A Basic Tool Kit for A Safe and Headache-Free Bike Riding

When your bike breaks during a tour, you have one of two choices: fix it or rely on someone else to rescue you. About 99 percent of the time you can cobble together roadside repairs that will allow you to pedal on home or to a bike shop—if, of course, you've taken the time to learn the basics of bike repair and maintenance before you leave on that next long ride. Many bike shops offer clinics on this subject, or you can pick up tips from veteran riders or consult the myriad books on the subject.

What tools do you really need? First, good sense. Repairs and maintenance are easier to do at home, so get your bike in great shape before you head out on the road. Second, think about where you're riding. If you're crossing the back end of nowhere, you better be able to cope with any problem. If you're exploring a major city, you're probably close to a bike shop and all sorts of help.

The heart of more rider’s tool kit is a bike tool. There are a bunch of good ones out there, from simple to massive. A lot of riders have a Park Tool, with the most common Allen wrenches, 8mm and 10mm wrenches, and assorted screwdriver blades. It also contains a spoke wrench, plastic tire irons, and a chain tool that works with the chains on the bike. There are several kinds of chains, and the tools aren't uni versal. Other common tools are also a couple of quick-repair links, which can patch a broken chain without tools. Most have a combination headset/pedal/wheel axle nut wrench, and taped to this are an assortment of odd Allen wrenches for quirky tweaks done to the bikes. Last is a small multipurpose tool, a SOG Pocket PowerPlier, which gives you pliers, wire cutters, and a file—plus an assortment of screwdrivers and openers—in a 5.5-ounce package. Leatherman, Gerber, and Kershaw make similar ones.

On a long or isolated trip you might add a six-inch adjustable wrench and chain lubricant. You should also have a small bottle of a general-purpose lubricant. Finish ing it off is a small roll of stretchy black electrician's tape, which works for rim tape, seat repairs, handlebar tape, whatever. In your first aid kit there should be a small flash light and tweezers.

For parts, you should carry a brake cable and a derailleur cable, both sized for the rear of the bike. A cable cutter would be nice, but you can shorten a cable with the multipurpose tool and then squeeze a cable-end sleeve to prevent fraying of the end. You should carry spare spokes, too. There are folks who carry a Kevlar cord gizmo that can be used as an emergency replacement spoke. You should pack three or four nut-and-bolt combos sized for racks and/or fenders, and usually a spare water-bottle cage bolt in a plastic bag. On a longish ride you should take a pair of brake pads.

If you get a flat—and you surely will if you ride long enough—you should have a flat bag with the following items:

A spare tube with the same valve as what's on your bike. A Schrader valve won't fit through a Presta valve hole, and the smaller Presta valve needs a rubber gasket adapter to fit in a Schrader hole. Two spare tubes are better.

Tire levers. Plastic is better than metal, and a screwdriver used as a sub stitute will gouge a hole in your tube every time.

Patch kit. Use the kind with a tube of glue. These make a permanent patch.

A boot. This is a 1-by-2-inch piece of tough cloth from a wrecked sewn-up tire or even a chunk of very thin tube. You put it between your tube and tire to cover over a cut in the tire. A gash through the tire body will flex and eat a hole in the tube.

Wrench. If your bike has bolt-on wheels, you'll need a correctly-sized open-end box or socket wrench to loosen the axle nuts and remove the wheel.

A pump. Use a short frame pump, small enough to tuck into a jersey pocket, with a fairly accurate gauge and a short rubber hose. It supplies 120 psi, and the rubber air hose means you can accidentally wobble the pump without ripping the valve stem out of the tube.

You can add a folding tire in case of terminal damage.

Don't forget to check all major compo nents at the end of each day's ride on extended trips, which can head off a potentially dangerous situation on the road the next day, or at least help you avoid annoying delays.