I have the Mafac tool pouch. Don't laugh they are worst, best tools ever made.

Dare to be great...

nice choices of vintage spanners for some, kudos! also i'm happily surprised to see splendid reduction in most setups, The size of bags some carry made me suspect they might carry frame building jigs, gas bottles and cast iron truing stands at all times, but I guess that means they really are full of Croissants, Pastrami and Parmiggiano Sandwiches and Chianti bottles, a sensible choice!

Something i havent seen yet in any post (i think) is something i dont leave the house on a bike, not even when i'm riding super-light aka mountain time-trial mode, and that is a pair of thin latex gloves. Not only do they save my handlebar tape from getting greasy after a roadside repair, but also are they surprisingly good at keeping hands warm in a spray of rain, a summerly burst of snow or sleet, which can happen in the mountains even in August and get very nasty very suddenly

I still have a couple of tubular bags by Henry.

I'm the wrong person to ask, hehe

I carried a Mafac kit for a long time, but for bikes made after the mid 1980s, they aren't very useful, since the majority of the bolts are hex head. Now I carry a small multi-tool, tire levers, and an 8/10 mm combo wrench. A spare tube and a cell phone completes the package. My normal route has three fix-it stations along the bike trail. I tend to use the fix-it station when I want to make a minor adjustment because it's easier than digging the tool out of the bag.

Along with a pair of tubes, mini side cutters and mini forceps, this is my kit:

Fixit sticks and patch kit.

Small augmentations: Pliers, Craftsman mini ratchet, magnetic extenders, 8mm and 10mm sockets.

Inside the Rema patch kit.

I have been thinking a lot about this recently. I was carrying 750g of tools and decided it was too much. The biggest thing I did was to get rid of the hex crank bolt wrench I carried, so I replaced all my hex head crank bolts and dust caps with 6mm or 8mm allens - often in titanium! Then I got rid of all my open-end wrenches and replaced them with the lightest adjustable I could scrounge up from my junkpile. Still, the kit weighed too much, with mini chain tool, multi-allen, spoke wrench, cassette lockring tool, and pliers.

I just received, for my birthday (because I would never buy it myself), a Knipex pliers-wrench, in the 5" size. They are very pricey, $50ish, but they do the job of both the pliers and the adjustable wrench, and are lighter than either one: around 103g. The stated max jaw size is 7/8" but they actually open a bit wider - almost wide enough for the 1" hex of the park tool freewheel removers and BB tools.



I also carry a Syncros multitool, which weighs 130g. This covers chain tool, allens (crank bolts etc), and spoke wrench for the few times I may ever need to use one.


I also got one of these. Maybe it can't get the cassette off. Maybe it can. But with the pliers-wrench to grip its tab, it can certainly tighten a loose lockring, which is the most common problem that crops up on day-rides with bikes that are often messed-with.




Throw some cheap plastic tire levers, a patch kit, some spoke nipples, a master link, and a screw or two in there, and that's my kit. I am well under 300g now, and I can still fix my and my friends' bikes. I also carry a cut-off 3/4" long stub of a 7mm allen, for alloy bolts on Cinelli stems. I could probably get a lighter multitool, but this one was under $10.

I would consider adding some BB tools (a lockring tool and a Shimano spline tool), if I could find some that are lightweight. The Wolf Tooth pack wrench inserts are a 1" hex, but they could be slightly filed or milled down to fit in my Knipex pliers wrench.

The Pardo site, as usual, provides insightful discussion about the C&V tool kit, including well-documented weights.

I have 13 bicycles that I keep in rotation so I needed one plan that would work for all of them, one tool kit that would be sufficient. I have the same idea for my phone, keys, ID and credit card. These happy snaps are what I carry. A homemade canvas "ditty bag" that straps under any of my saddles with toe strap. That bag is pretty small and harkens back to days of yore when things were carried in a simple sack, a sock or even a roll of newspaper, as shown earlier. I carry the Topeka Race Rocket which works well on both stem types and on road and mtn bike tires. The pump has a wrap of electrical tape, just in case. Lezyne "tar arns" that are quite small but tough, one wrapped with a bit of duct tape just in case.
A 700x28 tube and I carry a 26x1.95 too when I'm on the mtn bikes. Notice I intentionally roll the tube long and thin to be about he size of the pump.
A small collection of Allen keys, small screw bits and presta valve adapter.
Tire boots, band-aids, sanitizer, nitrile gloves, quick link, two zip ties, tie down lines.

It all fits nicely in the ditty bag with the hard bits wrapped in rags to prevent rattling. After the bulk goes in the nooks and crannies are stuffed with paper towels (always a good idea) cuz they're handy and further keep the bundle snug with no rattles. Works for me and has handled most of the things I've encountered.



Nice patina after several years of service

I had a set of wheels recently, which came with quick-release skewers that doubled as tire levers. I thought that was a clever idea. When I moved the bike and wheels on, the skewers went with them. Now I don't know how to find another set.

In my seat bag I carry a multi-tool, a CO2 gun and 2 cartridges and tire irons. For clinchers I carry 1-2 spare tubes, a patch kit, and a 3-4" section of tire to use as a boot. For sew-ups, a spare tire and a small container of Stan's sealant.

Each bike has a separate seat bag (I have forgotten to move a bag and got caught with nothing once). In addition to the seat bag, an iPhone, credit card, cash, insurance card, and ID in a jersey pocket and a pump in another.