Tools to take on tour

IainJcp

Hi all,

I'll be doing my first multi-day tour soon, up in the Scottish Highlands, between youth hostels for a week. I'll be getting a new bike for it (dunno what yet, going for a chat at the bike shop at the weekend), and I've got a good idea what to take in the way of luggage.

What I'm not sure of is what to take in the way of tools and spares. Some sites I've read say a pucture repair kit will do, others say take everything - cables, a tyre or 2, chain links, spokes, rear mech hanger, etc, and all the tools to go with them. I can see the obvious benefit "just in case" but I could end up with another pannier just for all the tools and stuff.

At the moment on day rides I just take a couple of spare inner tubes and a puncture kit. The only time I've needed more than that, was a couple of years ago when my rear mech fell into the spokes, mangled itself, snapped the hanger and pulled out a few spokes. That was mainly cos the mech was worn out anyway and was proving hard to adjust. That day I wasn't far from home so I got a lift back.

Any advice would be great.

Thanks
Iain

toontra

I take:

Puncture repair kit
Spare tube
Spare folding tyre
Allen keys (2 will do all the bits on my bike)
Chain link removal tool and spare links
Cable ties
Small pliers
Spare brake & gear cable
Chain lube
A couple of hand-wipe sachets for getting the oil off after repairs
And of course a pump

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there's no such thing as steep hills - just the wrong gear

NervexProf

One of these: http://www.wiggle.co.uk/ProductDetail.a ... 1210826560

Common sense in an uncommon degree is what the world calls wisdom

yer gran

just dont do what i did once, far from home and bikeshops, and take the spare spokes for the rear driveside but forget a cassette removal tool might come in handy at that point.......DOH!!!

nun

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by IainJ</i>

Hi all,

I'll be doing my first multi-day tour soon, up in the Scottish Highlands, between youth hostels for a week. I'll be getting a new bike for it (dunno what yet, going for a chat at the bike shop at the weekend), and I've got a good idea what to take in the way of luggage.

What I'm not sure of is what to take in the way of tools and spares. Some sites I've read say a pucture repair kit will do, others say take everything - cables, a tyre or 2, chain links, spokes, rear mech hanger, etc, and all the tools to go with them. I can see the obvious benefit "just in case" but I could end up with another pannier just for all the tools and stuff.

At the moment on day rides I just take a couple of spare inner tubes and a puncture kit. The only time I've needed more than that, was a couple of years ago when my rear mech fell into the spokes, mangled itself, snapped the hanger and pulled out a few spokes. That was mainly cos the mech was worn out anyway and was proving hard to adjust. That day I wasn't far from home so I got a lift back.

Any advice would be great.

Thanks
Iain
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">

Tools

Bike Multitool
Leatherman Juice

Spare Parts
2x tubes
2x patch kits
2x tyre boots
2x SRAM power links
2x Fiberfix spokes
1 gear cable
1 brake cable
1 pair break pads
Misc screws and bolts
cable ties
tape
super glue
pump

snorri

Pump
Spare Tube
Allen Keys
P***ture repair kit
Cable ties & pvc tape
Brake & gear cables
Chain lube oil
Pliers
You are unlikely to be more than 70 miles from a bike shop in the Highlands[;)][:)]

Bigtallfatbloke

I am in a similar situation...no clue what tools to take on a two week uk tour. I have a halfords multi tool and punture kit and a spare inner tube, that's it. I need to minimise weight and reckon that on this trip anyway I wont be too far from a LBS....I'm only going to Norfolk.

I think I'd be unlucky to get two punctures on my schalbe marathons at the same time (???) and if a spoke or two go i'll have 34 left still to hobble to safty.

Am I being stupid here? Maybe I need more...hmm....but it's all adding to the load...hmm....[?][?]



Gravity sucks

amaferanga

A Stein Hypercracker (http://www.spacycles.co.uk/products.php ... b24s71p111) is something every tourer should own. Allows you to replace drive side spokes and weighs next to nothing.

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More problems but still living.....

in the wire

if you haven't got a multitool, have a look in the bike section at Asda or sainsburys. They've got those and loads of other stuff that can cost up to a third of the price you pay at halfords... gloves etc.

After buying a multitool at asda, I then went into my corner co-op and saw they now have a bike section, or shelf, and saw an even cheaper one!!

vernonlevy

in the wire wrote:

if you haven't got a multitool, have a look in the bike section at Asda or sainsburys. They've got those and loads of other stuff that can cost up to a third of the price you pay at halfords... gloves etc.

After buying a multitool at asda, I then went into my corner co-op and saw they now have a bike section, or shelf, and saw an even cheaper one!!

i'd be very careful with ASDA, not all of the gear is good. I'd hate to find that my multitool bent and gave up the ghost just when i needed it most. Cheap isn't necessarily good.

jjojjas

I carry a pump, a top peak multi tool, a puncture repair kit, a spare tube and a rear brake & gear cable.
Thats it.
Make sure its well serviced before you go, replace if in doubt, and you should be fine. Prevention is way better than cure.
Enjoy
Jas

joatmon

When touring I take proper tools rather than multi tools.

When fully loaded it doesn't add that much more weight.

More important is wether your able to use the tool your carrying.

ThePiglit

A couple of spare spokes and a spoke key top of the list. Spokes are the one things that can fail without warning and cause the bike to be unrideable very quickly
If you service the bike regularly and check everything thoroughly before depature in my opnion you are very very unlikely to have a failed cable or chain, though the chain breaker tool and a spare link or two might be good for peace of mind.
Most multitools contain a wealth of tools you won't need and won't fit anything on your bike!
Watch out for the midges!

VWVagabonds

Here are the tools we are carrying through Southeast Asia

http://www.vwvagabonds.com/Bike/BikeTools.html