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While commuting or touring I use a off road trekking bike with racks, a water-proof bag and some tools in case of flat tyres.

In my day trips I prefer my fitness bike and I want to be "fast and light" so I have no racks and bags. In my saddle minibag I have only a multitool and a tube. What else should I carry (e.g a pump) and with which way?

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kostas
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9 Answers9

31

In my opinion, minimal set of what to carry:

  • Bare Minimum: (able to call a taxi and pay them to get you to a bike shop or to home)
    1. Cell phone.
    2. ID (I prefer both a photo ID such as driver's license and something useful to emergency personnel like a Crash Tag/Road ID. So I can buy a beer at the halfway point and have something useful in case there's an accident and I'm unconscious)
    3. Some form of payment (cash, atm card, credit card, whatever)
    4. Water (bottle in a bottle cage)
  • Optional, but I'd never leave home without these: (because a flat tire is your most common problem)
    1. Pump, or CO2 valve and a couple CO2 cartridges, or a pump with the CO2 valve and 1 CO2 cartridge. CO2 is faster and smaller, but you can basically only handle as many flats as you have cartridges.
    2. tire levers (2 is easier, 1 might be sufficient)
    3. 1 spare tube
    4. patch kit (pre-glued patches or patches and glue)
    5. Any tool needed for wheel removal (not needed for quick-release hub)
  • Optional, but I always have for a ride longer than half an hour: (dealing with most problems)
    1. Energy bar or some other sort of small portable food item (low blood sugar when you need to pedal for another hour sucks).
    2. Small multitool that can adjust brakes, derailers, and at least temporarily deal with saddle issues. Also good to include chain tool, spoke wrenches...
  • Really optional, but I usually have these: (and they're all quite tiny)
    1. A couple nitrile gloves, so you can deal with drivetrain repairs more cleanly. Especially if you have handlebar tape/grips in any color but black. Useful when doing any chain repairs, but also comes in handy if you encounter a medical incident along your route.
    2. A masterlink for your chain (if chain breaks, use chain breaker in multitool to remove broken link, masterlink to put chain back together and avoid your big ring until you replace the chain)
    3. Medications. I usually have a few Ibuprofen and a couple Benadryl. Ibuprofen for aches and Benadryl in case I get stung by something I'm allergic to. (not allergic enough to need epipen)

Basically, the most likely problem on the road is getting a single flat. The next most likely is getting two flats (running through some glass that gets both tires or not getting the first flat quite fixed right). So you need to be able to handle a flat and preferably two. If you have a few small bills (or an energy bar wrapper) you can use one to temporarily patch the tire if there's a big hole in the tire itself.

I like having 1 tube and a patch kit because swapping a tube is faster (especially with slow leaks) and it's possible to get a flat you can't really patch (too big, valve stem sheared off while pumping, etc).

After that everything else is much less likely to go wrong. Brakes having an issue or the saddle sliding back are possible. Running out of energy is possible. But those other non-flat things are unlikely enough that being able to call a friend or taxi or something like that is a sufficient backup plan.

That's a small enough set of things you can carry it in a jersey pocket or saddle bag. Pump can mount next to the water bottle cage or might fit in the bag.

freiheit
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    +1 for the payment. No matter how much gear you've got with you something could go wrong necessitating a trip to the LBS, a train or taxi home. – Mac Sep 08 '11 at 00:08
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    In addition to ID, in the US I carry a health insurance card. – Mike Samuel Sep 02 '12 at 16:06
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    To all this stuff I would add a pack (10pcs) of paper tissues. Not only for nose-issues... – krzyski Jun 02 '16 at 14:42
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    The multitool is optional?! That's the most important item on the list and absolutely not optional. – Carey Gregory Mar 29 '17 at 20:44
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    @CareyGregory Most important? I'm guaranteed to get thirsty. I'm more likely to get a flat, get hungry or want to buy something than I am to need anything that calls for the multitool. – freiheit Mar 30 '17 at 02:03
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    @freiheit When you say "multitool" you mean one of those sets of folding hex wrenches, right? There are several 'most important items' on that list, but I certainly wouldn't consider hex wrenches optional. Not being able to tighten a screw can be every bit the show stopper a flat can be. – Carey Gregory Mar 30 '17 at 05:05
  • With serious puncture proof tires, even the pump / CO2 / patchkit / tire lever / spare tube become optional. I would carry tire levers and a spare tube on multiday rides (no pump, I use Schrader valves, so the next gas station will do), but won't bother for single day rides. – cmaster - reinstate monica Aug 23 '20 at 19:54
  • Gloves are useful to stop rattles - I wedge one into a small plastic screwtop jar with other smalls in it like master links. Can also carry some water in one at a pinch though they tend to pop when overinflated. Downside, latex ones go manky after a while, nitrile ones tend to last a bit better. – Criggie Aug 24 '20 at 12:23
  • And depending on how your wheel is attached (quick release/thru or bolts ?), I will add to the first optional the tool to remove the wheel. Fixing a tube with the wheel on the bike can be difficult (doable but not fun) .... – Brice Oct 25 '20 at 10:01
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I'd bring a spare tube and a CO2 inflator; these are light and small, and you might even be able to fit a spare cartridge or two. Actual pumps are bulkier, and the smaller pumps without a hose tend to do a terrible job, particularly with the slightly more fragile Presta valves you find on road bikes. (I'm assuming from "fitness bike" that you're talking about a road bike.)

You already have the saddle bag to carry all this in.

That multitool is pretty vital, so hang onto that. One that has a chain tool would be best.

You'll want a pair of tire levers to get the tire off the rim. There are some multitools that have these built into the tool housing, but I've found they don't work as well as decent standalone tire levers.

It makes sense to bring along a patch kit in case you have more than one flat. Something else to boot the tire in case of a sidewall puncture can be handy. You can use a dollar bill or an energy bar wrapper for this, though. You can also bring duct tape wound around a stubby pencil for this: It takes up little room, and you've got duct tape with you. (A million household uses!)

Of course, as one of the commenters has pointed out, you'll want a water bottle and a bottle cage. How many bottles you bring depends on your carrying capacity. You can toss some energy bars in a jersey pocket as well.

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  • That's about covers my kit, except that I still carry a hand pump (http://catalog.alamedabicycle.com/product/crank-brothers-alloy-power-frame-pump-ultra-silver-sku-pu8116-qc53.htm). I find it works quite well even with presta valves, and the high volume/high pressure modes actually allow filling a new tube to a reasonable air pressure in no time. – zigdon Sep 07 '11 at 17:33
  • @Neil Fein. Well my "fitness" bike is Specialized Sirrus. In my country that's how they describe all these "almost" road bikes. I don't know if its an international term or not. – kostas Sep 07 '11 at 17:40
  • That's what we would call a hybrid; no change in my answer, though. Is this a UK term? If so, maybe this term should be added to our Dictionary of regional vocabulary differences (US vs UK) – Goodbye Stack Exchange Sep 07 '11 at 18:38
  • @NeilFein As a British cyclist, I've never heard the term "fitness bike" and, for example, Evans Cycles (a major UK retailer) refers to the Specialized Sirrus as a hybrid, which is the word I'd use, too. – David Richerby Mar 30 '17 at 09:29
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    @NeilFein I've just discovered that, ironically, Evans describes my own bike as "a perfect fitness bike"! – David Richerby Apr 05 '17 at 15:50
  • I do not believe actual pumps are bulkier, my Micro Rocket is 65 grams and is able to make full road bike pressure if pumping long enough. And one never runs out of cartridges. It sits below my bottle holder and does not really get in the way of anything. – Vladimir F Героям слава Aug 24 '20 at 18:01
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  1. Water
  2. Cell phone
  3. Phone number of a reliable buddy to call if you need help
Daniel R Hicks
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