Success!!

By my recollection, in my 45 years of "serious" riding I have had three chain failures while riding - one due to master/missing link fatigue, one on a trail, and the last while street riding where a reinserted pin that looked just fine on the workstand suddenly decided it wasn't.

In all the cases except the missing link failure, it was rather handy to have the chain tool.

This

So, extrapolating from your experience because that's totally how statistics works, I will have at least one chain failure in the next 25 years. When that happens, I shall be prepared.

EDIT: I just randomly remembered that I actually have experience a "chain" failure. I broke a belt on my SS CX bike during a race. No chain tool was going to help me with that one.

Daysaver Essential 8 multi tool - just 33 grams and incudes 8mm hex and torx 25 bits

Daysaver Coworking 5 multi tool extension - includes chain tool and a strong tire lever (Essential 8 multi tool snaps into place on this tool)





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This is all in good humor...

Unless I'm on a remote bike tour far from civilization I'm giving the chain tool a big middle finger! Now watch my chain break on the next ride. I refuse to buckle to "Chain Anxiety", until I don't, of course . But still, I won't carry one on "around town" rides that don't venture more than 20 miles out of town.

I used to carry all kinds of stuff in a bag on my bike, even a spare brake cable! I mean, who does that?? There was a reason to carry that brake cable though but it wasn't a good one.

As I stated before I do carry a multi-tool on one bike and it's a fixed gear. I don't ride it often but it deserves a good multi-tool! Will I ever have to use that multi-tool? Probably not but if I do get into a bind my guess is I'll be thanking myself for having the multi-tool, with a chainbreaker, to save the day!.





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Anti multi-tool, here. Multi-tools by themselves give a false sense of security, and potentially lead to being stranded in the middle of nowhere without the one critical tool that you are missing. And, muti-tools are usually awkward to use, with low leverage and challenges in tight spaces. A single 5mm WERA hex-plus key is worlds better than the stunted equivalent in your standard multi-tool.

I think all riders should look at their bikes carefully, and make an inventory of the various nuts and bolts and then do an assessment of what could go wrong. And what is unlikely to go wrong, and is not worth the weight penalty.

So for example, I do not carry a chain-breaker, despite frequent long rides in areas without cell service, and only bears to keep me company. I have only broken a chain once in decades of riding, and it was my own damn fault. I knew that I'd partially mangled the chain on installation, and it failed shortly afterwards, fortunately in civilization.

Park MTB-1. It's heavy but includes almost everything you'd need. I had not previously noticed that it has rulers for inches and centimeters stamped into the sides. I also carry 5- and 6mm hex keys for quick adjustments, along with a spare tube, patch kit, and mini pump.

(The Cycling Fates huddle, arguing loudly as to whether the belt breakage counts against the accumulated karma, while a statistician is screaming "It doesn't work that way!!!"...)

(raises gloved hand)

For a time in the early 1990s, I was suffering a spate of breaking brake and shift cables, with the brake cables fraying at the lever and the shift cable snapping at the thumbie. I started carrying a tandem-length brake and shift cable, and sho nuff the breakage instances decreased. Science!

The shift cable did save someone's bacon at El Tour de Tucson last year, but that's another story told elsewhere in BF.

Seeing all the kits here that use 1/4" hex bits, it reminds me that my current kit(s) are descendants of descendants of a bit-focused multitool I obtained from Mr. Rodriguez at R+E Cycles back some indeterminate time in the late 20th Century. Don't know what happened to the actual original tool, but it sold me on the bit-based concept for travel tool kits - and for painting said bits bright colors when they decide to unexpectedly strike out on their own by the side of the road.

All that being said, for shop work I don't like using bits, as they take too long to swap out. Instead, I prefer a multitool with 2-6 mm Allen wrenches with longer shanks + a slotted / #2 Phillips bit that fits nicely in the apron while I'm working. That and a 8-9-10 mm nutdriver Y wrench takes care of about 2/3 of what I need in a typical shift, although I'll readily call upon dedicated tools as needed.

Funny you should mention that! THAT is what I experienced as well, and same timeframe - late 90's. They snapped at the end. Heck they'd sometimes snap while pre-stretching, hence I started carrying a spare.

I carry a Lezyne V and a Vintage Kershaw A100 Multi-tool. I like the Kershaw because it is a lockjaw needlenose plier. Leatherman Rebar sometimes comes along.

On the topic of pliers, I swapped from carrying my Victorinox swisstool to a Knipex Cobra XS (I only carry pliers on tour though, so not a daily carry). Apparently they're called water pump pliers (we just call them parrot pliers).

These pliers are really pretty great. They do the job of regular pliers really well and have plenty of leverage even though they're really small. They're adjustable so they also work as a crescent wrench for surprisingly large nuts. And I know some of you're going to be sceptical since these types of pliers always tend to slip when actually tightening something. These don't.

They also weigh 62 grams, which is not bad for a pair of pliers of this caliber.

chain tool and connecting link are a good idea if you ride in remote areas with a lot of downed tree branches, twigs, etc … that stuff will find a way into your drivetrain

I carry normal tools in my kit; flip-out set of allen wrenchs, 3-way socket wrench (8/9/10mm? can't remember).

I carried a chain tool forever, decided to lighten up so left it out, three days later someone on the bike trail (paved) needed a chain tool. I put it back in the kit.

I have a Leatherman Squirt P4, micro-multitool, in my kit for non-bike stuff like knife, file, bottle and can openers, etc.

I have a super-duper bike multitool, I think by Topeak, that was free inside a bike bag I bought at goodwill, it has everything including a chain tool, but the allen wrenches are short and only a bent end, no long end to act as a speeder.

SKS Tom-7