What do you carry with you and how?

garnett

garnett

garnett

Soldato
Joined
25 Mar 2008
Posts
9,186
After 2 blowout flats in 1 ride on Sunday, and needing to borrow a mini pump, I'm reviewing my toolkit, and I'm interested to know what other people take with them.

My current list is:
  • 2 co2 canisters and a regulator
  • 2 tubes
  • Some tube patches
  • A cheap multi purpose spanner "card" with a bit holder
  • Various bits
  • Spare contact lenses
  • Nitrile gloves
  • Tyre levers
  • Mini pump
  • Chain breaker
I'm probably going to buy a Sticky Pod to put it all in because I'm fed up of trying to cramp everything into a different pouch I have that's too small.

What do others take and in what?
 
Roady said:
Rubbish luck, what did you hit?!
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First was at about 2mph, while we deliberated over which way to go - I'm usually pretty lucky re punctures, and look where I'm riding, but we were on a gritty road that was more of a track and something sliced a 1cm cut right through the tyre sidewall - we think it was some freshly knapped flint we found. The second was a snakebite when I was at the back and didn't see a manhole where the road facing up to its edge had utterly deteriorated leaving a very deep hole.
Roady said:
How frequently do you tend to puncture?Even running tubes on 25mm quality tyres (Contis/Mitch) I found I was never puncturing more than a couple of times a year. Going to wider rims, wider tyres and lower pressure really pushed it to maybe once every 12 months. Now I'm tubeless I've not 'punctured' (since November) so my last puncture was approx 15+ months ago using tubes. But I've regularly changed tubes on the other halfs bike & little ones Chariot probably every 4-6 months. Generally whenever the hedgerows are cut. Or friends when group riding.
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Very rarely - before Sunday not for a couple of years.

Roady said:
As for your setup, I'd question why you're carrying 2 tubes AND patches. If you're carrying patches then I'd say you only need to carry 1 tube.
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2 Tubes and patches is because on Sunday I rode home with no tubes left and would have needed patches if I punctured again.

Roady said:
Especially if you're carrying all of this every ride in your jersey pocket. It'll be uncomfortable! Why not use a saddle bag?
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I can't bring myself to break Rules 29 & 31! It must all go in the jersey pockets!
Roady said:
Why do you need a spanner card with bits? A quality multi-tool should contain all the bits you need, some even have chain tools. I'm carrying this one, although the chain tool is damn tricky to use so I'm carrying a foldable Park Tools one also as I have room. That park tool packs up well but isn't worth the money (got mine for £5), if you have the space the ~£10 park one is good (have that in my garage and use it every chain change).
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Spanner card is useful - bottle opener more than anything - but that and a selection of bits is lighter and more versatile than the range on a multitool. I'm reevaluating this though - possibly going for the Topeak Nano Torqbar.
Roady said:
With the co2 side of things, considering you're carrying 2 tubes AND patches you're prepared to change/repair 3 flats (or more), yet only carrying enough co2 for 2 inflation's. A combo pump/co2 might be a good idea, but maybe only carry it when going further and carrying 2 tubes, if you decide to only carry 1 the rest of the time? Amongst your bits, as you're carrying a chain breaker I'm going to assume you're carrying a few links of chain and 2+ quicklink/masterlinks?
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Chain links - yes. Quicklinks - no. Will add these.
Roady said:
I'm carrying similar to you, including 2 tubes, even though I'm running tubeless and hardly ever puncture (jinxed it now). I could safely carry 1 tube, but old habits and old saddlebag space/layout tricks die hard. I have a frame box with 1 tube, co2 and gloves. Frame mounted combo/co2. My mini saddlebag has everything else. Additional things I'm carrying: a small adjustable spanner (for one of my thru axles), collapsable pair of grips/pliers (which also have cutters) and a valve core remover. Latter two are to remove tubeless valves so I can fit tubes. Although the pliers come in handy time and again (as they also have a blade).

When I change saddlebag, switching to one of the smaller 'wallet' types, I'll ditch carrying 1 tube and some of my tools will go in my frame box.

Saddlebag recommendations: I previously had a Topeak aero wedge (medium), great 'no frills' cheap bag for carrying 2 tubes with lots of room for everything. Current is an old Ortleib mini, great to quickly remove & refit, although after many years the plastic saddle clip has worn so it can rattle a little over rough roads.
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European Posterior Man-Satchels aren't allowed.
 
AndyCr15 said:
As a beginner with next to no kit, I appreciate the links in your post @Roady . Great if others can do similar to help me put my own kit together. :)
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I found some good bits on planet x...

50p co2 canisters

https://www.planetx.co.uk/i/q/TOBACO2/barbieri-co2-cartridge

A cheap lightweight co2 regulator...

https://www.planetx.co.uk/i/q/TOBAJS/barbieri-new-jet-set-100psi-co2-pump

(Alrhough I've found one that's in line and easier pack... Zefal EZ Control... that I'm going to get instead)

A good cheap superlightweight pump...

https://www.planetx.co.uk/i/q/TOBANO/barbieri-nano-100psi-pump

(There are alternatives that go to higher psi but I'm not sure they're worth the extra expensive)
 
garnett said:
I found some good bits on planet x...

50p co2 canisters

https://www.planetx.co.uk/i/q/TOBACO2/barbieri-co2-cartridge

A cheap lightweight co2 regulator...

https://www.planetx.co.uk/i/q/TOBAJS/barbieri-new-jet-set-100psi-co2-pump

(Alrhough I've found one that's in line and easier pack... Zefal EZ Control... that I'm going to get instead)

A good cheap superlightweight pump...

https://www.planetx.co.uk/i/q/TOBANO/barbieri-nano-100psi-pump

(There are alternatives that go to higher psi but I'm not sure they're worth the extra expensive)
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@AndyCr15... Just to add to this... I got one of these as a shot to nothing...

https://www.planetx.co.uk/i/q/BABLVIPZW/blackburn-vip-zip-ride-wallet

bc4bn8Q.jpg
Its too small for my needs but it fits the Nano pump, 1 innertube, a co2 cartridge and valve, a multitool, tyre levers, and some patches...

It's well made, and has a waterproof zip. For £2 it's a bargain.
 
I've settled on a set-up for now at least....

The cheap £2 Blackburn bag/pouch from Planet X that I mentioned before, containing:-
  • Two generic tyre levers
  • Low profile hex bit ratchet
  • Assorted hex bits
  • Topeak Torqbox Nano 5nm
  • Patches
  • Barbieri Nana mini-pump
  • Inner tube
  • Co2 cartridge valve
  • £20 note
As well as this, I've got 2 co2 cartridges attached under the saddle, using some cutoffs of innertubes and some velcro cable tidies.

gxSK04U.jpg

I set out with a requirement for 2 innertubes but changed tack. The small pack is a really attractive size - it disappears inro a jersey pocket and for short rides it should suffice. For longer rides I'll shove another tube in another pocket.

The Torqbox Nano allows for tightening my carbon seat post. Topeak now do a 2-8nm improved version but it's £35 (as compared to £15 for this older 5nm version I picked up).

The Nana pump looks impossibly small and I've yet to test it but it was cheap, tiny, and weighs 30g.

The Zefal EZ co2 valve is neater to pack because its an in-line tube rather than the more common 90 degree bend format, but it controls flow via a screw tap which can't completely close off the flow. This is ridiculous, and means I'm looking for an alternative.
 
iguanoid said:
Had really bad luck / poor performance from a set of Vittorias recently that left me with a split side wall 40k from anyway, 1200m up in Cedar Valley, Cyprus.
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Gah. Just bought myself some Vittorias. Which were you using? I was swayed by the graphene in their Rubino Pro G+.
 
AndyCr15 said:
I've had a couple of punctures recently and my bigger concern now is generally getting air pressure back in once fixed/replaced. I have one of these and tend to find I don't get enough air in. There are two possible reasons. 1) I'm just not pumping hard enough, long enough 2) It's not a good pump.

I think it's very possibly option 1. I pump and pump and to the feel of my hand squeeze, it seems good. I then hop on and can see it's not enough pressure. I should probably just hop back off and get pumping again, but so far I've generally only had a few miles to go, so just get home and use my larger pump to get up to the correct PSI.

Is there a better pump out there I can take with me? Or should I just put more effort in. I notice one review says he gets up to 110psi with this pump, so I assume I just need to put more effort in?

**EDIT** I'm actually also ordering some CO2 and a control valve...
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My approach is to take an extra canister or 2 of CO2, and have a tiny pump for absolute emergency use only.

(I've also got a Presta-to-Schrader adapter valve so I can use a car garage pump in a pinch)
 
Yup, and co2 isn't great for the tubes either iirc. If you fix a puncture out on a road and reinflate with co2, once you get back home I think you're meant to deflate and pump back up with regular air.
 
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