Following on from last weekâs podcast - let us know what spares you carry and why? Do you switch it up for different bikes? Do you have one set for all circumstances or one-per-bike/discipline?
What are the essentials and nice to haves?
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âGenuine Innovations Air Chuck CO2 inflator head (RIP, GI)
â2 CO2 canisters
âTPU tube
âCrank Bros M17 mini tool, inside of a black nitrile glove
âTire boot
âA couple of Silca tire levers (cuz theyâre smaller)
âEverythingâs stuffed in an Orucase Saddle Bag HC, a nice small saddle bag
âSilca Tattico mini-pump mounted to the seat tube
âOh, I forgot: Dynaplug Racer!
For standard road rides, I have the Spurcycle chain tool and a TPU tube. I have 60mm wheels, so I had to get one with an 80mm stem - always make sure your valve stems are long enough. I have a valve core tool. I have a tire boot, actually a section of old tire. I have a CO2 in there, but I also have a frame pump, so itâs really redundant. I have a pair of Silca tire levers.
Iâve left a spare master link, a chain tool, and a pair of master link pliers in there. But I am really not convinced I need them. What do other roadies do?
1 CO2 cartrige
1 CO2 inflator head
1 TPU tube
2 tire levers (because itâs important to carry spares)
Mini battery pump
2 TPU tubes (always - stored in zip lock bags)
Mini-tool
quick-link
2 tyre levers
TPU patches
$10 bill (plastic note - cafe fallback and tyre boot)
plug with bacon strips (gravel & MTB)
Iâve copmpletely ditched the CO2 for a mini-battery-pump. The mind-shift needed for this switch, is to no longer keep it in your saddle bag/in-frame-storage but rather keep it on your person. The reason for this (in my case, anyway) is remembering to charge it and no longer having 3 of them (CO2 inflaters on each bike) by just carrying the one electric pump. Mine is small enough for a jersey pocket or MTB shorts pocket, so I now just stuff it in a pocket on every ride and briefly charge it when I get home (even when not used, as battery drains over time). I also keep it in a waterproof bag.
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Tire levers, 2x alloy 1x steel
Tire boot - piece of old road tire
Scalpel blade - light and sharp
Puncture kit - glue and patches
1 x butyl tube for the bike I am riding. Maybe 2 if I ever ride my road bike.
Valve extender. You just never know when you might need it.
Small pump
Multi-tool. Crank bros
Power link tool
3 different sized power-links although you can always use a larger one on a smaller sized chain.
Small pliers
Spare valve core
Plastic valve core tool
Bacon strips and tool for insertion incase I am on one of my few tubelessed bikes
The same kit gets swapped to all the bikes. If I am bikepacking I add a bit more. Hanger, sewing kit. Zip-ties, Brakepads, chain-bits etc.
Edit: looks a bit like this and all fits in one of those half-water bottle things.
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Depends on ride length, bike choice and/or company for me.
Short ride (solo or with company, pretty much regardless of bike):
- Bidon for water
- Handlebar insert DaySaver tool in one end (XC FS) or OneUp/Granite Designs tool in the steerer (trail FS & hardtail)
- Handlebar insert DaySaver Stanâs Dart tool in the other end (XC & trail FS)
- Forx âSwitchbackâ frame strap with TPU tube, 1x CO2 canister, and a Bar Fly Air Lever (CO2 chuck & tyre lever in one)
Mid-length solo ride (hardtail):
- As above plus second bidon
- A gel and/or some gums or Clif Bloks
- Sometimes as above with hip pack in place of frame strap
Mid-length solo ride on either FS bike, mid-length ride with company or long ride (with or without company):
- As above with hip pack in place of frame strap, orâŚ
- As above but CamelBak race pack in place of bidons (both FS bikes only have room for 1 bidon) and frame strap
When Iâm carrying my race pack or hip pack they will usually also contain:
- Small first aid pack
- Lightweight emergency blanket
- An extra CO2 canister and/or hand pump (pocket-size Silca)
- An extra TPU tube
- Small electric pump
- Chain links - 10, 11 & 12spd
- More gels & gummies
- Zinc sticks (for lips, nose and cheeks)
As a mechanic, I feel the need to have as much as possible with me without going OTT. Nothing worse than stopping to help someone or a ride buddy having an issue that you donât have the stuff on you to sort (if & when that does happen I donât dish out my business card before leaving!).
Itâs also pretty rocky here and some trails can be quite remote. Particularly when I ride mid-week there are trails where I might not see another person all day. Thatâs why I carry the small first aid kit and emergency blanket. They take up so little space that itâs stupid not to really (Iâll avoid those trails on a shorter ride so that I donât feel the need to carry the extra stuff).
The zinc sticks are because it stays in place better than sun creme on your lips, nose & cheeks when youâre sweaty - and Iâm a sweater and our summers get bloody hot. I use clear stuff, so I donât look like a cricketer (or cricket fan)!
Perhaps bizarrely, I wear the race pack more in summer despite it being hotter to wear - with both FS bikes only having room for 1 bidon it means I have more water with me, and in the summer I prefer it to 2 bottles on the hardtail because it makes the water so much more readily accessible.
Quite the kit!
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Which mini pump though 
Iâm looking at replacing my CO2 with same idea to carry with me across all bikes (incl. MTB 29x2.6)
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For now, the RideNow R1S, pending @Dave_Romeâs next electric pump article 
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I MOSTLY use a Cheapie high-pressure hammer-lock pump, because I canât be arsed with the Lezyne ones screwing out valve cores.
On TPU tubes, at the end of my 1500 km Sounds 2 Sounds bikepacking event I got out my spare TPU tubes. Both were completely munted. Their cardboard boxes had gotten wet and chafed thru the edges of the tubes. Very fragile. The 2 TPU that live in my gravgravs gas-tank live in a sock, inside a small camera bag. TPU aside, a couple of good materials to wrap butyl tubes in are TYVEK, and old foil coffee bags.
Edit: Ive never actually used a TPU tube IRL. Just placebo/spares
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I may have jumped the gun on this Topic! If youâd like to contribute to the latest âCollective Favouritesâ on this very topic please head over here:
FYI @Suvi_Loponen thereâs some chatter in this topic too!
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How robust do you think the daysaver bar-end tool mount is? I ask because I previously had Sahmurai tubeless tools on my XC bike, but clipping the bar end on trees (local trails are pretty tight in places) eventually broke the plastic end caps off. Theyâre not that expensive to replace, but they are hard to find down here in NZ without ordering from overseas.
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They seem pretty robust to me. The end caps are also pretty slim and are tapered around 3/4 of the circumference. The only bit that sticks out at all is the bit you flip to release the tool - if you orientate that to the back of the bar it might still scuff, but it wouldnât necessarily catch.
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I had to laugh when they mentioned Lezyne pumps and valve cores. Good pumps. But make sure them cores are tight. Have learned that the hard way a couple of times.
I also need a tubeless tool solution. I got an inexpensive one from Giant - but itâs case is over large, which kinda contradicts the whole easy-carry sort of tool vibe.
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I use blue thread locker on valve cores before putting them into service. I find that tubes from Continental have especially loose valve stems and a dab of thread locker makes everything good with my Lezyne Road Drive pump. Other tube brands havenât been as prone to this issue, but still: itâs easy enough to proactively fix.
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2 posts were split to a new topic: Sharing Spares is Caring
Road bike (in a Lead Out saddle roll):
- WolfTooth 8-bit pack pliers
- A pair of nitrile gloves
- Silca Eolo IV CO2 inflator
- CO2 canister
- RideNow TPU (non-removable valve core) inside one of the nitrile gloves
- One tire lever from my Topeak Ratchet Rocket DX kit
- One Topeak Presta valve extender (because the RideNow TPU has a non-removable core)
- Dynaplug Racer
Gravel bike (in the down tube storage and in the two down tube storage bags that came with the Santa Cruz Stigmata):
- Two RideNow TPUs (the size depends on the tires I put on the wheels)
- Cycplus AS2 Ultra electronic pump
- Hose (this attaches to the Cycplus pump to prevent the plastic valve core on the RideNow TPU from being melted)
- Daysaver Essential8 + Coworking5
- A pair of nitrile gloves
- Dynaplug Racer with two different sizes tips and spares (this resides in the RouteWerks handlebar bag for quicker access)
Do you use the mount that comes with the Dynaplug Racer? I am thinking of moving my plug kit out of internal storage to a more accessible space. The racer looks like it would work for me if the mount is secure.
I actually chuck it in a bag in my rear pocket. Spur Cycle used to make a waterproof pouch out of sail cloth in which you could put things like a phone, money, ID, or whatever you wanted. I keep my Dynaplug Racer in that along with my phone, cash, etc. I thought about putting it in my saddle bag, but the saddle bag (Orucase Saddle Bag HC, the smaller version) is a bit smaller than Silca Mattone and is pretty full. Moreover, if I get a puncture not fixed by sealant, itâs easy to get the Dynaplug out. I thought about using the Dynaplug mount, but I wanted to be double plus sure that I wouldnât forget it or lose it. Plus, given how little I keep in that bag, itâs easy to quickly grab the Dynaplug.
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