I'm moving to a new city that seems remarkably more sprawl-y than where I currently live. Since I'll be unfamilliar with the area and also surrounded by spiney, hostile plants (cactus) I figure I better start lugging a flat repair kit and wrench in my bag.

Obviously, there's the Surly Jethro Tule.

And these Campy / Suntour wrenches look neat:
http://www.yellowjersey.org/PNUTWNCH.JPG
(especially that 14 / 15mm one-- I run cheapo Suzue JRs with 14mm nuts in front.)

What do you carry? I suppose a cheap metric set might be in my future. Anything to avoid spending $20 on a single wrench...

Where ya moving to?

Al

Tucson, AZ. How's the fixed scene? The coop (BICAs) looks cool.

The Suntour looks good. Me, I carry the finest wrench True Value has to offer. I think I paid $9.

I don't have this, but I kinda like it...
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/SNAP-...spagenameZWDVW
I just have a regular 15mm box end wrench available from most hardware or auto-parts stores.

Don't know much about any scene (what is a fixed scene anyway?) but Tuscon is a nice place to ride and good for a fixed gear as its flat, unless you decide to head out of town up Mt. Lemmon, then you will have bragging rights if you make it up and down on a fixed. If the streets are like Phoenix area you will find very few cactus spines on the road. The problems are same as other cities: glass, nails, random sharp hardware, but they are on the very edge of the road anyway. Bullheads if you ride on the edges of rural roads. I rode about 5500mi with no flats until I hit a big nail.

Al

i'm with bostontrevor, i like the suntour. i also have a park tool ccw-2 that has 14mm, 15mm, and 16mm, as well as a regular screwdriver blade and a 5mm allen wrench on it (all with no moving parts). i kind of like how versatile it is

Hmmm, a bunch of people in shaggy black haircuts eating pie?


Haha, I've been up Mt. Lemmon a couple of times in cars (and broke a finger hiking on loose rock). Not gonna try that on a bike any time soon.

I imagine any singletrack riding involves "slime" tires, mr. tuffys or both.

I used to carry a 12" Crescent brand adjustable when I had lots of nutted parts. Now I carry

one allen set 1.5mm-8mm
one three way 8-9-10mm wrench
one Gerber Multi-Plier

Those will cover most anything on a modern bike.

I'm looking for a short wrench with a 15mm box on one end, and a 10mm on the other. those are my two most commonly used wrenches. When I give up looking I'll cut the ends of a couple of wrenches, and weld them together into my ultimate seat bag wrench

15mm box wrench.

You could get a 15mm stubby box end wrench if you don't like a long-handled wrench.

mattface, what do you use the 10milli for?

i use a 19/32 wrench i found in my grandfathers tool box
for some reason it was cut so its only about 4 inches long
it fits into my saddle bag perfectly
i know, i know you shouldnt use the wrong size wrench
but it is the english standard equivalant
and its got sentimental value
and i only use it for emergency repairs so i wont ruin any nuts

brakes and seat post.

I bought this one for ~$15.00. It is slim, light and fits in my Detours Bobtail seat bag. It is not adversely affected by Suguaro, Cholla or Prickly Pear.

WRENCH

Dogbait

like this one ... my favorite, plus it is really shiny.

http://www.sears.com/sr/javasr/produ...id=00944117000

My nuts are 15mm front and rear, so wrench choice is easy. Craftsman polished stubby 15mm box/open end wrench. Available at Sears for about 8 bucks. It's only about 4 and a half inches long and really pretty. The coolest thing about it is that is fits exactly onto the Krypto Evolution Mini.

*edit* like the one in that last post

that's a pretty slick-looking wrench, how do you like it?

Mastercraft Maximum Metric Stubby GearWrench ($17.49CDN):
http://www.canadiantire.ca/assortmen...=1130210561435

http://images.canadiantire.ca/media/...0_CC_1fbd7.jpg

holy crap, they make stubby gear wrenches? i just took the angle grinder to mine to make it shorter. it's gully, but it works.

At first glance, it looked to be lightly built but after using it, it shows no sign of being overstressed. I like that it is slim. I got it with the intention of mounting it to the water bottle braze-ons with some sort of quick release but that project has migrated to the back burner for now. If my front and rear nuts were the same size, I think I would prefer one like Eyefloater posted.... just because it's smaller.

D (not Cooper) B

mini adjustable. fits almost everything on the bike.

Dog bone wrench. Usta be pretty standard stuff. Rivendell still carries them:
http://www.rivbike.com/webalog/tools/19063.html
Handy on older rides.
Also carry a little park multi tool, a folding park chain tool, two tire irons, a Var tire jack, a patch kit, and a spoke key.

Dog bone wrench - only tool in recent memory that I can remember breaking (during normal use). Mine tore apart awhile back at one of the "bulbs" while I was tightening a track nut. Might have just been a garbage wrench though.

a friend gave me this for my birthday
http://www.icyclesusa.com/catalog/to...multi-tool.htm

it's got all wrench & allen sizes you'll need (except wrench 11) and the
whole thing splits in half and transforms into tire levers. only complaint
is that it's a little heavy.

I've also got a Sears Craftsman stubby 15mm wrench. Nice and compact. And I think I paid between $8 -$10 for it. Lifetime warranty too, just in case you actually break a Sears stubby wrench.