Cycling Tools – I Never Leave Home Without These Things

"My saddle bag" by Richard Masoner / Cyclelicious is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0

In essence the only things you need for a day out on the bike are yourself and the bike, however there are a few items that you should take to cover emergencies. Cycling tools, mobile phone money etc are always useful, but exactly what should you take .

I’m not too bothered about the aesthetics of having or not having a saddle bag so every bike I own has a saddle bag with the same basic cycling tools in it:

  • Spare inner tube
  • Tyre Levers
  • Multi tool
  • A couple of thin nitrile gloves – just in case you have to do something grubby.
  • Room for my mobile phone.

As I have more than one bike with each having its own different tyre / wheel combinations and tool requirements, I have a saddle bag for each bike with the right spares for that bike.

Tool roll.

In addition to the specific saddle bag for each bike I carry a small plastic bag with a selection of cycling tools that can be used on any bike this is usually safely stowed in a rear jersey pocket or if I only have one water bottle, will fit in a water bottle tool holder. This roll contains:

  • Mini pump
  • Gas pump
  • Couple of CO2 gas bottles
  • Pen knife
  • Small piece of rubber / plastic to patch a split tyre

In addition to the maintenance / repair kit I also never leave without:

  • Mobile phone in case of emergencies
  • Money for café stop
  • Credit / Debit card in case of emergency.
  • Identification and emergency contact numbers – I use a dog tag, but there are other options such as wrist bands available.
  • Water bottle (filled obviously)
  • GPS – for navigation and tracking – (if it’s not on Strava it didn’t happen!)

How you carry some of this is down to personal preference, for things like the Credit Card & Money I use a small metal business card holder, big enough to get a card, a £20 note and a couple of small coins in and doesn’t take up much room. For other things such as GPS and water bottle, placement speaks for itself.

 

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