What do you carry in your bike's tool kit

Had a flat about a week ago and had to push the bike 3 miles home. Time to break down and carry a spare tube and some basic tools. So I am browsing small bags and boxes for the task. The other thing is I want to be able to quickly move said kit to the bike I want to ride. First I need to determine just what I am going to carry .... and really want to keep it light weight. This is what I have come up with ..

Basic stuff:
Inner Tube (deflated)
... it occurred to me that this is/can be specific to the bike, store in cavity under seat
Tire Pump (Park Tool PMP-5 Frame Pump)
Bike Lock (Master Lock 8417D Python Adjustable Locking Cable, 6-Foot X 3/16-Inch Diameter)
Bungees

Tool Box:
Patch Kit (includes core removal tool and 2" square of sandpaper)
Tire Tools
Allen Wrench set, ball end, short handle, 1.5, 2, 2.5, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 10 mm (need to add 4.5mm)
Stanely six-in-one screw driver
[strike]bone wrench[/strike] Stanley 6 inch MaxSteel Adjustable Wrench (max opening = 1 inch)
small vice grip
spoke wrench
knife
7/16 ratchet box end (my rack and trailer hitch use 1/4-20 hex hardware)
[strike]7/8 (22mm) box end wrench (14mm axle in hub motor has really large nuts)[/strike]
flashlight (small single cell LED light)
tape (vinyl electrical ???)
half dozen 6 inch long plastic tie-wraps
wire nuts, length of 16 gauge wire

Inquiring minds want to know: What do others carry in their tool kit ???

There was a similar thread on pedelecs.co.uk a few years ago....

http://www.pedelecs.co.uk/forum/threads/what-do-you-carry-in-your-repair-kit.18901/

Other threads on general subject toolbag contents:
https://endless-sphere.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=61214
https://endless-sphere.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=58964
https://endless-sphere.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=33940

mark5 said:

Other threads on general subject toolbag contents: ...

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Thank Thee 8)

Topeak and Amex.

I Phone. :|

These days I don't bother worrying about weight of the toolkit; as long as it fits in the SB Cruiser's seatbox along with whatever else I want to carry (without using the cargo bed area), I leave it in there.

I'd rather carry less or use lighter weight tools if I could be sure of fixing whatever might go wrong, but since every tool that's in there has a use on the trike (sometimes it takes two for certain things, too), I don't want to take any of them out. Also, some other tools the trike doesn't need are often useful at work or when I am helping someone out, so those stay in there, too.

So right now that includes my regular toolbag that probably weighs 25lbs, and could probably be used to build another trike with if I could only fit a welder and angle grinder in there with it. :lol:

I don't recall all the tools that are in it; I'll see if I can remember to come back and edit a pic in here of it instead of a list.


I also carry a small electric air pump, powered off my lighting battery. (I can't usually practically use a hand or foot pump to re-air a flat tire anymore). I've actually got a lighter socket to install on the trike to wire to that battery so I can use any of the automotive airpumps (or other accessories) without modifying them, so that should I somehow be without a pump (or mine dies, etc), I could borrow one from a car driver, or buy one from a store, if I'm out where I can't reach someplace that has an onsite airpump, like a gas station.

There's also 4 crank-down cargo straps.

Couple of flashlights, the "free" harborfreight ones, plus a solar-rechargeable USB-output battery pack that can power or charge my phone or whatever. Has been handy a couple times.

Some spare bits like a few links of chain, handful of extra 1/4"-20 nuts and bolts, washers, zipties, some short lengths of wire, etc. Mostly I don't need this stuff for the trike, but I used to need it a fair bit for CrazyBike2, and I just never took it out of the toolkit cuz if I do I'll need it the next day. :lol:

Ziploc bag of coupons for various food and grocery places (and HF), kept updated, mostly in case I am out far enough to require food or drink that I didn't have with me; I'm not often out that far anymore, but I still keep it from when I used to do that a lot. On occasion back then I might get caught in a storm of either wind or rain or both that was more than I (or the bike) could handle while riding, and I could wait it out in some fast food place; having coupons for the place would mean less cost. If I wait it out in a grocery store, I could save time from later on and do shopping and save money with the coupons.

With the trike, then unless the wind is just too high, especially if it is extremely gusty, the rain would be unlikely to stop me, since traction is better as is stability, and I'd be much less likely to have to worry about a slide or crash due to the wet roads (at least, not a crash *I* would be causing ). I can also go much slower (down to zero), as it's always upright, whereas with the bike I have to keep going at least 10-15MPH+ to be sure of staying upright in the gusty winds; my joints don't do very well if I have to hold it up with my legs, feet on the ground, especially with gusty winds.

So the trike changes what I can do; mostly expands it, and changes the stuff I have to (or want to) carry all the time.

Well I have refined my list a bit ...

I have never broken a chain so I am mostly concerned about flats. The road tires don't take much air but I have a feeling my arms might get tired with the 700 x 2 inch Big Apples ... they have a lot of volume. Hopefully there would be a gas station nearby with a working compressor ... but I will keep the frame pump just in case. I checked the wrench size in the GM Smart Pie front Hub: 7/8 inch or 22mm and those nuts are tight (for good reason). [strike]I ordered a used 7/8 - 13/16 combination wrench off ebay ($4 shipped). I figure to cut off the unused end to reduce the size/weight.[/strike] Rear axle nuts are 15mm. The 6 inch crescent wrench should handle those and the head is thin enough to tighten the pedals I use as well.
EDIT:
Stanley 6-Inch MaxSteel Adjustable Wrench (max opening 1 inch)
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000NIK9S2


Most of the rest of the fasteners are metric hex socket heads. I have had some of those folding bike keys. They all seem to suck and invariably the size needed is not there. I found a set of short ballpoint allen keys on Amazon ... the only thing it is missing is the oddball 4.5mm that GM uses.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B06Y4GJV7X


A screwdriver is one of those things that is always seems to be needed for something. I have never found a combination screwdriver better that the Stanley six-in-one: 2 cross point, 2 hollow ground straight blades as well as 1/4 and 5/16 hex. It also has a 9/16 steel hex if one needs to get a little extra torque.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00009V431

When I commuted, I carried very similar stuff. I did add a length of wire, and a few wire nuts, in case the battery connectors failed.

Get one of the small bike tool kits though, for your small wrenches, allens, and the screwdrivers. Add some tire irons for getting the tire off.

Other than the tube, it can be pretty small, crescent wrench, bike tool kit, and tire irons can fit in a very small bag. Put all in a ziplock bag, and it carries from bike to bike easier.

LewTwo said:

Hopefully there would be a gas station nearby with a working compressor

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I never count on that, cuz in the valley area it's too high a possibility that someone will have cut the hose off either for pure vandalism or theft, or it'll be ripped off or too damaged to pass air, from someone that parked too far away and instead of moving closer, decided to just keep yanking on it till it reached (although it wouldn't pump air anymore cuz it'd be ripped off at that point).

48v electric air compressor that runs off the bike pack:


I sawed off part of the original housing so it fits better in my bike bag. Of course I also carry the patches and tire levers. This is especially useful if you run a fat bike, as those little hand pumps would take a really long time to fill a fat tire. The pump motor is wound for 48v, so runs straight off my pack without any converter. Pumps a little faster on 52v.

That pump is great... looking now for it!
EDIT Minutes later I thought that was going to be unusual. Thanks for the idea. Mine is ordered! Happy to read it'll run on my 52v.(up to 60v)

if im going more than 40 miles i take my 2kg tool kit and i can fully strip the bike with that also take a few spares ( drailer and hangar chain 2 tubes )

I stopped carrying any tools at all years ago. Build an ebike with absolute reliability.

John in CR said:

I stopped carrying any tools at all years ago. Build an ebike with absolute reliability.

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no such thing as even a standard bike will have the odd issue hit a pot hole ect its best to have the tools to fix over a very long walk

John in CR said:

I stopped carrying any tools at all years ago. Build an ebike with absolute reliability.

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IF, I may be traveling further than my anticipated battery range,... I'll carry only my charger!

Haven't had need of a tool kit, since,... dang, since I had a standard bike!!!

Building with absolute reliability, also means greater durability. And it includes a good maintenance and inspection schedule as well. The reliability factor was a major consideration in my choice of electric, over ICE and it's inherent mechanical weaknesses that would certainly require a "tool kit" and spare parts. I might perhaps consider including a "spare tire" of sorts (foam can or something),... but even todays automobiles barely include a spare of any sort, and rarely have need. And like most automobiles,.... I have better tires than anything "standard".

John in CR said:

I stopped carrying any tools at all years ago. Build an ebike with absolute reliability.

Click to expand...

"Sooner or later everything made by man breaks" --- my father, may he rest in peace

tomjasz said:

That pump is great... looking now for it!
EDIT Minutes later I thought that was going to be unusual. Thanks for the idea. Mine is ordered! Happy to read it'll run on my 52v.(up to 60v)

Click to expand...

tompasz sent me the bangood link ... thank thee

$15.99 == https://www.banggood.com/Wholesale-12V-Car-Air-Compressor-Tire-Inflator-Electronic-Pump-Auto-Vehicle-Inflators-p-56405.html
$27.71 == https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01GVYSFVE
$25.23 == http://www.ebay.com/itm/371996761775

On local rides or commutes, temptation was always to pack an entire workshop... "I'll just toss in this one more thing."
Then I took a couple of long bike trips, on the road for up to weeks at a time, pedal power.
That was an incentive to pack as light as practical.
So here is the took kit I now carry, packed into a little headphone case that is about 4" x 7".
In addition to these tools I normally also carry a spare tube, iphone, wallet, some cash and a bungee cord (never know what you might find on the road and need to strap on the bike to get it home).

Toolkit contents:
-- Leatherman tool (use mainly for knife and needle nose pliers)
-- Bike multitool
-- 6" adjustable wrench
-- tire levers
-- little wrench for adjusting the disc brakes on one of my bikes
-- CO2 inflator
-- Tube patches
-- half dozen little zip ties
-- Spare key for bike lock!

I aways keep the original Leatherman in my pocket. Can't get the sheath, AFAIK.
Also have the mini and the fat multi, but the first is still my fave.