bccycleguy

I was wondering what spare bike parts other people carry with them on a tour? I assume everyone carries an extra tube or 2, but are both the same as the ones in your tires, or is one a lightweight race tube?

What about a spare tire? Same question: is the tire the same as your Conti TT2000's or a real lightweight folding tire for an emergency?

And what about all the other parts? I think most people carry spare derailleur and brake cables and a few screws. Do you carry casements too? Brake blocks? Spare shifters? Cleats?

I'd be interested in hearing what other cyclists carry?

babysaph

What about a chain? Man I would freak out if my chain broke

NoReg

I carry a tube and tire. Nothing else. For a few weeks out on the road there are an endless list of things that could go wrong, but not really very many that are likely to go wrong.

Magictofu

So far, I've only toured in North America so I carry very few spare parts. It is quite easy to find spare parts here, although not always of the best quality. If I had to travel in developing countries or in inhabited areas, I would consider carrying more stuff.

MichaelW

Spares:
2 spare inner tubes.
Brake and gear cable inners
SRAM master link
5mm allen bolt
Park Tools tyre boot
DT friction lever
+ stuff to fix things

Spare tyre is for tours where you are more than a couple of days from any bike shop.
Some tourists use the postal system to cache some replacement parts (tyres/chains/cassettes etc) at a pickup location.

Mentor58

I carry an extra sram powerlink. That after having the ends of the chain slip out of my greasy sweaty fingers and the link falling into loose gravel. Took a while to find it. I also carry a couple of extra links just in case I were to need them. I carry an extra tire (Pasla TourGuard ), regular tubes, a little mint box with assorted screws, bolts, nuts, washers, zipties and a tiny tube of lock-tite (blue) to fix parts that may come loose. I don't bother with cables or derailurs or shifters, you can aways adjust / fix a DR to one location and end up with a 9 speed or 3 speed bike to get you to a town with a shop. Since my LHT has the nice spoke holders on it, I may get a set of spokes cut, not that I'd replace them in the field, but nice to have. I carry a 'fiber-spoke' for emergencies. So far, it's never had to be used.

My rational is that since I'm touring inside the US, and one call can get parts overnighted to me, I don't want to carry more than I would reasonably need to keep me moving. If I was going where supply lines, bike shops and support in general would be more skosh, I'm sure that I would pack more, and probably change out some components. ie barends rather than brifter.

Just my two cents

Steve W.
Who figures if he can't do it with the mini-tool it shouldn't be done in the field if possible

ignominious

For less than a week or wherre I can expect to get to bike shop easily at any given time I'll just do the 2 spare inners, bulk rate at that. For something longer or more isolated, I'll take a spare folding tire for emergencies, cables with cutter and nipples, some brake blocks, and probably a few nuts and bolts. If I were going to be really isolated I would probably chuck in some spokes and a chain.

cyclintom

I like your list. I couldn't bother with the DT lever since they NEVER break. I especially like the SRAM master link. You need to have a chain breaker as well since a broken chain always needs to have the broken link removed.

Story: I was on a ride around Lake Tahoe and came upon a guy whose chain had broke and he had just heaved it over the cliff. And here I was with a master link and chain breaker in the SAG wagon following us.

The moral of this story is that if you're a moron, don't ride bicycles.

Machka 

See my packing list:

https://www.machka.net/packinglist.htm


BTW - my folding tire is a Hutchison. It's actually a better tire than the ones I usually use!

Erick L

• 2 tubes
• In a Film canister
  • Spare bolts (allen head)
  • 2-3 chain links
• Topeak Survival gear box
• Patch kit
• Small bottle of oil
• Rag
• Zip-ties

Magictofu

This looks a lot like my own list... but I only carry one tube and I also use a SRAM link.

Lolly Pop

Me too.

Substitute a small bottle of dish detergent for the oil, and that's me.

cyclintom

I bought a Michellin folding tire in about '94 to carry as a spare on tours and I STILL have it. Don't know as I'd trust it any longer so I just put it on my desk at home to look at and remind me that if you start a tour on good tires you usually don't have any tire problems.

BigGuy

Because I often tour far removed from a repair shop, I carry most of the stuff mentioned above, plus a hub remover to replace broken spokes on the cassette side. Also I'll be sure to have spokes to fit both sides of the rear wheel.

Most people must have some duct tape, though it's not mentioned yet. Another handy fix-it is a small roll of soft wire. When my right front rack broke once I was able to hold it together with that wire and a small piece of aluminum sheeting I scrounged from an automotive shop.

I'm a heavy guy and always having problems with spokes, so Loc Tite (blue) is absolutely necessary.

Machka 

I have never used a folding tire on a tour, but I have used several on Randonneuring events which I do before, after, or in the middle of my tours.

On those events you're more pressed for time than you are on a tour ... you can't call it a night at the spot where the big rip in your tire occurred, or boot it and make a detour to the nearest town to see if they've got a bicycle shop, or whatever. You've got to change that flat and be back on the route again in a few minutes. Also, on those events, if a person flats twice in fairly quick succession, rather than spending time trying to figure out what caused the flat, we just pull off the tire and tube, give the rim a quick wipe to make sure it doesn't have anything sharp on it, and put on a whole new tire and tube. It's a speed issue.

In fact, that reminds me that I need to check to make sure I still have two spare folders.

SteveFox

i carry 2 extra bikes in a trailer pulled behind my bike...just in case...haha

seriously though, ive got the basic tools to repair almost anything that goes wrong, a few spokes, 2 tubes, tire patching things, wire, and as mentioned duct tape. and all of it fits in a little green bag.

steve

Blackberry

I have a friend, a very reserved female librarian, whose entire spare parts collection consists of a spare tube and a Jim Beam "Traveler," an unbreakable plastic flask filled with 750 ml. of Jim Beam's finest whiskey. I'm not recommending this approach, but somehow she always manages to get her bike fixed as needed and finish her tours in fine fettle. I enjoy traveling with her and always make sure we have enough spare parts to go around.

ken cummings

Read once that a Bikecentennial (now Adventure Cycling) group carried a spare freewheel that worked on all the bikes in the group. They needed it near South Park, Colorado. It made sense to me that in a group each person could carry one or two rarely needed items for the sake of others in the group.

NoReg

Tire can be required immediately. When my schwalbe blew, it was a mess and there wasn't a toruing tire in the whole province from what I could see. There were tires though, so one could carry on. I find racing and mountian biking are well covenred in small places around here, but touring is not happening. Happily not too many exclusively touring parts.

Machka 

What astounded me in Manitoba, and even to a certain extent here, is how difficult it can be to get ahold of 700x23 or 700x25 tires. I would have thought either of those two sizes would be pretty common, but in Winnipeg, before the MEC moved to town, I would call all the bicycle shops in town asking for either of those sizes only to be told that they stock either mtn bike sized tires or the really skinny racing tires. Occasionally someone would tell me that they just sold out of their last one ... or that they did have one in stock and they'd happily sell it to me for $75. In those days I ordered my tires in from either MEC or Nashbar in bulk at the beginning of a season because I knew that if I blew a tire, it would be a couple weeks before I'd get one again. When MEC came to town I got my tires there, but I also think that some of the shops started stocking those sizes.

And you're right ... I don't recall ever seeing a 700x28, or larger, tire in any of the shops.

If you're out in the middle of nowhere, here in Canada, you'd be out of luck getting anything other than a 27x1.25 or mtn bike tire at the local Canadian Tire or Walmart.

Magictofu

This place exist outside of my TV set?

sth

Hey a little tip for all of you with sweaty, greasy hands: cut a short length of coat hanger, about 3-4" or so. Bend about 3/4" at each end to 90 degrees. You now have a link to pull the chain tighter together to allow slack to remove/install links and to hold it so it wont fall into the loose gravel.

Cheap, easy and invaluable.

seeker333

Thats a good idea.

BTW more than once i have had sram powerlinks with several X,000 miles get worn/deformed/jammed together so tight that they can be removed only with needle nose pliers (gripping the rollers to compress links to relieve tension enough to provide release). This could be a problem if you are expecting the powerlink feature to be a tool-free experience. Cause sometimes its not.

So spare powerlinks (2 pair) are definitely good idea to carry. And chain breaker tool just in case. They are fairly light weight and compact. And maybe the needle nose pliers.

MichaelW

I use Campy 8spd ergolevers on my tourer. I probably wouldn't chose them now but its what I have and they work well. If I wreck a rear deraiileur, the chances of finding a compatable one are zero but with the DT lever I can use anything. Plastic levers from your LBS spare parts tin weight and cost nothing.

I dont class tools and repair materials as spares. Spares are bike parts.

kesroberts

Yep, it's an area, not a town. Wish I was there now . . .