New roadie

tetley10
tetley10 Posts: 693
edited December 2012 in Commuting general
Starting a 5 mile commute tomorrow. Any suggestion what to put in the bag for maintenance on the go ??
Got a spare tube that's about all so far.

Comments

  • macleod113
    macleod113 Posts: 560
    pump, spare lights/batteries, tyre levers, patches so you can get home if you flat on the way to work. i'm sure there is more...
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  • lc1981
    lc1981 Posts: 820
    Patches aren't necessary if you have a spare tube, unless you plan on puncturing that too. Absolute essentials are the tube, two or three tyre levers and a pump. Beyond that, a multitool might come in handy. A pair of nitrile gloves is also a good idea if you want to keep your hands clean while changing the tube, especially at this time of year.
  • tomhowells
    tomhowells Posts: 171
    If I were you, I would pack a multi tool as well, or at the very least a set of allen keys. If it is a newish bike, then depending on who set it up, some of the parts may work themselves loose on the first proper run.
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  • tetley10
    tetley10 Posts: 693
    Thanks for all the tips. Much appreciated.
  • freddiegrubb
    freddiegrubb Posts: 448
    Carry 2 tubes- belt & braces.
  • tetley10
    tetley10 Posts: 693
    tomhowells wrote:
    If I were you, I would pack a multi tool as well, or at the very least a set of allen keys. If it is a newish bike, then depending on who set it up, some of the parts may work themselves loose on the first proper run.


    This is true. First couple of runs and the front brakes have altered their position.
  • nigglenoo
    nigglenoo Posts: 177
    MacLeod113 wrote:
    pump, spare lights/batteries, tyre levers, patches so you can get home if you flat on the way to work. i'm sure there is more...
    If its important not to be late, a CO2 inflator will help sort a puncture faster than a hand pump, as well as carrying a spare tube. I take a spare tube and a puncture repair kit, that way if I get a puncture on the way in I can patch the tube during my lunch break then be set up for that second puncture on the way home.
  • daddy0
    daddy0 Posts: 686
    nigglenoo wrote:
    I take a spare tube and a puncture repair kit, that way if I get a puncture on the way in I can patch the tube during my lunch break then be set up for that second puncture on the way home.

    Why not just leave a PRK at work and save carting it about? Or even easier: keep a spare-spare tube at work and fix the p****** when you get home?

    I have a spare tube at work, although I also have 3 bike shops within a minutes walk from my office so the spare tube isn't really needed.

    If I'm going somewhere after work or I am on an early start then I take a pump and PRK with me. After years of BMXing I can fix a puncture just as easily as changing a tube.

    If I am starting at 9 or 10am then I don't bother taking anything with me apart from wallet, mobile and keys. There are so many LBSs en route that I could easily walk my bike to one of them and buy a new tube.

    I've not been visited very much by the p******* fairy though this year - just one due to perished tubes and the bike standing too close to a radiator. I was already at work so just popped to the shop at lunchtime and got a new set of tubes and tyres. I figure that prevention is better than reaction, and I don't want to get a p******* when I'm going for a Strava PR downhill on my road bike, I'd be dead. So I make sure I have decent tyres which I pump up every week and that I don't ride over any debris or potholes. I guess I'm lucky that I tend to ride on mostly decently maintained, well lit roads. I might brave the chalk cycle path through the park some mornings if I'm on the hybrid, but if that ever gives me a P******* then by that point in my journey I'm only a 5-10 min walk from work anyway.

    I sometimes take a multitool if I've been fettling the bike. This is just in case something works its way lose, but thats never happened. Sometimes I might want to make fine tuning adjustments mid commute though.
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  • nigglenoo
    nigglenoo Posts: 177
    Daddy0 wrote:
    Why not just leave a PRK at work and save carting it about? Or even easier: keep a spare-spare tube at work and fix the p****** when you get home?

    I have a spare tube at work, although I also have 3 bike shops within a minutes walk from my office so the spare tube isn't really needed.

    If I'm going somewhere after work or I am on an early start then I take a pump and PRK with me. After years of BMXing I can fix a puncture just as easily as changing a tube.

    If I am starting at 9 or 10am then I don't bother taking anything with me apart from wallet, mobile and keys. There are so many LBSs en route that I could easily walk my bike to one of them and buy a new tube.

    I've not been visited very much by the p******* fairy though this year - just one due to perished tubes and the bike standing too close to a radiator. I was already at work so just popped to the shop at lunchtime and got a new set of tubes and tyres. I figure that prevention is better than reaction, and I don't want to get a p******* when I'm going for a Strava PR downhill on my road bike, I'd be dead. So I make sure I have decent tyres which I pump up every week and that I don't ride over any debris or potholes. I guess I'm lucky that I tend to ride on mostly decently maintained, well lit roads. I might brave the chalk cycle path through the park some mornings if I'm on the hybrid, but if that ever gives me a P******* then by that point in my journey I'm only a 5-10 min walk from work anyway.

    I sometimes take a multitool if I've been fettling the bike. This is just in case something works its way lose, but thats never happened. Sometimes I might want to make fine tuning adjustments mid commute though.
    I always carry a puncture kit, sods law says that if you don't at some point you will have the journey from hell and run out of tubes before you get to your destination. I buy the tiny £1 kits from Tesco and replace if I use it, that way its always a fresh tube of glue so you avoid the scenario of finding the glue has dried out since you last used it, hopefully.

    However I have not had a puncture on my commute for over two years and only about three in that time on longer day rides, and I do about 6000 miles a year.I have a 6 mile, fairly hilly country commute, which is probably a lower risk for punctures than in town, but the LBS is two miles from work and the nearest one from home is 3 miles away, and neither is open during commuting times, though there is a Halfords about 2.5 miles from work which stays open later.

    I can also repair a puncture quite quickly, learnt how as a kid in the 1970s, and this would be my preferred option for the rear tyre on my commuter with Shimano Nexus hub so as to avoid the extra work of removing the wheel, but trying to patch a tube in heavy rain can be a challenge.

    I also always carry a multi tool, I need it for rear wheel removal anyway and have occasionally had to do minor fettling, e.g. when a mudguard gets dislodged by something.

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