Posted by Les Faber in I have been thinking about pulling together a list of what I think people should have in their bicycle toolkit. Let’s call it an ultimate bicycle toolkit. I polled a couple of friends who I know have the propensity to “think like an Engineer”.
Here’s what we came up with:
I’m going to take a broad definition of what a “tool” is. I’ll break the list into tools that I think everybody who does long distance biking should carry and then some optional items:
Everybody should have:
- Pump / pressure gauge
- Tire levers
- Flat tire repair kit
- Allen key (I like the type where there are different sizes on a single handle – you can get a lot of leverage with these)
- Spoke adjuster
Optional items:
- Multi-purpose tool such a Swiss Army knife
- Screw-driver
- Adjustable wrench
- Black electrical tape (useful for many things that are not electrical)
- Duct tape (the ultimate savior)
- Ty Wraps in various sizes (the other ultimate savior)
And although these are not tools, I recommend that everybody carry:
- A small first aid kit
- Spare inner tube
- Spare spokes (the right size for their wheels)
- Wet wipes to use after a messy repair job
- Spare battery for bike computer
What else? If you think we missed something, add your comments and I’ll update this post
Thanks to my friend Barrie K. of the KNBC for taking the time to pull the bulk of this list together and for taking the nifty photo as seen below.
[...] sure you have a repair kit, etc with you. The only flats I have ever had were when I forgot my repair [...]