This topic comes up from time to time, and it bears repeating.

The sidewall fixing thread reminded me that I carry a small length of duct tape in case I have to do something like that. Someone has mentioned bailing wire or something like that. I can't remember the other clever tips.

I'm making a new list, and you can watch me change it. This way, the thread will have dynamic content (the messages) plus a static document, i.e. my list.

What tools and supplies do you carry for a one-day ride between three and hundred miles? On rides less than three miles, I carry nothing.

Contents of my list as of now:

• tire levers
• patch kit
• allen keys
• spoke wrench
• spare tube
• length of duct tape
• bottle of oil
• screwdriver
• pump

Going from memory:

( way back when I used to keep an appropriate freewheel tool in the seat bag in case I broke a drive-side spoke or three )

1. tire patches ( used to have matches from back when things were done that way by some )
2. tire levers
3. 15mm stubby wrench ( or a Surly Jethro Tool, or both, or neither depending upon which bike I'm on or where I'm going)
4. Multi-tool (currently a Topeak Alien II)
5. Small crescent wrench or small vice grips or small channel lock pliers or needle nose pliers or bent nose needle nose pliwrs or wire cutters, or some combonation of those or none of those.
6. CO2 inflator and one to three spare cartridges.
7. Sometimes a mini-pump, sometimes a frame pump, sometimes a Road Morph pump, sometimes just the CO2.
8. Tire boot patches.
9. Sometimes spare batteries for blinkoes and lights
10. Short sections of old tires with the beads cut off to be used for those rare times that a normal tire booting just won't work. Read about it in an old magazine article 10-20 years ago, never needed to do it, but still have the tire sections in the pouch.
11. Ink pen and some paper.
12. other stuff

I'm thinking I'll maybe get the bag and take a picture off all the junk currently in it and the extra stuff I sometimes carry.

2 tubes
1 folding tire
zip ties
chain tool (I really do not want to get stranded)
leatherman tool
This kit, in addition to your list, is for a solo century. For a 50 mile ride I don't take the extra tire, and only one tube, and no chain tool.

I thought it odd that people carry chain tools, but now I've seen the poor reliability of modern chains. Yuck!

I'll add spare master links (or quick links) to the list! On my recent century, we on the tandem ripped our chain apart twice, and thank goodness two people carried spares. They saved the day. I realize that tandems are hard on chains. Plus I was the strongest stoker photogravity had ever had, so I can claim it was my thunderous thighs that did it.

I think I'll add a rag to the list.

Oh right! Zip ties! That's what it was, not bailing wire.

On a recent long ride, a friend's wheel came desperately out of true because a spoke nipple came apart. I don't remember that ever happening! Does it make sense to carry a spare nipple or two?

I'm updating my list. Stay tuned.

Patch kit
tire irons
multi-tool (hex and screwdrivers)
CO2 inflator
spoke wrench
Park combo-8/9/10mm wrench w/bottle cap opener
pair of nitrile gloves
Couple alcohol wipes for tube patching
razor blade (in the patch kit)
A thin rubber advertisement mat. I think it was a giveaway drink coaster. It's flexible and tough, so I have this for any sidewall mishaps.

And a mini-pump mounted to each bike.

I've now been on two rides since January where a chain broke, so I definitely am rethinking the tool kit myself. I'm much less concerned with chains on almost all of my IGH bikes because they have wider, more sturdy chain, but on the derailleur bikes I'm more concerned now than ever.

Since the chain failure, I've been shopping for a chain and am pretty sure I'm going to get a Wippermann. It's a toss up between the 908 and 9sX. I've been using Wippermann chains for the past couple years and really like them a lot. They can be gotten at rather low prices (not as cheap as KMC), if you don't mind spending a little bit of time shopping. We'll definitely blame the chain breaks on your strength as it surely wasn't mine.

Somewhere here in C&V, someone asserted that it's when you go above 8-speed when you get the bad chains. I can believe that.

I'm not very happy with the way some of the bike industry has gotten, where high-end no longer means reliable or durable.

I dont have a tool kit but I have a wedge-shaped seat bag that has a few tools. Aside from tire changing/flat repair stuff there is the one little wrench for the locknuts on the sidepull calipers, one index wrench for tightening seat, small screwdriver and spoke wrench.

A multitool including a chain breaker. 2 tubes, a patch kit and tire irons. And a spare energy bar just in case.

I carry a Park Tool MTB-3 Rescue tool, adjustable wrench (British bikes), patch kit, tire boot material, spare tube, mini pump and cell phone for when all else fails. If the ride is going to be heading into variable terrain and I am riding one of my 3 speeds, I may have a different cog and some spare chain links.

Aaron

That's what I call a tool kit: a bunch of tools, probably in a bag.

What do you mean locknuts on the calipers? Do you mean the cable pinch nut?

Aaron, you don't carry a set of Whitworth wrenches?

I am nowhere near this goal, but I believe each bike should be outfitted with the appropriate tool kit. I have a couple bikes that have no allen bolts at all; these can get by with a dogbone wrench (as long as it's the right one) and tire irons and patch kit. I also have one or two bikes on which there is not a single nut/bolt for which I'd need the dogbone wrench. I really don't like going anywhere without tire irons patch kit and pump.

Wet wipes come in handy, especially if you pick up random crap from the side of the road. Which, come to think of it, I do.

I rather religiously pick up tools I see, regardless what they are. 10 lb sledge hammer head? Into the bag it goes. 1/8" to 1/8" coaxial stereo cable? Into the bag it goes. Very rarely do these things prove utterly useless. The coax cable, in fact, has proved very useful indeed; it's short and strong and holds a knot nicely. On a recent ride I broke a strap off my saddle bag, and the coax cable held it together until I got home.

Thin silk cloth from a nice used dress packs VERY small and light. You can have a rag of about 18"x18" and it packs down into the crevices of your tool kit.

It's very strong and can be used as a tire boot even if doubled-over.

I also add a couple of individually-wrapped alcohol wipes for after-maintenance road clean-up. They also work fairly well to clean a wound.

The thing about 8-speed chains is spot-on. They cost 1/2 as much or less, and last 2x as long. I can't imagine anyone touring across the country on a 9+ speed drivetrain. You'd have to stop at least once to replace chain and cassette.

Nail clippers, chain tool, good tire levers, glueable and glueless patches, pump, c02, spoke wrench, washcloth, empty zip lock bags for cell phone if it rains, spare tube in bag with baby powder, allen wrenches, alcohol swabs, sand paper, needle driver for cable adjustments, retracable scaple/exato blade(small), mini crescent wrench, small phillips, 2 pair non-latex gloves, I think that's it.

One more thing: I find that a parmesan cheese container/shaker works very well for keeping a tube and tools in. Everything packs very neatly into it and then I can swap it from bike to bike, it fits into the medium/large wedge bags I own. I don't have to spill all my tools out on the ground where I'm working -instead just bring the shaker to where I'm working on the tire.

I have 3 tool kits made up for each size tire I run, 559, 590, and 700.

Inside the innertube section are two CO2 cannisters, I don't like them clanking around.

The multi-tool and Road Morph pump could about replace everything else, sometimes I just take the seat bag, sometimes just the multitool and pump, sometimes I take nothing. Spare tubes are in the handlebar bag.

I really like this seat bag made by Rhode Gear USA, fits more than more modern ones except for the larger newer ones.

Oh, and +1 on the zip ties, several are in the handlebar bag.

I guess I must be fearless.

Spare tube two tire levers.
Pump
Presta valve adapter

Or

Spare tubular tire
Pump
Presta valve adapter

Every once in a while a 5 and 6 mm allen key for when I think I might wish to adjust a seat or stem/bar.

I have had few failures while out.
Over the past four decades, I have broken a brake cable twice both times at the "lead" end.

I take a bit more on a mtb. but not that much more.

Cell phone range kit is: Click tool, patch kit, pump, two Cliff bars, I.D., $20 cash, house key. All in two zip locks and in jersey pockets next to cell.
Out-of-cell-range is: The above in a large Navarro expandable seat wedge plus a tube, very small Swiss Army knife, credit card, 2 pair socks, small first aid kit, antacid tablets, ibuprofen and aspirin. A light pair of slippers strapped under the seat wedge so I can take off the cleats. I can't make up my mind on a chain tool but I'm leaning that way. Weather may dictate a jacket which can stuff into the wedge.

Winter riding gets interesting as a rain jacket, skull cap, shoe covers, etc, gets added on or attached to me. Batteries too for the lights.

I also taught myself to dismount tires from wheels without levers so they aren't necessary !

Kwik-Stik, tube, cell phone.

My main tool kit travels with me nearly all the time and most of my bikes that cannot carry a pannier and run light have a seat bag or wedge that contains a mini tool (with a chain tool), a spare tube, nitrile gloves, a patch kit, shifter and brake cables and a quick link appropriate to the bike with my pump going on the bike.

In the main kit I have:

Nitrile gloves
Small bottle of lube
Multi tool
Chain tool
6 inch adjustable wrench
Mini vice grips
A few 5mm bolts and nuts
Patch kit
Shifter cable
2 brake cables
4/5 Allen wrench

Funny thing is that most often, my tools get used to help other people with mechanical problems as I have very few issues with my own bikes.

Good post Tom. I'm getting some good ideas here. I bought one of those Park MTB-3 rescue tools because I thought it looked very handy and would supplant several tools I carry. Come to find out most of the stuff on it doesn't fit anything on my bike. Stoopid me. Destined for the For Sale section.

I am right now building a custom leather saddle bag, so this thread comes in handy in designing the size and shape of it.

+1 on helping others, must be the good Samaritan mechanic in me.

Anyway, for longer rides and work commutes I'm thinking of bringing a small/compact phone charger. With using my phone for cycling apps, mapping, googling stuff, craigslist, weather checks, and music, the phone battery gets a solid daily workout. I'm thinking that I do end up stranded somewhere I could just go into a store or restaurant if the phone battery dies and get enough charge to call my wife or someone else to come get me or bring me parts, or at least activate the gps and send out a glympse message link to show where I'm at.

For those above who don't list a pump in your kit, is that because you either have something mounted on your bike and not in the kit, or do you have 100psi rated lungs?