Originally Posted by
bigredkevbot
Hi All,
I'm trying to hone my touring minimalism and essentials down to a fine count here. I'm wondering what thoughts are on multitools! I have an awesome Performance Bike multitool from back in the day with 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8mm hexes, flat and Phillips head screwdrivers. That's it. I carry spoons (tire levers) with me separate. I'm looking to do longer rides and include more tours in my future and I'm wondering how do you all deal with:
1- Spoke wrenches (in the tool or separate)
2- Chain breakers (separate (full size or mini), or in the tool)
3- large hex wrenches
4- Anything else?
Your thoughts and comments are appreciated!
Best,
Red
The best way of dealing with tools on tour is to deal with the bike
before the tour. Start with the selection of components. Choose a threadless headset and you only need a 5mm allen wrench (maybe a 4 and 6mm as well since some stem manufacturers can keep these standard
). Choose an external bearing crank and you'll only need a 5 mm wrench to work on that. Shimano...damn them!...is the best choice. Build wheels with cartridge bearings and you'll not need cone wrenches.
Those 3 choices will reduce your tool kit to a 4, 5 and 6 mm allen wrench, tire levers, a patch kit, a Phillips screw driver, (you really don't need the flat one), a spoke wrench and a chaintool. If the bike is in good shape before you go, you probably won't even need to use the tool kit.