epnnf

Seriously. In my experience, 99% of mechanicals are flat tires, the rest are things a multi-tool can't fix- frayed cable, broken saddle bolt. Yes, I carry one; but I've never used it.

Bill Kapaun

I just carry 3-4 loose "GOOD QUALITY" hex wrenches with my patch kit.
Never needed those either.

I think the odds of messing up things with multi tools is much greater than job specific tools.

dsbrantjr

I prefer to carry the few hex L-wrenches my bike requires, small groove joint pliers and screwdriver for derailleurs, along with a few other needed tools, a few links of chain, a couple of quick links and a mini chain tool all wrapped in a cloth to silence them and to clean up with. It ends up being lighter and more useful than multi-tools, which suck for most tasks. A patch kit, spare tube and frame pump for flats; I don't run tires I cannot dismount/remount by hand. I try hard to keep my bike maintained and often use my kit to help other riders.

Digger Goreman

I like this tool:
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4000...chweb201603_53

and supplement it with a generic pair of pliers and hex keys from a dismantled bell tool. On rare occasions, being able to create a sliding T-handle is to my advantage. But mostly the multi-tool does the necessary work.

jon c. 

Why? It's an article of faith.

But I've never actually used it.

silverado8405

For when your friend doesn’t take his trainer adapter off his thru axle and didn’t bring wrenches with him, saved me 4 times last year. Also mine has a chain breaker that doubles as a spoke wrench, very handy the few times I’ve popped a spoke and needed to semi true it to keep it from rubbing the frame.

79pmooney

I've never owned a bicycle multitool. That said, a Leatherman has always gone on my non-city rides. The general rule is that multitools are inferior to the specific tools they replace. My Leatherman does several jobs so well that I set aside my regular tools and use it. Pulling the tiny wires out of tires with the pliers. Nearly the ability of good tweezers to get to the wire with far more grip and pull. If improvising has to be done, the Leatherman has a great blade and excellent choices of screwdrivers and poking and scraping tools. If I had to spend an unplanned night far from home, I would much rather have a Leatherman than a multitool. (Or perhaps have to stay in large animal country. That blade could turn a large branch into a serviceable spear.)

Edit: all of my bikes have the hex wrenches and tools specific to that bike (6" crescent or Pedros Trixie for my fix gears for example). But not all the tools. Just ones I feel might be needed, Iffy wheel? I'll keep a spoke wrench in the bag.

Ben

Troul 

Gerber with M4 set has been a useful multitool, mainly aiding to others.

Umeme

I can ask you why not

It's a small item, weighting around 200 grams, which enables you to fix some small problems. Also, on some, you have integrated CO2 dispenser.

I have Lezyne RAP - 21 CO2:

https://ride.lezyne.com/collections/...mt-rap-v321t04

shine2000

for me its just in case one of my rims is rubbing my vbrakes
self defense maybe?

tomtomtom123

I found the Topeak rocket ratchet (lite version) to be useful, for $20. The ratchet function makes it easier to use in tight spaces, and the bits can be inserted into the end, parallel to the length of the wrench, in case there isn't enough space for a right angle turn. It's incredibly light and compact. I don't carry the pouch though. I just stick all the bits and the wrench into a plastic bag to save weight and space. There are other packages instead of the lite version, either with a chain breaker tool, or with a 4, 5, 6Nm torque clicker adapter.
https://www.topeak.com/global/en/pro...rocket-lite-dx
https://www.topeak.com/global/en/pro...ket--lite-ntx+
https://www.topeak.com/global/en/pro...cket--lite-dx+
https://www.topeak.com/global/en/pro...cket--lite-ntx



There is another version that comes with a very large variable 2-6 Nm torque adapter, without clicks. You have to read the line on the scale as you turn the wrench. It's too big to fit in small spaces though. The problem with either the 4, 5, 6Nm clicker or the 2-6Nm variable version is that you can only use it to turn clockwise. You must remove the adapter before turning the wrench counterclockwise.




There is an X Tools copy that is very similar and comes with the (same?) 4, 5, 6Nm torque clicker adapter, for around $30-40, from England or Germany. I've never tried these torque clickers.



I needed torque readings up to 8 or 10 Nm. So I tried the feedback sports range torque wrench. It has a dial that reads the torque, measured simply by the bending of a beam attached to the lever knob. It's ok, but the dial has some kind of internal friction that reduces the reading by about 0.5Nm in either direction, whether you are pressing or releasing the lever. It means that when you release the lever, the beam doesn't always return back to a neutral position. It wiggles around a little bit and gets stuck in the min/max wiggle positions, because of the internal friction of the dial. It means that when you try to reset the dial to zero, you might be off by +/-0.5Nm. I just wiggle the lever a little bit and try to center the lever in the middle of the wiggle range before reseting the dial to zero. The dial is only on the top side. There is no reading on the bottom side. Turning the wrench counterclockwise is fine, although I would grab the main body of the wrench and not the lever when doing so. It usually costs $80, but some places charge $70.
I loaded the knob with 5Nm and 10Nm of weights by hanging a box of screws with a string. When accounting for the +/-0.5Nm of friction in the dial, I was getting around 4.7Nm and 9.3Nm, which was close enough for me. I also stick the wrench and bits in a plastic bag, and do away with the pouch.
The feedback range is wider, thicker, longer, and a little heavier than the topeak rocket ratchet, but the extra length of the feedback range gives you a little bit more leverage, while giving you an immediate torque reading.


The Feedback sports range is actually a modified (licensed?) Prestacycle torqratchet, with the dial mechanism attached to the end. The dial wheel on the Feedback has a longer linear distance than the spacing of the simple and tiny painted markings on the Prestacycle. The dial can be calibrated, while the painted lines cannot be calibrated. I have never seen the Prestacycle in person, but just by looking at the Feedback Range, I can tell that the dial wheel on the Feedback is easier to judge the torque. However, the prestacycle has painted scales on both the top and bottom sides, While the feedback range can only be read from the top. The Prestacycle is much cheaper though, at $30-40. I would prefer the Feedback if it weren't so expensive.
https://www.prestacycle.com/product/...orque-ratchet/


So I usually carry the Feedback Sports Range torque ratchet wrench with me, with all the bits. It works for almost all the roadsize maintenance that I need to do. For more intensive work, like removing chainring bolts or the fender, I'll need another wrench. I usually only need a socket for M5 nuts, so I will use the topeak rocket ratchet with an M5 nut socket. For adjusting H and L limit screws, on the RD, the topeak rocket with the cross bit on the parallel end works ok. The H and L limit screws on my FD is a hex socket, and the wrenches are too big to fit, so I will carry small allen wrench keys for 2.0, 2.5, and 3.0mm sizes.

HillRider

I carry a Park MT-1 "Dogbone" multitool on all of my bikes. It's light at 40 grams, small and inexpensive but durable. It has 3,4,5,6 and 8 mm hex keys, a small flat screwdriver and 8,9 and 10 mm box wrenches. The larger hex keys are oriented to have decent leverage. It and a Ritchey CT-5 chain tool , three tire levers and a CO2 inflator valve and cartridges have accomplished all of my road side fixes, mostly on other people's bikes.

frankenmike 

OP, I carry one in hopes I won’t need it.

rumrunn6

The thing I carry that is useful - has folding Allen wrenches and a philips head screwdriver

daoswald

I carry a Topeak Mini-9 on my road bike, and a Topeak 18+ on my hybrid / commuter bike.

On my road bike the Mini-9 has mostly been useful when dialing in adjustments to the FD limit screws and seat height. But once I get those set, I don't tend to make changes. So yes, the Mini-9 gets very infrequent use.

On my hybrid the only times I've used the mini tool have been, again for adjusting seat height, setting limit screws, and for tightening the rear rack. But all these are things I could do within a quarter mile of my garage.

There have been entire seasons that I leave the mini tool home. And then I start getting this irrational fear that I'm going to break down 30 miles from home and not be able to do anything about it. My wife is an unreliable rescue service, so I over-prepare a little.

It's a different story if I'm using my bike for weekend getaway transportation. When I was single I used to drive from Portland to Anacortes WA, ride my bike onto the ferry, and use the bike all weekend on San Juan Island, living on my boat in Friday Harbor. For that sort of thing carrying a mini tool was a lot more useful.

Spoonrobot 

I carry a Crankbros M19 as well as a Chinese OEM "pirhana tool".

The M19 comes in handy maybe a dozen times a year, mostly for minor adjustments for fit and/or creaking diagnosis during a ride. Maybe 1-2 times a year I use it for something major - I've repaired 4-5 broken chains and trued wheels after broken spokes. It gets carried much more than used obviously.

I used to carry a small Leatherman P4 for the pliers - handy with tubeless values and cores - until I bent a chainring tooth getting rad and found the pliers too small to effectively bend it back and allow shifting. I replaced with the pirhana multi and found the adjustable wrench tool more than capable for my needs.

Oh I also carry a pocket knife but that's definitely used sparingly - only things I can think of recently are cutting a replacement cable to length (after mine snapped during the ride) and bushwhacking after our group came to a washed out bridge with only reroute options adding 30 miles to a 200k.

So I don't disagree with your statement, but sometimes it worth it to be prepared for the 1%.

phughes

Why not? It depends on how far you are going though. If you are close to home, no biggie, of you want to call someone to get you if something happens, though rare, or walk home. For me, I carry a multi tool, and other tools, all the time. Of course I am sometimes touring so it makes more sense. Even so, I am often where there is no cell signal, and 30 or more miles from home or my car.

freeranger

I've gotten a fair amount of use out of mine-just hex wrenches with a std.and phillips head screwdriver--mostly on other rider's bikes, mainly for adjustments here and there. Many I ride with are not mechanically inclined, so I take care of things for them as needed. Also carry CO2, in addition to some other things, and have only used the CO2 on a fellow rider's bike. My seat bag could be abbreviated as SAG.

MNebiker

Why not?

Late one night 30 years ago my car stranded us on the highway with a problem that I could have fixed with a couple of screwdrivers. Since then there is always a small tool box in each car. Current car is electric so there is probably not much I could do roadside, but the habit persists.

I do the same with the bike - it's cheap insurance. I carry a multi-tool, a small crescent wrench, spoke wrench, chain tool, a couple of tire levers, a spare tube, some patches, alcohol wipes, bandaids, a small roll of electrical tape, and a Zfal frame pump. If that can't fix it, I also carry an iPhone and a $20 bill - I don't want to walk home.

I've never had to fix my own bike but have done a couple of quick repairs for others who had some issues. And the bandaids came in handy when I helped pick up a hotdog who missed a curve and landed in the timber!

billridesbikes

I carry a multi tool and a Leatherman ‘Juice’. Last time I used the multi tool it was fixing a loose water bottle cage a couple year ago, and I needed the little pliers on the Leatherman to pry a roofing nail out of a tire that went in and bent at the rim dicing up the inner tube. I guess I only use the tools once every 10k miles or so, but I always carry them anyway.

DiabloScott

You haven't been riding long enough.

I almost never need it, but I've done chain repairs, derailleur adjustments, brake adjustments, etc
I also carry two spare tubes and a patch kit.

Elvo

Sometimes making a minor adjustment on yours or your buddy's bike can mean the difference between finishing the ride or calling uber.

rydabent

I carry a bike multi tool and a leatherman multi too. And-----------a 6 inch crescent wrench. Funny thing is the crescent wrench is what I have used most, when I have stopped to help other riders that carry nothing.

But why not carry one or two mulit tools they are small and light, and you never know what you might run into.

canklecat

I have a couple of multitools with chain tools and those have been useful on a couple of rides for other folks in group rides.

And I've used the wrenches several times when tweaking bike fit stuff -- stem height with quill stems; bar angle with quill and threadless; saddle height (one of my road bikes doesn't have a quick release for the seat post), tilt and fore/aft position. When I know I'll be adjusting stuff during a test ride I'll tuck the multi-tool in my jersey pocket rather than the seat bag.

I've tweaked wheel wobble a couple of times after hitting potholes pretty hard, or running over a brick once when I was wedged between oncoming trucks passing unsafely on a narrow road. Only clear path had a dang brick in the road. Pinch flatted and had a bit of wheel wobble but no serious damage. So the spoke wrenches were handy that day.

The Spin Doctor Rescue 16 is really good, with chain and spoke tools. But there's no way to fold it completely flat. It includes a neoprene sleeve to sort of keep the chain tool semi-confined, but that just takes up extra room. It goes in my wedge bag on the steel road bike. On the plus side, the Spin Doctor spoke wrench is so handy I use it routinely instead of my shop tool. It serves double duty as leverage for the chain tool, and spins off easily to use detached from the multi-tool.

For my Trek 5900 I wanted something to fit the minimalist Lezyne Road Caddy. That bag just barely holds a single lightweight tube (Conti Race 28 Light), CO2 kit, a couple of plastic levers, a Lezyne patch kit (tiny) and... a Hero Kit multi-tool, the smallest, flattest I've found that includes all the stuff in the Spin Doctor Rescue 16 -- including chain and spoke tools. Everything works. And it fits that tiny Lezyne Road Caddy slip pouch in the lid.


Hero Kit multitool, the thinnest and flattest I've found that features useful chain and spoke tools.
***



Fits in the slip pouch in the Lezyne Road Caddy lid, with the Lezyne patch kit, almost as flat as a credit card. I've since switched to a smaller CO2 tool, and only one cartridge. Everything fits properly, no strain on the zipper.

DOS

I use mine fairly regularly to make small adjustments or eliminate the odd squeak. I never had one with chain breaker, then, in the span of three weeks, two members of my group broke chains and had their ride saved by a group member carrying a Crank Bros M19. So now I have a multitool with a chain breaker.