Originally Posted by cyccommute

No. A good mechanic knows that stuff happens and is prepared to deal with it. You have your ideas backwards. Planning on failure doesn't ensure that you fail, "failure to plan is a plan for failure". There are places out here in the Wild West where failure...or the lack of planning for it...can get you seriously dead. Maybe not on road rides but there are places out here where a cell phone is just a fancy rock

I don't carry this kit



on local road rides but I do carry a subset of it for every ride. If I'm venturing into the backwoods on a mountain bike, I carry all of this and emergency shelter, first aid and fire. If I'm going to be a thousand miles from home and out for a month, I carry all that plus clothes, shelter and food. Most importantly I carry the knowledge that I can deal with just about anything that might happen and still get down the road. I don't fail to plan so I don't plan on failing.