I did a self-supported tour on my Birdy this weekend. It was really great, and I suppose I ought to post some picture in the pootle thread..
Anyway, I broke a spoke on the back wheel. I managed to true it enough to get to a town with a bike shop. Initially the mechanic thought the spoke was from the drive side, and started futzing around with the cassette - only to realize he didn't have any tools that could remove it. Luckily the spoke was non-drive side (I don't know if I trust a mechanic that didn't see that straight off!) - but it still leaves the issue:
Question: Should I purchase and carry with me a Capreo cassette removal tool? Is it strictly necessary, or was this mechanic just not very knowledgeable?