Essential for short ride:
a few dollars
Metrocard (if in NYC)

Essential for long ride:
15mm Craftsman Stubbie wrench (great suggestion from folks here)
tire irons
tube
co2 inflator
Park 3 headed allen 4,5,6 mm

I never carry more than this. On the Montauk century my BB loosened up but there is no way I would have had a crank tool and bb tool so sometimes you just got to make do and find a shop or alternative transportation. No use dragging around a bunch of tools just for that one time. Taught me to check everything before a long ride. I'm not a boy scout be prepared kinda guy though.

For home:
another 15mm wrench (nice to be able to tighten both bolts at once when tensioning chain)
crank tool (park)
nice headset wrenches (if threaded stem) Park makes killer ones. Scored a set of 3 on Ebay for cheap.
BB Tool (Park again)
Grease
Lockring tool.
Chain breaker.

Nice to have:
A big ass Park Pedal wrench. I spent like $35 on one of these and find I use it all the time. The leverarge is unbeatable for frozen pedals.
A repair stand. Always wanted one, finally threw down the cash. Got one on sale from REI for $100.
A little wrench to hold chainring bolts.

I wouldn't buy a tool kit. Buy what you need as you need it and just buy good quality stuff each time. You gradually buid up a kit of just what you need and it's always nice to use a good tool. You'll find yourself thanking yourself each time you use something you bought for a one off job that ends up happenign again and again. You don't need much.

I keep all my bike tools seperate from my other tools in a big tool roll except for my allen wrench and stubbie which travel with me.

Park tools BO-1

Hey guys I'm about to get my first fixie and first bike I ever bought on my own tomorrow and from what I gather you have to tighten things like your cog(what else? Lol I'm on my phone so I can't search right now while typing this). What tools do I need fixie specific assuming I have no tools starting out when building the bike? I assume that I have to tighten it for my first ride lol

most essential tool for the fixie rider:

http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=155753

^^I thought thats what SPDs were for....

Enjoy

-Pedro's trixie :love:
it's a 15mm wrench, lock ring tool, bottle opener, 5mm allen wrench, and fits several smaller nut sizes.

-tire levers
-spare tube
-floor pump
-portable pump

Essentials? Yes. All that I take with me? No.

I second the Trixie. I have a nice little toolbag in which I carry:

-Trixie
-hand pump
-tire lever
-tube
-another generic bike multi-tool for my allens and my screwdriver heads

sometimes if I know I'm going to be fixing other people's bikes I bring a socket set and loose allens

I carry this. I second it by saying to carry TWO CO2 cartridges. I have the filzer i-tool grande that has a boatload of allen keys and a chain tool on it. I also recommend the Red Zepplin CO2 system. And seriously, I've patched more flats since 1977 than you could imagine. I use the filzer glueless patch kit. Not one path has failed.

I stuff this all along with a $20 bill, my DL, my CC, bank card and keys in a sci con carbon seat bag. I don't usually take my 15mm wrench with me along with a spare tube if I'm doing a speed run. If I have a bag on my back I take the tube, the 15mm wrench and a u-lock in the bag along with the sci con bag thrown in. If I have to travel on aircraqft (as I did twice in the past two weeks) I leave the CO2 at home and chuck a mini pump in the bag but leave the tools on the seat bag and tape the wrench to the wheel and bag the bike for checkin.

Yes, I obviously have a MEC near me

If I exhaust my second CO2 cartridge on a ride (happened last week) I immediately turn around and head for home or the nearest transit station on a route towards home.

Right now I have Pedros Trixie tool, a 15mm wrench, and a few hex wrenches. If I can rotafix do you think I'd need a chainwhip?

For a fixed you don't need a chain whip if you know how to rotofix and don't mind the little paint scratches on the BB shell and chainstay. For geared bikes, yeah you need one for changing cassettes (yes you can get by without but it's a major pain).

I disagree that if you have a fixed you do not need a chain whip. The rotafix method is a nice thing to use in an emergency. It is not to be used in place of proper tools and techniques. Same for all tools. There is no one here that cannot afford a basic set of proper tools needed to keep your fixed a safe machine. No one. There are some nice lists of those tools above. There are no techniques that replace proper tools and there is no doing the job right without proper tools. There are ways to get by in "no choice" situations and those are good to know. But, they are band aids - not cures.

sounds legitimate. I'm going to purchase one. The chainwhip is actually for removing and tightening the cog yes?

Calv,

The chainwhip is used to install/remove the cog. In short, you will want 2 tools. First, a lockring tool. This looks like a wrench with half moon hooks on either end. There are nubs that fit into the notches on your lockring. The lock ring comes off left-handed meaning you turn clockwise to loosen it. Once that is off you use a chainwhip to remove the cog. That is threaded in normal "righty tighty - lefty loosy" fashion. As far as tools go I'd suggest spending extra for the lock ring tool and getting something nice like the Hozan. A good lock ring tool is the difference between a good day and a bad one. The chainwhip can be any old piece of crap. Most chainwhips come with chains for 3/32 chains. If you have a 1/8th go to your LBS and ask for a section of 1/8th chain. Tell them why. They'll give you a nasty, greasy section for free. I promise. If you do not have a chain breaker ask them to swap the chain out. They might grumble for a second but if you buy even a Cliff bar there they'll do it for free. Anyway, so wrench towards the BB with the lock ring to get that off and then back towards the fork ends to get the cog off. Perform opposite operation to restore. Once you are back on the road, spend 15 minutes mashing the hell out of the pedals and then check the lock ring again (try to tighten it more) to ensure everything is properly set. Easy and done right.

A chainwhip is required to remove a fixed cog and optional for tightening it. You can effectively tighten a cog by standing on the forward pedal while the front wheel is jammed against a wall or other imovable object, however, you need to then remove the wheel from the bike to properly tighten the lockring with its tool.

I recently broke the 3/32 chain on my chainwhip, and was going to replace it all with 1/8 stuff. I know that a 1/8 chain will work with 3/32 fixed gear cogs, but I am not sure about how well it would work on a 8/9/10 speed cassette.

Will a 1/8 chain be too wide to grab onto a multispeed cassette?

every tool ever.

the only tool you don't need is a cassette lockring remover, and instead you need a track lockring remover.

only other tools that change because of 'fixed gear' are the size of your chainwhip and the type of lockring remover. the other tools(hex set and screwdrivers) needed for geared bike maintanence are still needed elsewhere on the bike.

you still need to carry tire levers and a pump and a patch kit if you don't want a flat to put you out of commission. you still need to carry a hex set or tools specific to specific types of bike hardware- thin spanner wrenches for quill stems and threaded headsets. bb30 splined cup removers for bb30 cranksets. hex sets for everything on a bike.

and yes, a 1/8th chain will be too wide to grab onto pretty much every cassette made after the 80's. even the old five speed freewheels are too small.

Spaceballs,

No, not properly. But, no need for 2 separate whips if you have a chain breaker. In my experience, the little section of chain against the tool arm does not have to be changed. I've done it on my Park but that was just being anal. The long section is what matters and you can swap that out easily with a chain breaker. So, just keep a section of each (1/8 and 3/32) and swap out when neeed

dude thanks a lot, i got the sr1 park chain whip with my dura ace cog and lockring. you helped a lot brotha.

Has anyone used this tool from Bomb Tactics?

The Bomb tool looks okay but I think the Pedro's Trixie has a few things on it: allen on the trixie, extra box wrenches on the trixie, and I can't imagine getting any sort of useful torque for the pedal wrench on the bomb.

I've got a trixie and i'm very happy with it.

Not sure if it was mentioned but I keep a small Surly wrench -- the Jethro Tule -- with me at all times on the road. Excellent leverage for removing wheels and opening beer bottles. Especially opening beer bottles.

http://harriscyclery.net/product/sur...pener-1151.htm

I use my quill stem to open beer bottles

Hi, there. I installed my own headset cups in my Fuji millenium with out the thought that maybe I needed a specific tool for the job only after working ( working is giving myself too much credit. More like grunting and throwing rocks at it ) on it for about 15mins. Before googling the proper way and discovering my projectiles and verbal abuse were ineffective. I stopped and begrudgingly accepted the fact that I had been defeated.

Then It dawned on me. Surface area was the key. So I did this. Although it worked and has for me, maybe it(s) was just dumb luck.
Ingredients:
1 skateboard wheel( with the bearing still inside )
1 center punch about 9in long
Grease
And a small hammer

I took the center punch and slid the pointed end though the skate board wheel ( with the bearing still inside ) and then set the wheel inside the greased cup I was mounting. Using the hammar I firmly (not violently or with any sort of real force, ) was able to pursude the cup into the headset. Now, if this is a good idea or not, I dont know. I both bikes I have done this to, did not have headsets to begin with and were both metal. Mild steel I am guessing.

this is a picture of one of the bikes that under went this procedure. http://i.imgur.com/Y8jWm8M.jpg

This.
I paid maybe 10 dollars for my chain whip. If you can't afford a few tools, even cheap ones, riding bikes probably isn't the best activity to get into.

An Addition
 

Fixed Gear Riders At HomeTool Kit

Misc.
15mm 14mm 8mm10mm 1/2 Wrench
Allen Set Up To 8 (See Recommended)
2 Adjustable Wrenches 20mm & 44mm
Torx Allen Set
Presta Valve Adapter
Soft Mallet
Aluminum Rod Under 1inch
2- 2x4 6 Inch Cuts
Grease Gun
Dropper
Floor Pump Or Compressor
Hand Pump

-Park Tool Brand
Lockring wrench HCW-17
Chain Whip SR-1
Chain Ring Bolts Wrench CNW-2
Bottom Bracket Removal Tool BBT-32 BBT-29
Free Wheel Removal Tool FR-6
Spanner Wrenchs SP-1 & SP-2 Chain Tool CT3 Or CT5
Headset Press HHP-2(Optional**)

Recommended Brands
Optional 8mm Duralast 76-017
2-3 Tire Levers (Pedro's)