I have seen lots of posts lately where folks have mentioned that they've walked multiple miles because of a flat, or have some other simple mechanical problem that they can't fix. Why? They have no TOOLS.

To those who don't click the link, you MUST carry the following:
Pump
Patch Kit and spare tube (properly sized and in good shape)
Tool to remove wheel (if needed)
Two or Three tire levers
The knowledge to use them.

I have updated my personal list of what I carry here on my website. I hope you find it useful:
https://rykoala.org/ryko/gear.html

Take care folks!

my walk was because I didn't have a spare tire. there's not much a spare tube and a pump are going to do when the sidewall shreds..... good advice though, and I always make sure I have the proper tools and I'm looking for a decent foldable tire now...

Heck, I had all the tools and still had issues with a flat last week. I would add carry 2 spare tires. My spare would not inflate and I was shivering too much to patch the tube. Instead I put the original tube in biked a few miles.. pumped it up again.. repeated this about 6 times. Thank goodness it was not a fast flat. Anyhow, I purchased a better tube and spent the good portion of a day locating the small item that caused the flat.
Also, if you have higher psi tires, ditch the junky pump. I had a performance pump that started falling apart. After riding with another BF member I went out and picked up a road morph. Thank god!
I hope I finally have my flat problem fixed. Can't be changing a tire at 15F.
If not, I will be ditching my panaracer tire for a more bombproof tire.

Good advice. Unfortunately it didn't help me yesterday when something sliced my tire from the rim to the crown. Not much you can do with a one inch gash (and they were my brand new Gatorskins -- just 20 miles on em). But I did use my multi-tool to remove the cleats from my shoes so I wouldn't have to do the duck walk...

I wasn't trying to single you guys out, don't worry. I've had tire failures and had to call for a ride too. I'm talking about *preventable* problems. I stopped to help a guy the other day who had all the tools and the knowhow, but his spare tube was no good (d'oh!) and the flatted tube was losing air so fast that he couldn't find it. Together, we found it (he pumped, I felt/listened around the tube).

About the pump- I've found my Blackburn pump to be non-junky. Its no wal-mart pump. Those do NOT work. This one does 100psi just fine. A road morph would be nicer though!

Maybe I should add a spare dollar for a tire boot

Some tire gashes can be temporarily fixed by using a dollar bill, Powerbar wrapper, or the like. But if it's so deep that it jeopardizes the hold on the rim, there's nothing you can do. That's why I'll add another item to the OP's emergency list: bus fare.

Our busses have bike racks, so you can just put the bike on and go. If you can't put your bike on the bus, consider carrying a lock so you can lock it up, take the bus home, and have a friend drive you back for your bike.

Edited to correct typo.

Yeah. Sadly that's what happened here. The damndest thing is I couldn't find anything in the road that could have cut me. The only thing in the area was an apple core. It' must've happened earlier and just taken a bit of time to blow.

Heh. I have an annual bus pas just for situations like this. Sadly I was on a different bus route than I'm usually riding along, and I wasn't familiar with the route. I asked the driver which stop was closest to my place and he told me -- not too bad about a 1.5 mile walk, better than the 6 I was looking at. Sadly he was wrong -- as I walked along, I saw that the bus stops just one block from my house! Dagnabbit!

A good multi-tool is still better to have than no tools at all. Plus it takes some of the deliberation out of the equation. I picked up a Topeak Alien II. I figure if I can't fix a problem using that and my seat bag contents it's time to head home and break out the real toolkit, or just stop at one of the LBS along the way home. City commuting is nice in that regard. You're never too far away from help.

My bike got stuck at work overnight from chain suck. There wasn't much I could do with tools, but now I know how to fix it.

I ride my Trek to the Bart everyday for work, and I do bring some tools with me in my backpack. I bring allen wrenches and tire changing gear. I'm not too sure on how to fix much yet, but I'm sure I'll learn. This is one awesome forum.

Hey, Ryko, great page on your website.

Instead of a pump the Co2 "gun" and cartridges work great too. You can get the kit from an lbs for about $15.00 to $20.00 & replacement cartidges from Wal-Mart.

i bought park tools boots from performance bike on the suggestion of the nice performance bike lady. it was 2 bucks or so for a pack of a few of them. they're pre-glued on one side so they might work better than a dollar or wrapper for some problems. i dont know though, it's just what i've heard plus they're flat so it's not hard to store them on the bike.

i bought a 3-dollar set of small allen wrenches (very light) and an 8mm allen wrench from the hardware store, and they're great. my screwdriver keychain is indispensable. my crescent wrench is nice and stays adjusted but it has really sharp edges which sucks when it's sticking up in the bottom of my pannier. i should buy some pliers and i'll have all the tools i know what to do with if something happens with my bike.

OoOoo! I keep 2 dollars in my pannier to upgrade my bus\rail fare if the weather is too bad to ride in.
Another use for them as a tire boot! Now if I could stop using them in the vending machine at work.

Having the correct tools, inflating device/pump, & tubes/patches/tire boot, and having a practiced knowledge of repairing a flat is a given. As important is minimizing the need to fix a flat while coming/going by installing commuter specific tires and quality tubes (Maybe even thorn resistant or Slime type, depending on the route). Most brands include such tires (For instance Continental makes much better commuting tires than the Gatorskin and Panaracer's messenger models are bombproof). Plus, before you recycle the next plastic milk jug cut out a good piece and throw it in your tool bag for use as a tire boot (In a bad crash it can help with sucking chest wounds too).

Here's my contribution to this thread...

https://www.bikeforums.net/showpost.p...04&postcount=2

As a new commuter I planned ahead....I thought. Returning home one day aftr dark I had a flat./ Found it impossible to use the bike light to find the hole. I now carry a spare tube rather than a patch kit and a mini-mag light to see doing the change.

I have carried pretty much the same tool kit for the last 9+ years, though I recently changed the carrying case to the displayed photo case. It cost 25 cents at a garage sale and I thought I'd splurge.
Click to enlarge:


Included is a spare tube that will fit 622mm (700c) tires from 28mm- 47mm wide, patch kit and glue, tire irons, 6" adjustable wrench, double headed screwdriver, zip ties, nut and bolt, Dunlop-Schrader valve adapter, allen wrench. All fits inside photo case which is tossed inside my travel bag. Have never needed anything else for a roadside repair. The pump fits on my bike frame or gets carried in my travel bag which has my food, poncho, clothes and whatever I'm carrying to and from work or wherever. When I ride my one 26" bike I carry a tube and pump with schrader valve fitting. My regular pump only fits Dunlop valves.

All of my bikes are equiped with detachable battery powered headlights which could be removed if necessary for repairs in darkness.

Cell phone + taxi company phone number should be sufficient to fix any problem.

To save on taxi fare carrying at least an inner tube is a good idea. Here in the Bay Area we have enough commuters so one would not have to wait for help for too long.

I've got a cheap $10 multitool, and it's also worth carrying IMHO. There have been occasions when I needed it for some reason to get the wheel off to change the tube. Also sometimes I want to adjust the brakes or something.
In fact, even when I'm in the workshop at home, to date the only tool I've bothered to walk over and get off the shelf instead of just using the multitool has been the crank extractor. The multitool has been fine for everything else so far, from adjusting the seat to changing the pedals and chain.

Besides having the tools- As the original poster said- Know how to use them. Recently saw someone take 30 minutes to repair a puncture and the tyre went down before they got it back in the bike.

I only carry the basics on a ride- but if I have recently adjusted something on the bike- Then I will for the next ride take the tools with me to be able to correct any mal-adjustments I have made. Such as If I have adjusted the wheel bearings- then I will take the cone spanners with me just in case they come loose or need further adjustment. Other than that- It is only on the long rides that I tool up properly and carry the necessary spare to get me mobile again.

I used to use a C02 pump with an extra cartridge. One day I had a flat, patched it and then pumped it up only to discover my tire wasn't seated on the rim properly. Doh! I used my spare cartridge to fix the problem and spent the 10 mile ride home praying I wouldn't have another flat. I bought a road morph the next day - I'll probably save money in the long run since I don't have to buy cartridges anymore.

I hear all about flats and tubes getting slashed and poked, but I've yet to get one! I started riding this past summer (maybe five months ago) and have done maybe 450~500 miles, so take that with a grain of salt.

How common are flats, really? For every X miles how many do you expect to get? (commuting that is)

KC

Experiences vary. A lot of it has to do with the conditions of your local routes. I personally have never had a flat while commuting. I've had plenty of flats while MTB racing, plenty of flats on regular MTB rides, a few flats on road bike rides, a handful on bike tours... In the past five years, I've had three flats total... across about 28,000 miles of riding. Across the last 15 years, my record is even better.

I also do not like multi tools. not as useful as individual.
I use (road find) a 4" adjustable wrench, small and does all the nuts.

Ryko: On your page you state a "Schrader-Presta valve stem shim" What the heck is that. I ask because I have a bike with both sets of valves and end up carrying 2 sets of tubes.

khuon: You're a lucky flatless man. I don't have many after 15,000 miles but I do have some. I have about 6.

kill.cactus: depends on your tire: Schwalbe Marathons plus, Continental Contacts, and Specialized Amardillo Nimbus are 3 of the best at minimizing flats. Tuffy tire liners also add some flat stopping power.

CO2 cartridges are good during winter if your pump freeezes up. happened to me once.

Sounds like a Presta valve adapter. I just bought a CO2 nozzle and pump that could handle either so I don't have to worry about it.