Tools of the Trade Hobby.
Training Wheels, Europro. The Costco hand me down stolen borrowed from my mother. This thing was able to do way more than it should have. Most of my gear was made on this machine.
The Upgrade, Sailrite LSZ-1: The workhorse. Some (nit picky) limitations, but the best compromise of walking foot and zig zag stitch I could find in a ‘portable’ machine. Many years of myog’n to come.
The Other Guys: The little things that get the job done.
I am not a bike mechanic, far from it, but I am mechanically inclined and don’t mind working on my bike. Except the brakes of course. Working on brakes has shortened my life, I am quite sure of this. The tools I pack on a tour are based on a few things; my needs for the specific trip and bike, probabilities based on past experience and weight/bulk are probably the top few. I pack enough to put my bike together and take it apart, maintain the bike to a level that allows for smooth and safe travel and in case things break down, I have the bare essentials and know how to repair them. I set up my touring bike with simplicity and ease of repair in mind and this works in chorus with my tool selection.
Experience plays a large role in my tool selection as well. For example in my entire life of riding all kinds of bikes I have only ever once had free hub body fail on me. I was left with nearly 50 km of fixie type spinning to get home so that my derailleur wouldn’t wrap up into the spokes as soon as I started coasting, overall through I was fine with it. I got home safe, went to the shop and got it replaced, cool story. That happened once, ever. Would this have been an inconvenience on a trip? Certainly yes. Would I have been able to ride like a slow track cyclist or posenger for a few days until I got to a place to asses the best way to remedy this? I also think yes. Conversely if I was riding elsewhere say in the middle of the arctic…nevermind.
A second example of experience affecting decision; spare spokes, spoke holders on frames, etc..The only spokes I have ever broken, again in all my years were on my BMX when I used to grind unwaxed brick ledges for fun many moons ago. The spokes would catch, take a few nicks and dings and eventually break. Even that only happened a couple times at most. Not once on a pedaling ride in thousands of km’s have I broken a spoke, so it’s something I’m not overly concerned with. I’m light, my bike is light by touring standards compared to many, my wheels are always hand built by someone I trust and I take care to make sure spoke tension is proper, well close enough to proper anyways. If I was on a 100 lbs bike…I wouldn’t ride, If I was on a 75 lbs bike and I was in the same weight class as say Roy Nelson then I would be more concerned, I’m not, so I’m not. I do carry 4 spare spokes, they’re light and take no space. They’re cut to different lengths because there are different length spokes for different sides of the wheel. I have a Stein cassette removal tool. I have never used it, never practiced using it and never hope to use it. In case things go south I am sure I will enjoy figuring out how to use it in the middle of the night when it’s 3 degrees C and pouring rain and I’m in the ‘middle of nowhere’.
The same goes for spares. I’ve met people that carry 2 chainz wait I meant 2 chains on trips, it works for them, that’s crazy excessive for me. I didn’t see the point but they said they would clean them and swap them out every once in a while. I carry a couple quick links and maybe a couple links of the chain, both our bikes ran fine, cool. There are a couple things that are small and light and can easily be replaced if lost or broken, but without replacements they’d sure make things quite a hassle. Derailleur pulleys, try fashioning one out of a rock and some sticks, in the ‘middle of nowhere’. Chain ring bolts, kind of the same thing. If you’ve got 5 on a crank you could probably get away with losing 2, 3 though and things may get wiggly, maybe I don’t know, I haven’t got that far. If you’re not noticing losing 3 chain ring bolts, you may want to pay a bit more attention, while we’re here make sure your wheels are on proper and your stems tight too.
This has worked well over the years. Again, things get added if I’m running different parts or kit. For example an extra cleat and screws if I’m using clipless pedals. For the most part though this is my base 1 month trip tool kit and the ‘philosophy’ and rationale behind the decisions. Most of the same kit comes on day rides too because way more happens out on a day ride than ever has on a trip, funny how that works.
Tools I usually take all kept in the first stuff sack I ever made.
Spares/Repairs:
Chain Maintenance:
At the end of the day…Identify your needs and your abilities. Realistically asses what is likely to happen and what has happened to you in the past. Asses the magnitude of how if said thing happened on your trip it would affect your trip and then don’t go and pack a tonne more stuff just in case.
Ride on!
Churning Butter 