Commuting - Other than a seat wedge...

Where else would you carry your flat kit? Just remounted a milk crate to my rack and had to remove the wedge. Ideas that have come to mind so far:

-In a ziplock bag inside the man purse of the day
-Top tube or stem bag
-Frame bag
-Inside a water bottle*

*Had everything but the tube (wouldn't fit) in a bottle before and put in the cage on the bottom of the downtube- as pictured in my avatar. I removed that cage (it's in my locker at work), as I wasn't using it...

Trick question?

In the milk crate.

I got one of those "wedges" and hooked it to the back of my milk crate on the right side, with the zipper on top. It works great.

Tho problem with putting the thing in the crate is it is at the bottom, under everything, when you need it. Not a good thing.

I vote for a handlebar bag. They are super convenient anyway. You can fit your cell phone, wallet, patch kit and energy bars all in a handlebar bag. Since they come with a shoulder strap you just strap it on with all your valuables whenever you go shopping. If on the road you get hungry, just reach into your handle bar bag for an energy bar. It's also a great place to carry a camera.

In a tool roll type bag, like one of these:

http://www.acornbags.com/rollbag.html

http://www.mophadelivers.com/always/Roll.html

http://www.minnehahabags.com/barrel-bag/

In my mind's eye, I'm having a hard time picturing a handlebar bag playing nice with my Ergons and grip shifters.

Campy ergo levers shouldn't be a problem. Just make sure the handlebar bag gives you enough clearance so it won't interfere with shifting. People tour with Campy/Shimano integrated shift levers and handlebar bags all the time. It's a fairly common combination.

I carry my spare tubes, pump, patch kit, chain tool, chain links, tire leavers,15mm wrench inside my messenger bag. I like to carry those items on person rather then leave them on a bike. Bike gets locked outside when I do errands and shopping I don't want to leave tools and spare parts on a bike.

I cleaned out a plastic peanut butter jar and carry it in one of my water bottle mounts. It holds tube, patch kit, levers.

I cleaned out a plastic peanut butter jar and carry it in one of my water bottle mounts. It holds tube, patch kit, levers.

This or putting everything in a baggie that then goes into backpack/sling bag is probably the way to go- lowest cost solution. :thumb:

Depends on the bike, but I usually toss that stuff in a pannier side pocket, or split it between two trunk-bag side pockets (one for straightforward flat repair, the other for everything beyond that, e.g. chain repair). If you like the waterbottle idea, but need more capacity, buy a Zefal Magnum bottle off eBay for $10 shipped. They're gi-normous and the mouth of the bottle is full-width. I can give you measurements if you want some.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v319/mrpink57/th_e2c2dce2.jpg (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v319/mrpink57/e2c2dce2.jpg)
Lots of places to put it (old photo), have updated the frame bag to a Revelations Tangle Bag. I don't carry all these bags all the time usually just the Jandd seat wedge most of the time.

As a Fred most of the Velominati.com rules don't apply to me personally, but you could always consider Rule 31 (http://www.velominati.com/blog/the-rules/#31).

My wife wanted something easily accessible and I didn't want to put a handlebar bag on her MTB so I picked up mini-panniers on eBay. They were super inexpensive and mount to the top tube against the head tube. Small bag on each side of the bar with a velcro flap and a cell phone pocket on the top. IIRC, they were $5 each shipped out of China.

Just remounted a milk crate to my rack

strap a small bag to the outside of the milk crate..


In my mind's eye, I'm having a hard time picturing a handlebar bag playing nice with my Ergons and grip shifters.

a good quality bar bag like the ones using Klick Fix mounting hardware
Or Ortlieb, work well for many riders , around the world.

Ended up just putting everything in a ziplock bag and put that into my sling bag. Keep the ideas coming though, as I'm constantly experimenting. :thumb:

Ended up just putting everything in a ziplock bag and put that into my sling bag. Keep the ideas coming though, as I'm constantly experimenting. :thumb:
+1 or something like a VO Baguette bag strapped to the crate. Currently use a Baguette bag on my road bike, plenty of room for a pump, tube, quick stick, multi tool, smallett, phone etc - it is a canvas tube measuring about 30 cm long and 8 cm in diameter, it has a zipper and strap attachments. It fits well on saddle loops and runs nicely in the slipstream of my mASS.

Since I commute with a backpack, I put it in my backpack..

Why don't you put it inside the milk crate you said you have on your bike? I don't really understand..

Well, I guess it is rather strange. Seat wedge mounted under the saddle was like "out of sight, out of mind"- I just didn't think about the stuff in that bag while it was on the bike. But since I remounted the crate, I'm unable to use the wedge where it is supposed to go (I can only raise the seat up so far...).

At first, I just tossed the wedge into the crate, but for whatever reason, I just didn't like that option. Might be that I'm multi-modal and twice a day my bike gets placed (on its side) in the back of a SUV or cargo van for transport?

I keep all of my repair stuff in one of the compartments in my primary pannier.

In your case (no panniers, I assume), I'd put everything into a little stuff sack and tuck that into whatever bag you are using for your other stuff. Either that, or a seat bag that is easy to remove.

I use a seat wedge currently, but I've also just put them in my backpack (in the small pokcet on top) & in a water bottle cage using a 'Cage Rocket' (It's a product that fits in a water bottle holder & stores your stuff.)