TSWisla

My son and I are planning some more touring trips where we bring in our gear on our bikes and camp along trails. What should we bring as far as repair/fix-it items? I have a Lezyne SV tool, a mini hand pump from Target and a small bottle of lube. What else do I need? A patch kit? One of those tools for removing tires? Thank you!

Maelochs

Depends how far you plan to be from help, whether you will have cell phone reception, and what you know how to fix.

I would bring a pocket full of quick links for the chain, some cables, tubes and patch kit, a spoke wrench .... how much more would depend on where I was going and how long I planned to be gone. Definitely a set of tire irons. I recommend a small crescent wrench just in case.

Think what might break. Think what you might need to and be able to fix.

In my experience spokes can be an issue if you are very heavily loaded. You don't see a curb or pothole and "Twang!" There are rope spokes of some king ... otherwise you need to bring probably three different sizes and a cassette puller and chain whip. If you have a spoke wrench and are going to be near a shop in a day or two sometimes you can loosen the brakes and tighten the other spokes to get a wheel straight enough to limp along.

spinnaker

I bring:

3 tubes
patch kit just in case.
Air pump (get a Topeak Road Morph throw the Target pump in the garbage)
Tire boot made from old jeans or fake leather.
Lube
Spare chain links and master link
brake cable
shifter cable
spare spoke and or fiber fix spokes
Topeak Alien tookkit
Wire
Duct tape
Small screws and nuts for rack repair
extra p-clamp


Also when not camping, I carry a space blanket in case I get caught out.

jefnvk

How far are you going?

Regardless if touring or just riding, I always have a spare tube (for every size/valve combination on the bikes riding), tire levers, a pump, and if necessary, a wrench to take off a nutted wheel. Touring for anything longer than a normal ride I'd have a second tube, and a patch kit, as well as a multi tool with various hex/torx/screwdriver heads to fit the fasteners on my bike, just in case anything wiggles loose. Small adjustable wrench is handy too.

Make sure your pump can actually inflate your tires to the proper level. I like the Topeak Morph line of pumps, some of the department store ones just don't cut it.

Other than that, there is a Touring subforum here too, feel free to poke around and ask questions there!

TSWisla

For now we are going for 2 days and 100 miles. I did not realize that there was a touring forum, my apologies, I will check it out. Thank you.

I really can't do any repairs except for changing a tire, where can I read up on how to do some of the repairs mentioned in this post?

Maelochs

Park Tools website and YouTube videos is where I have been learning.

jefnvk

If you've got an REI or Performance Bike near you, both offer free basic maintenance classes too.

mstateglfr 

Lots of good advice so far.

Ill just add that if you are riding in populated(or even semi-populated) areas, then what you need to bring along is a lot less.

tubes, tire levers, pump, a quick link or two, and whatever is needed to attach/detach stuff from your frame(be that hex wrenches, screwdrivers, etc). A complete mini-tool usually covers that last need.

Spokes break, but rarely. https://www.modernbike.com/product-2...e3thoCNT_w_wcB
One or two of these should be more than you will ever need. Assuming you have 32 or 36 spoke wheels, you could just open the brake caliper and ride a slightly wobbly wheel to the closest town with a bike shop to get the correct spoke.

There is always being prepared and there is over preparing. One makes touring fun and the other makes touring mentally and physically taxing.

Maelochs

I have never used fiberfix but it seems they work and are Way better than trying to change and carry regular spokes.

cyccommute 

I'll have to disagree. Spoke breakage is far more common than chain breakage. I've carried a quick link since 2003 on 7 or 8 tours up to 1500 miles and never used it. On the other hand, I've broken several spokes. I have a Fiberfix but have yet to use it.

I'll have to disagree with some of this too. In roughly 10,000 miles of touring, I've never broken a cable of any kind. In fact, I've never broken a cable, period. I've had some fray from being clamped too tight but they still function and certainly don't require immediate replacement.

3 tubes is also somewhat excessive, although I have gone through 4 tubes...two in the tires and two spares... in the first 25 miles of a tour because of the hell that crappy Continental tires put me through.

Finally, I suggest Tyvek envelopes for boot material. It's very tough, it weighs nothing, takes up nearly zero space and you can get them from the US Post office. Much better than old tires, jeans or hyde of the naugah.

dual650c

Most frequent repairs for me whether just riding or touring require just a couple tools - tire repair kit, multi-tool and a small pair of needle nose pliers. Despite that, I carry more (most of which has been mentioned above) including Fiberfix spike repair, a single spare spoke, 2 tubes if out for a day ride/4 if on tour, a CO2 cartridge inflator in addition to my pump, 2 spare master links, plastic tire boot, both spare brake and shifter cables [on tour only], spare smart phone battery in addition to/despite ensuring the smart phone is 100% charged on day rides and misc other small items.

For free repair instruction, I can't recommend Youtube videos enough. Pick a repair and do a search for it. There's probably a video about it. While I feel my repairs are generally successful to the point of being rideable, I'm no professional - but I've learned most of what I do know from Youtube. I've only had to do a walk or call of shame due to my own repair twice - I didn't have the tool or repair piece with me.

Hardrock23

Good idea ^
I have taken the basic maintenance class level 1 & 2 at REI and they are good and both free. They also have a "Hands-on Bike Maintenance Class" as well. You'll learn to do the basics on your own bike. Though that one costs $50 for non-members, $30 for members, in my area though I can't imagine it's much different in other places.

indyfabz

If you bikes and tires are well maintained, I would not bring anything other than the following for what you have planned:


2 or 3 spare tubes (assuming both bikes have the same wheel sizes)
Patch kit
Good pump like the Topeak Road Morph G
Tire levers or whatever you normally use to remove tires
Some sort of tool that has a set of allen wrenches


Hell. That and a spoke wrench is all I brought with me during my two-week, 800+ mile trip in MT and ID last month.

Maelochs

Cable breakage is not an issue .... even if it happens you can keep riding. But ... cables weigh nothing and take no space.
The idea isn’t that I will need all or even any of that stuff on every ride. The idea is that if I Do need it I don’t want to be thinking, “Wow ... I saved three ounces in loaded weight and now will be pushing my 80-lb rig up and down hills for the next 22 hours to get to a store.”

Last unsupported long tour I rode, I brought a spare Tire .... and needed it.

I was carrying 80+ lbs of gear on a 30-lb bike .... all food and lots of water .... so a spare tire at 300 grams didn’t seem like a burden. And when I couldn’t boot the old tire and it was in the trash, the tire on my rim didn’t seem heavy at all.

Same with a tube or patch kit .... what, 90 percent of rides I don’t need one? Maybe more. but when I do, .... I never once regretted having a tube and pump. And the one time I went through all my tubes and didn’t have a patch kit and had to push the bike home ... it was only four miles, but I was pretty PO’d at myself for four miles.

indyfabz

When deciding what to take, I evaluate the chances of needing something and the ability to make due without it if I don't take it and something does happen to go wrong. I took a spare tire on my Black Hills trip primarily because I would be riding the Mickelson Trail, which is rough in places and presents areas with limited or no opportunities to even get a ride from someone should something go wrong. I had also planned to head to a very remote area of Nebraska using some dirt roads. In contrast, I would not dream of talking a spare tire on one of favorite three-day getaways to S. Jersey which is all on paved roads and which is never far from civilization. If worse came to worst, I could get "rescued" by a friend or even possibly catch a cab part of the way home. And where does it end? Spare crank just in case? What if the handlebars crack? Spare saddle in case the rails break?


In the case of the OP's particular trip (100 total miles in two days on a trail), and assuming the bikes are well maintained as I wrote in my post, what are the odds of needing, say, stuff to fix a chain or cable even if he had the technical know how to do it? I would say extremely slim to none. More than 44,000 bike miles crossing the country with a small group. Not one chain or cable issue among the lot of us. Throw out the one guy who was cheap and refused to spend money on quality tires, I would be surprised if we had even 30 flats between the remaining 12 of us. I know I only had two. And no ne experienced any mechanical problem that prevented them from getting to a LBS, even when that meant a couple of days of riding.


Just my philosophy, and it's worked so far over 15K loaded miles. To each his own.

jefnvk

I was asked why I would take cone wrenches to Iceland. My buddies thought it was silly until my bike box came out of the conveyor with my front axle sticking out of the side of the box, and the locknut having loosened up from being knocked around by baggage and conveyor belts.

It didn't save me much walking, but it did save me a $50 bus ride and whatever labor at a shop that may or may have not been open on a Sunday would have cost.

cyccommute 

There are lots of items that "weigh nothing and take no space" but that doesn't mean you need to carry them. I agree tat cable breakage isn't an issue which is why I wouldn't carry one. I've had cable housing split but I don't carry extra cable housing.

Flats are an issue so you should carry the equipment to repair it. Broken spokes are common enough to carry either extra spokes or a Fiberfix. But there are other mechanical issues that are so rare that there's no need to carry parts or equipment to fix them.

Tires are another one of those items that I just don't see the need to carry extras. I split a tire on a rock...not badly enough to flat but badly enough to wobble. I replaced it with a tire from Helmart about 20 miles later. Helmets also have tubes, patch kits and cables. I hate shopping there but I've found that's about the only place to shop out in the hinterlands of the US.

Maelochs

Don't we all? Neither would I. Don't know where it ends but so far we agree it sometimes extends as far as a spare tire.
Did a similar trek in 2015 ... lots of flats to tire wires because we had to ride along side some highways in the first week ... after that, just the kind of tuneups one could do with a multi-tool and a spoke wrench.
We have the same general philosophy, we just apply it slightly differently specifically.

mstateglfr 

Quote:
Originally Posted by mstateglfr View Post
tubes, tire levers, pump, a quick link or two, and whatever is needed to attach/detach stuff from your frame(be that hex wrenches, screwdrivers, etc). A complete mini-tool usually covers that last need.

Spokes break, but rarely. https://www.modernbike.com/product-2...e3thoCNT_w_wcB
One or two of these should be more than you will ever need. Assuming you have 32 or 36 spoke wheels, you could just open the brake caliper and ride a slightly wobbly wheel to the closest town with a bike shop to get the correct spoke. Of course you do- like a moth to a flame, you must.

You disagree with what?

Disagree with spokes rarely breaking? I guess thats just one of those things where its about perspective and tolerance with each of us being different. I have found that spokes rarely break, and came to that conclusion based on how often a spoke breaking is an issue for me compared to everything else on a bike. Its rare, so I view it as rarely an issue.

My point of claiming spokes rarely break was that if the riding is in a reasonably populated area, perhaps getting 2 of every size spoke is overkill since-
- the odds of neeing 1, much less all, is relatively low.
- its just more to carry and care about.
- with a 32 or 36h wheel, riding to the next town with a shop may be an option.
- fiberfix can...fix the problem.
- the OP doesnt have experience with maintenance and a DS spoke breaking would be something many(most?) tourers would have trouble handling.

Or do you disagree with my claim that 1 or 2 fiberfix is all the OP will need? The odds of a couple bikes breaking more than 2 spokes on a 100 mi camping ride is just incredibly small...so i wouldnt think that comment is what you disagree with.

Or is the disagreement with bringing chain links since you personally havent needed them?

Im just not sure what I typed that was controversial. Bring some stuff to fix common bike problems and bring a couple fiberfix to fix what is probably the most common uncommon issue. Pretty common and solid advice.

Maelochs

Oh, yeah. I have walked into Walmart without shame when I needed a tire or some other common part.

Last time I recall I was maybe seven miles into a 20-mile haul from work to class .... tire split, a dollar bill didn't do it, nothing did it ... I limped to Walmart and bought their cheapest tire and was darned glad to do it.

That tour when I needed the tire ... as I recall it was about ten at might and we were in a really sketchy part of some town which looked okay on the map.

I stopped on the side of the road and changed the tire while my friends looked for a hotel. The guy at the hotel didn't want us to get a room because I guess, people would rent rooms, bag crack, and make deliveries on bikes. We convinced him we needed to sleep and would leave the bikes inside. Finally he relented.

We were lucky to find a convenience store ... eventually. Dinner was crackers and canned Coke (the beverage.) .... Mostly the place sold cigarettes and alcohol.

Hey, that stuff seems fun when you're young and dumb.

jefnvk

Unfortunately they finally got rid of all their 27" tires this spring Although I got a spare 27" folder for $1 on that sale!

If I were in an area where I knew if I made it to the next town, there'd be a big box store or hardware store that stocked spare tires, I wouldn't bother to carry one though.

spinnaker

Cables weigh next to nothing. No a well maintained bike will probably not break a cable but if it happens, you will be glad you have them.

Maelochs

I thought this thread was going to be about psychedelic adventures while travelling. Fighting over the weight of cables is cool too ... I guess.

MarcusT

Tubes. Not just a repair kit. I got a flat the other day and after 20 mins, I still could not find the puncture. I would test the mini pump to make sure it is capable of pumping to a decent pressure. The cheap pumps have difficulty putting in more than 60 psi.

manapua_man

I've crimped together busted cables using those crimps they use on heavy wire fishing leaders before. The only problem was scratching the crap out the paintjob.