Just to be clear I'm talking New Hampshire winter. Due to my SCUBA background, and my belief that Murphy will give you the fickle finger right at the worst moment I'm wondering about skills/tools/parts necessary to pull oneself out of the fire WITHOUT outside help.I'm not very concerned about speed or weight. I have an aluminum frame comfort bike with pretty hefty(looking) rims.My commute is 16M OW.No helpful cyclists.Very few cars, NO cell service, NO public transportation,NO pay phones that I have seen... civilization begins at 12M. I would like to prevent or be able to fix anything that can make a bike unrideable, that has a reasonable possibility of occurrance.Sorry for the Caps, but I know some people read fast... Some of you seem to commute farther distances and remoteness so I Prostate myself before you. Did my first run today in colder weather but I'm paranoid in general, first winter riding and lacking confidence. If I'm prepared I will feel better about it. Thanks.

A broken chain or a freehub/freewheel that free-spins forward would be a couple bad ones. The former is easy to learn to deal with, you need a chain tool and it's good to have some spare chain links too.

The latter would require carrying a spare freehub body and the tools required to remove/replace one, plus some intermediate repair skills. The tools I'd take are a Hozan portable axle vise, a 10mm hex key, and 15mm and 17mm cone wrenches edit: I'm getting rusty... AND bring a chain whip, a cassette-lockring removal tool and a 12" adjustable wrench. D'oh! I'd pack some extra 1/4" ball bearings so I can afford to lose some in the snow, too. That's for a Shimano DeoreXT hub; check what you'll be needing for yours.

And then the usual tire & tube issues.

Hate to be a smart a$$ but you WHAT yourself before us??? Edit in another "r" and maybe you'll get more responses. This is one of the funnier typos I've seen in a while.

Seriously, I'm new to winter commuting also and face neither the distances or challenges that you've described. Sorry I can't help. Good luck and stay safe out there. Your signature seems to be relevant to your extreme winter commute.

I'll leave the bike tools to the experts, but for general supplies, I recommend...
* Forever Mini Flashlight - Shake it for power. No batteries. Can hold it in your teeth.
* 9mm handgun - If you're likely to be caught in a risky area.
* Chemical hand warmer - It's hard to use tools with frozen fingers.
* Shoes that you can WALK in, should your bike be irreparable for whatever reason. 12 miles really isn't very far, when you consider the alternative of spending the night freezing to death.

I commute all winter in Vermont. This is my 4th year and I have refined my supplies as follows:
chain tool
multi tool
spare tube
CO2 inflator
patch kit
hand and toe warmers
light source (my headlight, which will come off the handlebars)

The frozen freewheel is a concern, but needs too many tools and time to fix. If my freewheel freezes, I will kick myself along like a skateboarder. I have used all of these tools in my 4 years and have never needed anything else.

Good luck, and you should come and post on the Extreme Commute Club.

Believe your own signature. Attitude is everything when it comes to survival.

Some things I normally carry as a matter of course are:
All this stuff is waterproofed in separate Zip-Lock bags and inside a water-tight plastic box.
A flashlight (in addition to the headlights on the bike)
Marine Hand-Held Flares x3
Signal Mirror
Wind Storm Whistle (very loud, not waterproofed, but supposed to work underwater)
Pocket Knife
Lighter
Roll of Toilet Paper
Bicycle Multi-Tool
Tube Patches
Spare Tubes (for the bike and trailer)
Pump (can double as a bellows if a fire is needed)
Zip-Ties, Assorted
Water (very important in all conditions)
.357 Magnum (sometimes) (if you're in bear country a .44 Mag or bigger would be better)

I don't carry all this specifically for cycling, but for other things I do that take me off the beaten track.

In cold and remoteness like you're describing I would also carry a change of dry clothes and boots, in case you have to walk out. At least one of those space blanket things, if not a sleeping bag.

And you might want to consider what you are going to do if you crash and are injured and immobilized. A small tent or bivy bag, maybe? Might want a backpacking stove? Candles are always a good idea in cold weather. Maybe a couple of those Hot Hands type heater packs?

You said you weren't concerned about speed or weight. Can you tell I usually tow a trailer?

Hey, here's the best idea. File a "Float/Flight Plan" with someone. You should be able to do this with your local law enforcement if you don't have anybody else. Tell them where you are, when you're leaving, your route, when you expect to arrive at your destination and that you will contact them when you get there. That way if you're late somebody will know and have some idea of where to start looking.

The usual bike kit, certainly. Some of the air activated warmers (One for your lower back is really good), mylar survival blanket, and some of the usual winter survival sundries. Lastly, be prepared to walk six miles.

If your freewheel spins forward you use either the nylon zip ties or the mechanics wire That you brought with you and tie the big cog to the spokes in three places and just ride home fixed.

If you drop the master link in the snow you use the mechanics wire you brought to make another master link.

While you are using your huge array of lights to work with, you make hot chocolate with your headlight while you are working. You did bring the hot chocolate, right ?

I think this is the key. 10 km can be walked with your bike in about an hour, maybe 90 minutes. If you can walk, you'll need to stay alive that long. Some food, decent clothing, and those hand/foot warmers should be enough. If you're injured to the point where you can't hike out, that's another story. At that point you need to bundle up, eat some food and wait for help to come by. Changing a freehub body by the side of the road would suck enough that it wouldn't be worth it unless you had the time to kill.

Good list, but you also need a backup light source just in case the primary goes out. I carry pump with a floor peg in addition to CO2 so if one of the inflator or the pump fails you won't be screwed. Also carry extra tire irons. I highly recommend ones with a metal core for freezing temps. Extra spoke(s) attached to the frame if you are heavy.

Also, small roll of electrical tape. If you cut your tire badly on something, you'll be able to limp home by patching the tire from the inside. I ride Armadillos, but even those can be damaged enough that they can't hold an inflated tube.

I carry 3 spare tubes. When you have to make a repair in the dark and it's wet when you're freezing and there's chips on the road, it's easy to botch the repair. Tubes are no place to enconomize weight.

Don't worry -- the ride will be fine, but don't do it if you don't feel strong because there's still a possibility that you may need to walk. I think I've had to walk a long distance only twice in my life (rim exploded and catastrophic cheap tire failure)

I could probably replace a freehub body in ten minutes, it's not that hard. Remove cassette, remove axle, put 10mm hex key in the cassette body and remove it, put the new body on and fasten it. Drink cocoa. Put ball bearings into the cassette body, drop the axle through, screw the cone/spacer locknut onto it, put Hozan axle vise on the driveside end of the axle, adjust & lock non-driveside cone. Slide cassette onto it, fasten lockring, put wheel on bike, put cocoa paraphenilia away, ride on home.

2manybikes, actually I'm not sure I'll have enough wattage to make cocoa. The venerable NiteRider dual-beam has gone on to The Great Recycling Center In The Sky, they said it needed a new battery as well as the new bulb and wiring I might as well buy a new-generation one, it would cost less.

Your first priority is to have the appropriate gear to survive in the event your bike is irrepairable. You probably heve the best handle on this being from the area, but it's usually more insulation than you wear while riding. Since it sounds like a remote region, having multiple means to start a fire, and the knowledge of doing so, would be a good idea. The mylar space blanket is another good idea. It weighs nothing and can make a difference if you have to stay put due to injury.

Regarding the bike. Obviously, you need to keep the bike in good condition to minimize failures on the road. Beyond that, the common problems you can realistically deal with are flat tires, broken chain, and minor adjustments. Flat tires require a spare tube (maybe two), tire levers, a patch kit, a pump (CO2 is not very useful in very low temps), a tire boot, and spare tire in case you get a big slice.

A broken chain simply requires a chain tool. In an emergency, you can easily get by with one less link. Carry an SRAM PowerLink and you don't need to worry about nonsensical Shimano replacement pins. Just remove the busted link and use the PowerLink to join the chain.

Forget about spare spokes. Usually the spokes that break are rear drive side. Replacement of one of these requires removing the cassette (or freewheel) to get the old spoke out. Although you could try using a FiberFix emergency spoke, in real cold weather, I wouldn't want to be fooling with it. Simply open up the brake for that wheel if the rim is rubbing, and get to a safe place.

A broken brake cable is dealt with by just not using that brake. This may require you to walk down a steep descent, but that's a minor inconvenience. Replace your brake cables now and it's very unlikely anyway.

A broken derailleur cable can probably be dealt with by using the limit screw to put the derailleur on a middle cog or chainring and use the other derailleur to give your a few gears. You may have to walk up a hill or two, but that's OK. As with brake cables, replace your deraillur cables now and you won't have to worry about it.

You will, of course, carry a multitool to use for minor repairs. If you use a rear rack, a spare attachment screw or two could come in handy as it's not unheard of for them to shear off with use.

If you are using lights to commute, then a spare LED headlight would be good to have. This would double as a flashlight for making repairs in the dark.

Things like freehubs are not worth worrying about. There's little chance of repairing them on the road and they rarely fail anyway.

Finally, if you have a family member at home or with access to a car, you could set up a calling scheme so that if you don't call by a certain time, the person comes looking for you.

Good luck fixing a chain in anything colder than -10c. Metal has a way of contracting in cold, fingers have a way of freezing when touching metal. Even flats are so tough that when it happened to me once, I rode it out (it was on snow) and fixed it when I got to the office. Best thing you can bring on a winter commute? A pair of runners so at the very least you have comfortable footwear while you run along side the bike.

It might be a freewheel. If you drop any small parts in the snow do I get to say " I told you so" ?

You do the free hub, and I'll make the cocoa to save time.

Sorry to hear about the light, do you know how many cycles or hours or years on the battery?

What lights/light are you considering ?

Make my cocoa nice and strong, then, I'm powered by sugar Good point about the freewheel, although it would be a simpler thing to swap whole freewheels than performing freehub-body transplants...

That was the second battery for that light system, and I used it on my commutes as well as night rides, so I would have to guess 300-500 cycles. Took a darn long time to charge, too. The lady at NR said that it was only charging to partial voltage. It was a NiCad, not the newer NiMH ones.

For a new light, The Voices are in disagreement. Some of them say mech! Buy a cheap, bulletproof Trail Rat 2.0 and put a 15W bulb in it! but then the other ones say Bah, those are cheap but they have a 9-hour dumb charger and you KNOW you'll forget to unplug it when you're supposed to, plus that's only good for 1hr 50m or less. Buy a new NiteRider Classic Plus dual-beam with the smart 2.5-hour charger and the 3-hour runtime!!!.

And then the rest of The Voices remind me that I've sunk plenty of money into bike stuff, and suggest that I put rechargeable AA's in my little Cateye EL200 to serve as a bailout backup to my NR Flamethrower, and live within my means

To post something useful to the OP... what about driving partway, the part where you're really far from assistance, and riding the safer part? Discretion is the better part of valour, etc.

Ignore those voices!

No typo- just my attempt at humor, esp. with the smiley involved- you older men know what I'm talking about

This is the most important point. Prevention is key. Keep your bike in good working order. Before you leave check the air in the tires, your breaking system and every spoke. Make sure you keep the chain lubed. Rehab the hubs with fresh grease every six months. (Others please add items to this list.)

I also like the idea about letting someone know of your route and when you are leaving.

Will this work, or is it inside Tech Humor? Sorry, I don't know enough (yet) to tell the difference. I'm much better with stuff that has wires sticking out of it BTW- thanks for all the ideas. I appreciate you taking the time to share things that are probably obvious to you, but I never thought of.

It does work. If you have the nylon zip ties, it's very easy to do. You just can't coast and you need to pedal smoothly, it beats walking. Your goal is simply to fasten the sprockets to the wheel somehow.

I did it for a friend once with parachute cord. Something stiff and rigid is better than rope.

If it's cold and snowy, something fast and easy is what I prefer.

Once in a while the pawls may get stiff and not engage, but if you pick up the back of the bike and drop the back wheel on the pavement you may loosen a couple and knock them into place. It's so quick you should always try that first. If it does not work nothing lost.

If you freehub goes you can wire the large cog to the spokes to run in fixed gear mode. You should pedal lightly in a low gear to get to safety. It beats walking.
Spoke breakage is less of a problem if you have more spokes. With 36 spokes, the wheel is often still rideable. Start with a strong, well-built wheel.
Carry a thermos flask of hot drink.
If you do crash out, you may need a triangular bandage.
If the area is remote, position a cache of emergency supplies at the half-way point. Maybe a spare inner tube and old tyre, roll of duct tape, wire, a small solid-fuel or alcohol gel burner and pot, candle lantern. Some soup/choc sachet and survival rations. Survival polythene bag and first aid gear.

Ya know, one of them cheap xmas light timers turns the dumb charger into something that's foolproof.

If you're in the market for a nice light, check out www.bicyclelights.com

I have the dual handlebar system and helmet light. I expect delivery of my new dual-light helmet rig today.

Probably not in ten minutes at -10F and sitting in a snowbank.

One great thing about bicycles, is if all else fails you can simply pick the beastie up and carry it home.

I do the same. I also carry a very small hammer during sub-zero rides. One good whack (Not a full swing just enough) on the end of spindle an your on your way