My favorite piece of gear is my Rapha jacket. www.rapha.cc. Hate to be borderline shilling, but that jacket is the bomb. Dead sexy, windproof, comfortable, high quality, fits perfectly; they thought of just about everything. Got it two Christmases ago and it is still going strong.

Appropriate audio hardware/software and good set of rear lights mounted high for maximum visibility.

Stainless steel vacuum thermos. No matter how cold, no matter what breaks, wherever I end up I've got good hot coffee with me.

How come nobody's mentioned a spare tube?

Probably because it can't do much without a pump and tire levers as well.

This was the coldest day of the year. Today, I value my Polar-Tec long underwear the most.

--A

And vice-versa!

My light. I can substitute everything else I regularly use for commuting except for my light.

http://www.willamette.edu/~gorr/clas...s/oldbrain.gif

Don't leave home without it.

Holy crap - $265-$325 for a cycling jacket? For that price, it should pedal the bike, and change my flats!!

Now a days I don't ride without a helmet no matter what looks I get when I go shopping and such and the views people place on me. Safety is important to me.

What I always carry on each ride is :

-*Helmet (Never ride without)
-*Cellphone
-Tire repair kit + pump
-Customised bike multi-tool kit
-First Aid kit
-Spare tube
-Chaintool
-Ulocks

At night everything said above plus the following :

-Frontlight
-Rearlight (always attached)
-Reflecting jacket/vest
-Spare batteries for headlight
-Flashlight for beaming drivers that wish to gun the intersection so they know I'm there and moving in
-Tiny keychain LED long lasting flashlight which is my spare emergency blinky and used to see if all lights are out/drained to change batteries


I guess if I had to narrow it all down it would be the cellphone and repair/maintance kit so I can call for help or repair myself as sometimes I may be outside store hours to buy supplies to fix the bike or get help or in the middle of no where.


Zero_Enigma

....and the most obvious one that (I think) nobody's mentioned - my bike!


[edit] nevermind, i just re-read the OP :o

My studded tires (is that two things?)

agreed

A bottle of water.

I would have to have one to begin with to miss it.

With all the flats I have had over the last few months it is a tossup between my pump, tire levers, patches, and the spare tube.

Unless control over your machines is fairly extreme, try to download the Microsoft Powertoys for XP. Unless you have the worst peon permissions on your own machine, you'll be able to do this. http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/d...powertoys.mspx

The image resizer is handy because all you need to do to resize an image is right click on the file and say what size you want.

1) motivation to do it everyday in the cold dark and rain
2) the agressivness to take a lane instead of getting run over by a passing suv
3) my mp3/radio and coffee capable thermos bottle

Phhtt! thats nothing, they also sell cycling gloves, no fingers, for $150

My Rapha softshell jacket. Looks good on and off the bike. Best bit of kit i own.

After monday: Definitely the helmet.

The greatest thing about my morning commute is that it ends at my house instead of work. My evening commute is to work and what I value most is when I get a cup of coffee at 7-11 on my way in and it doesn't leak all over my BB. That usually only happens when I forget that I bought coffee in a styrofoam cup and I try to get some air on the speed bumps

Helmet mounted mirror.

topeak Alien, changed several tires and made adjustments while out in the middle of nowhere.