A lighter S&S wrench?
 

During our last trip, I had misplaced an S&S wrench at one of the remote start and had a heck of a time getting the bike apart for the car ride back to our B&B.

Rich from Saranac Gear-to-Go was kind enough to offer to deliver a wrench despite being 30 miles out the way and on his own tour. Luckily I did manage using an adjustable plumbing wrench and a lot of duct tape. Normally I do carry a spare wrench on the bike, but did not this time because of the extra weight concern on the hills.

Anyway, my questions are:

1) Does anybody else normally carry an S&S wrench on their bike during tours?

2) Is there a lighter alternative to that wrench? I spend so much effort on keeping the bike light; I hate to load weight back on with heavy tools. And, that thing is heavy.

Thanks,
CJ

I have not carried mine... never really thought about it but it did not seem like there was that much steel left in the tool to be very heavy.

Sounds like you have found your next carbon fiber project though ;)

We carry the S&S wrench around all the time - we don't always know until we're well into the ride (and have decided where to go) as to whether we'll need to split the front end of the bike off to hop on a train to get home (on most trains, it's much easier to hang it vertically in two parts on two single-bike hooks than it is to try to find somewhere to put it fully-assembled).

I noticed when I had the wrench in an internal pocket of a pannier bag last week that the pocket felt surprisingly heavy, which caused me to try to recall what I'd put in there to make it so, and then I remembered the S&S Wrench. There is certainly some mass to it that would be nice to minimize if anyone has a suggestion.

A picture would help. An what is the budget for the lighter wrench?

On tour we carry the S&S spanner, a pin spanner for the eccentric, and a long allen for the eccentric, all in our seat pack.

One time we didn't and it cost me two days of cycling. Those tools don't weigh much.

I learned my lesson and will not leave home without one.
This is also what I have in my bag:
http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=389895

I am always looking for ways to lighten the load. My spare wrench, which I modified from a 12 in version to reduce weight, is still the heaviest tool in the bag. Do you have a lighter version, and how much does it weigh?

CJ

Have never worried about the weight of needed tools/food on our tandem.
One time on the north rim of the Grand Canyon had a chain issue and no chain tool; however managed to make do with other tools. That was about 250 miles from the nearest bike shop and no cell phones.
Why not leave your water bottles at home because they weigh too much . . .

A piece of Ti and a water jet cutter would make quick work that.

Regarding taking a pin spanner on tour: I left that at home once I'd figured out how to use the needle-nose ends of the pliers on a Leatherman multitool to do the job. We already carry the Leatherman when touring for other purposes, so that is no extra weight. The technique involves putting the pliers into the two holes, pushing the crankarm against the pliers, and then holding and turning both the pliers and crank together - it's a little fiddly but it's not something that I need to do often.

Someone above asked for an image, our S&S wrench looks like the one below except that it doesn't have the 15mm pedal wrench that is in the middle of this one. We need the two sizes of S&S wrench for the different-sized tubes and couplers on our tandem:
http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=389962

could you take out all the excess material in your current spanner?

or could you cut other wrenches into the spanner so that you do not need to carry them?

All we ever need to use is the largest end hook on that wrench. I'd like to see a simplified version that would undoubtedly be of lighter weight.

I was hoping there is a readily available solution. But it looks like I would have to take up Vroom's challenge to build my own.

The new specs:
Light weight - less than half the current clamp's weight (<50gm)
Compact - small enough to fit in the saddle bag (<8 in long)
Anyone with any ideas or suggestions?
I'll see what I can come up with after the morning coffee ride.

CJ

you could make out of carbon with only the contact points as bonded in steel?

you could make the halves of the tool fit together male female to shorten the length for packing

Thanks Team Fab,

Here is what I have so far:

Tools being replaced:
http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=390298
New tools:
http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=390299
Tools attached:
http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=390300

97 gm weight saving; works well with my couplers; and packed perfectly in my saddle bag.
But, I am a little concerned about the durability of the wrench's carbon fiber tip.
Next version will have a steel tip.
CJ

wow that was fast. You could also do the same treatment for a chain tool I guess.

OK next idea.

A front fork(and hub) that can take dual disks. I have always hated the twist caused by single front disk.

TF,

This tool was not that hard to build.
I cut the template from a scrap plate of carbon fiber. Then wrap the thing along with some aluminum tubing using carbon tows and epoxy.
Wrapped the whole thing in electrical tape and let it sit under the heat lamp for four hours. Sand the thing and I'm done!
I don't carry a chain tool in saddle bag, so the current one works fine.

As for your next challenge, I am not worthy.
CJ

As for the pin spanner, do you actually need one? Co-motion, and Bushnell BB's adjust with just a 4mm allen wrench, no need for a pin spanner. You just leave the allenwrench in the bolt, and turn the crank against the wrench to rotate the eccentric.

I believe this works for some other eccentrics as well. And if doesn't work for your eccentric, there may be a weight, and ease of adjustment advantage in upgrading to a Bushnell.

Merlin,
The eccentric that came with my bike is, I think, a DaVinci variant of the Bushnell. It adjusts with a T25 torx rather than an Allen key. I tried your technique, but the T25 wrench have a tendency to bend rather than move the eccentric. Also, I am not comfortable grinding the carbon crank arm against the wrench. So for now I am stuck with the pin spanner. The good news is the new version is a little lighter.
CJ