Originally Posted by Tourist in MSN

My last bike trip (car camping while mountain biking, not "touring"), had a valve stem come loose from the inner tube rubber. That is the type of failure that can't be patched. That is why I carry two tubes on bike tours instead of one. I also carry a patch kit. That said, I have not yet had a flat on a bike tour, but I have used pretty robust tires which apparently helped.

If I followed your logic, since I have not had a flat on a tour, I could leave the spare tubes, patches, tire levers at home. The same logic dictates I could leave the spare spokes and cassette puller home too. And the spare chain quick links. And the spare pair of M5 bolts. Just think, I could be so much faster that I could get to my destination at least 30 seconds faster every day if I left this stuff at home to lighten my load.

I could probably skip the pump too, that way I could save another 30 seconds every day with an even lighter load.

And, 90 percent of the stuff in my first aid kit never gets used, I could leave that behind too, that might be good for another 15 seconds every day.

Wow, I could save over a minute every day. Until that day comes when I need some of this stuff.

My first two tours had no rainy days, but I still carried rain gear on my third tour, and the rain gear came in handy on that tour, and on the fourth, and on the fifth, .... ..