Originally Posted by Road Fan

Yeahhhh ... there can be a lot of crap to carry for a "general riding kit! Much of this can be satisfied with a typical cycling multitool, but not all. I carry a 6 mm Allen for the angle of my Nitto seatposts and the tension of my Selle Anatomicas, a 5 mm for saddle height, a 4 mm for Rivet saddle tension, a Brooks wrench or the Park saddle adjustment wrench to set (rarely is this needed) Brooks leather tension, and a 4 mm for my Rivet saddle tension. For the older bikes with Campy Record microadust poosts, I need a 10 mm combination with a small or vvery offset head. For modern Campy drivetrains the 5 mm and 6 mm Allens are all one usually needs (a small pliers for cable tensioning). For French-equipped bikes (love my vintage Huret wide-range rear derailleurs like Duopars) I need 8 mm and 9 mm combination wrenches as well. And always a small electrician's pliers for pulling cable so tension as you secure them! Luckily I had all this metric stuff left over from when I worked on air-cooled VWs! It's a bit of a pain to think about what tools I need for a fitting ride for each bike!

Another complication is Brooksies - some are quite stiff! I have a Brooks Select Professional which is kind of supple and easy to get a wrench up and under it to set angle on a Campy seatpost, and another Select which is hard as a rock- and the same situation with a pair of Ideales, one a 92 and one an 80. For that one I need to carry a Park offset 10 mm combination wrench which can reach up and under the Brooks Pro saddle to set the tilt adjusting bolts.

So if I carry all of this I feel like a dork and have a guaranteed 8# penalty, not that I care so much. If I on't carry all this, I need to choose my kit for every ride. Which one is really tolerable?