your hand and rounds the corners of spoke nipples

Er, why not the proper size spoke wrench (Park, et.al.)?

The good, colour-coded separate wrenches stay in the home shop, where nobody touches them but me,
and they don't get lost or left behind.

...

Quoted message said:

Holy cow, Tom, are you touring through third world countries? I carry what I normally carry on any
old road ride (far less than that).

My bikes are all fixer-uppers. Whenever I fix up another one, I pack all that stuff along for the
first few test rides so I don't get stranded somewhere too far to walk back home.

Some things I /always/ pack with me is some table cutlery. It's nice to be able to make an impromptu
stop at a deli, order a tub of macaroni salad to go, and actually have a fork at hand.

cheers, Tom

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(eric) said:

In preperation to take a few months to tour, should i take specific tools like chain-whip, cassette
tool (to unlock cassette), etc., or just be intuitive until i get to a bike store for repairs. It
seems like a lot to bring, and i've popped spokes in the past while touring, but i had to "limp"
home a couple days by truing around the missing spoke. Just trying to get an idea of the minimum to
bring, with still being most self sufficient.

Get some emergency spokes. They exist in various kinds, from essentially regular spokes to kevlar or
steel wire spokes (which are much more adjustable in length, one or two can do for all three-four
lengths you need), with the common factor being that you can hook or slide them in from the inside,
so you don't have to remove the cassette or even the wheel.

Jasper

Fri, 04 Jul 2003 12:54:07 GMT, <[email hidden]>, "Robin

Hubert said:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

I haven't broken a spoke in years. I'm probably [over]due for it.

Nor have I broken any lately, except on the truing stand. I've had a few taken out by mallet
swipes that sheared the nipples off at the rim. The spokes were okay.

?? Room-mate conflict?

Polo.
--
zk

"Tom Keats" <[email hidden]> wrote in message "]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

In article <[email hidden]>, "Robin Hubert"

Quoted message said:

"Tom Keats" <[email hidden]> wrote in message

...

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

- one of those triangular spoke wrenches that slips around
in your hand and rounds the corners of spoke nipples

Er, why not the proper size spoke wrench (Park, et.al.)?

The good, colour-coded separate wrenches stay in the home shop, where nobody touches them but me,
and they don't get lost or left behind.

...

Quoted message said:

Holy cow, Tom, are you touring through third world countries? I carry

what

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

I normally carry on any old road ride (far less than that).

My bikes are all fixer-uppers. Whenever I fix up another one, I pack all that stuff along for the
first few test rides so I don't get stranded somewhere too far to walk back home.

Some things I /always/ pack with me is some table cutlery. It's nice to be able to make an
impromptu stop at a deli, order a tub of macaroni salad to go, and actually have a fork at hand.

Or just grab a plastic spoon on your way out the door.

James Messick said:

Quoted message said:

Some things I /always/ pack with me is some table cutlery. It's nice to be able to make an
impromptu stop at a deli, order a tub of macaroni salad to go, and actually have a fork at hand.

Or just grab a plastic spoon on your way out the door.

Plastic cutlery is environmentally irresponsible and if used thoughtlessly will soon kill us all.
Responsible cyclists pack reuseable flatware. Fabrizio drills strategically-positioned holes in the
handles to save weight.

Tom Keats said:

...
- 1 long forgotten joint (hmm, serendipity.)...

I suggest removing that before riding too far south, as you will encounter far less enlightened drug
laws there.

Tom Sherman - Quad Cities USA (Illinois side)

Zoot Katz said:

...

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Nor have I broken any lately, except on the truing stand. I've had a few taken out by mallet
swipes that sheared the nipples off at the rim. The spokes were okay.

?? Room-mate conflict?

Polo.

So Fabrizio wasn't playing nice that day?

Tom Sherman - Quad Cities USA (Illinois side)

In article said:

Tom Keats said:

...
- 1 long forgotten joint (hmm, serendipity.)...

I suggest removing that before riding too far south, as you will encounter far less enlightened
drug laws there.

I'm actually not really into the stuff much (hence its extended existence). Some character gave it
to me; I accepted the gift out of politeness, put it away, and completely forgot about it.

It has since been properly disposed of :-)

cheers, Tom

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(Tom Keats) said:

It has since been properly disposed of :-)

I trust you did not inhale? ;-)

Guy
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