Yet Another Cycling Forum
General Category => The Knowledge => Topic started by: quixoticgeek on 03 December, 2018, 11:26:35 pm
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Fixing my handlebars yesterday, I chose to use the tools from the bike bag to fix it, to see if I was able to fix it easily using the tools I carry with me, had I decided to fix it at the side of the road. Even tho I had a box full of "proper" bike tools just a couple of meters away.
I wondered if anyone else did similar things to test their tools/skills for when out on the road.
J
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Yes, particularly with regards to tightening things like axle nuts and cassette/disc rotor lockrings. It's all very well doing them up bastard tight with a proper tool with loads of leverage, but you need to be able to get them off with the one you're carrying.
Other things I've been caught out by are allen bolts that you can't actually reach with the bit on a multi-tool (old-style Minoura SpaceGrip, IIRC), and assuming that a bicycle brake requiring a torx bit for adjustment would take a T25, because for fuck's sake. Tyre levers are another favourite: It's all very well using your sturdy metal levers at home, but you need to prove the plastic ones in your tool kit aren't just going to snap when faced with your particular combination of tyre and rim.
And of course the right time to learn how to fit and remove that unfamiliar gears-inna-can or e-motor hub is in the warmth of a well-lit living room, not in the pissing rain after a visitation from the p*nct*r* fairy.
Loosely related: Standardise your tyre valves.
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it depends whether you carry tools on the bike that just 'tighten loose stuff when necessary' or intend to be able to carry out more serious maintenance.
The former will probably do for day rides but anything longer than that and having good quality tools with you on the bike is a good idea.
Years ago, for my touring tool kit I built a few special tools, eg
- a small (eight sided) wrench that fits onto the octagonal locknut of a 1" threaded Campag headset. This tool was cut from sheet Ti and is designed to be knocked round using a drift and a rock. To fit it to the locknut, the quill stem has to come out first. It weighs very little (about 12g or something).
- a hollow 10mm allen key tool which can be used to retighten or remove a bolt-secured shimano freehub body. The tool comprises two short lengths of 10mm hex key which are brazed to a short length of steel tube. It weighs about 20g.
These are not workshop quality tools but they work well enough to get me out of the poop, certainly well enough to get me to a better-equipped workshop, should the need arise when on tour. They have been tested of course but in point of fact I have not had to use either tool in anger.
I recently discovered that one of the (cheap, probably came with a new bike tool kit) allen keys I was carrying on day rides was a) slightly undersize and b) made of cheese. I'd been carrying it around for a couple of years and I am sure I'd used it before, to tighten something, but then I made the mistake of trying to loosen a tight bolt with it.... ::-)
cheers
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I mostly do this accidentally because they’re easier to find!
I did have the fun of discovering in a hotel room the night before an event that my portable chain tool doesn’t open far enough to push single speed chain pins back in. Obviously I only found this out after disconnecting it. That was a fun one to improvise around - I believe various pliers and brute force were applied.
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Years ago, for my touring tool kit I built a few special tools, eg
- a small (eight sided) wrench that fits onto the octagonal locknut of a 1" threaded Campag headset. This tool was cut from sheet Ti and is designed to be knocked round using a drift and a rock. To fit it to the locknut, the quill stem has to come out first. It weighs very little (about 12g or something).
- a hollow 10mm allen key tool which can be used to retighten or remove a bolt-secured shimano freehub body. The tool comprises two short lengths of 10mm hex key which are brazed to a short length of steel tube. It weighs about 20g.
Murphy's Law dictates that having the right tool or spare means that you're unlikely to suffer the problem that requires it, so this sort of thing makes a good deal of sense.
Group rides can short-circuit this effect. People think I'm mad for carrying a 6" adjustable spanner and a lockring tool (rather than the traditional NBT2, which only works on cassettes), but the spanner gets more use than my puncture kit, simply because it's the sort of thing that other people sometimes need and don't think to carry. The lockring tool's seen action in the field a couple of times: Once to tighten a disc rotor that could have waited until I got home, and once to save a tandem rear wheel from a severe spoke-mashing after chain entanglement. (Obviously I've never broken a spoke that required removal of a rotor or cassette to replace while touring.)
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I did have the fun of discovering in a hotel room the night before an event that my portable chain tool doesn’t open far enough to push single speed chain pins back in. Obviously I only found this out after disconnecting it. That was a fun one to improvise around - I believe various pliers and brute force were applied.
An annoying trend in muti-tools is having a chain tool that's only designed for removing pins (presumably on the assumption you can put the chain back together with a quick-link). That's another good thing to discover before you need it.
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Glad I'm not totally crazy. I don't carry a 6" spanner (Is that a 150mm spanner?), but I do carry a wolftooth components cassette tool, which is one of their uber light weight tools. I don't carry it on the basis that I'll use it on my own, but rather if stranded in middle of nowhere, I can ask a kind farmer to lend me a big spanner. Tho I may add the wolf tooth components light weight pack wrench to my frame bag. It's only 88g, and would mean I can do things a bit more on my own. I also have their funky quick link pliers in the tool bag, along with leatherman, tyre leavers, bead jack, topeak ratchet rocket, topeak ultra compact uber light shiny torque wrench, puncture repair kit, spare tubes... etc... I may carry too many tools... maybe. There's also a petzl e+lite for use as either an emergency don't get fined bike light, or so I can see to fix the bike in the dark...
J
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Yeah. The spanner went into my touring toolkit before the DunRun many years ago, and I've not got round to removing it; it's not like I'm going to notice the weight.
The tool that's conspicuously absent from my kit is anything resembling pliers/wire cutters (although a subset of pliers jobs are covered by an adjustable spanner, of course). I'm sure that's going to be my undoing one day, though I maintain that if a Swiss Army Knife was good enough for MacGyver, it should be enough for anyone.
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Yeah. The spanner went into my touring toolkit before the DunRun many years ago, and I've not got round to removing it; it's not like I'm going to notice the weight.
The tool that's conspicuously absent from my kit is anything resembling pliers/wire cutters (although a subset of pliers jobs are covered by an adjustable spanner, of course). I'm sure that's going to be my undoing one day, though I maintain that if a Swiss Army Knife was good enough for MacGyver, it should be enough for anyone.
I've always preferred a leatherman to a swiss army knife. Tho I realise this may be blasphemy to some. It works for me. I have quite a few (Original Wave, New Wave, Juice CS6, Squirt PS4). The Waves don't leave the house (not legal every day carry in .uk). The Juice lives in the bike top tube bag, and the squirt lives in the breast pocket of my jersey.
J
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I mostly do this accidentally because they’re easier to find!
I did have the fun of discovering in a hotel room the night before an event that my portable chain tool doesn’t open far enough to push single speed chain pins back in. Obviously I only found this out after disconnecting it. That was a fun one to improvise around - I believe various pliers and brute force were applied.
In a similar vein; removing the ring spanners from my saddle bag to save a bit of weight on a long ride made sense as they wouldn't be needed on my geared bike which has quick release wheels. Twice I've done this, then swapped the saddle bag back to my single speed the next day, headed of on a ride and realised some distance from home that the tyre levers and tubes I'm carrying are of little use when the spanner I need to remove the wheels is still sitting on the garage shelve!
I now just leave them in the saddlebag all the time and carry them regardless of which bike I'm using.
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i usually carry 4mm and 5mm allen keys as they fit 90% of all the screws on the bike. for the mega trips and the ones involving airports i add a chain tool and 8mm allen key to (re)install pedals.
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Fixie riders have special needs. Unless you"re running QR hubs, which is unusual (although Goldtecs can take a QR and conversions using freewheel hubs can too), you need a big 15mm spanner; a 14mm and a 15mm, if you chose axle nuts unwisely. Some hubs take allen bolts but the rear ones usually need a proper mullering and a long right-angled key, preferably with a handle, is useful.
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allen bolt hubs was a primary consideration when building my ss wheels as i didn't want to carry heavy spanners. standard length (~9cm) allen key is enough to tighten - never had a wheel slip on alloy track ends.
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I carry a spare rear derailleur hanger, but after checking if my multitool could remove the rear derailleur on one bike I noticed that the 5mm hex key couldn't get deep enough in to the recessed hole to undo the derailleur from the hanger. And the multitool didn't have a small enough (2mm?) hex key for the two tiny bolts that fasten the hanger to frame. So a couple of loose Allen keys are thrown in to the underseat pack mix.
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I am quite likely to carry a 6" adjustable spanner on any ride longer than half a day; yes it is fairly heavy but it has so many uses that it is worth the weight.
For shorter rides I am less fussy; I am wont to carry something small and light even if it is not particularly good, on the basis that something larger and heavier might well get left behind. For example I usually carry a cheap pressed steel spanner that does at least fit the track nuts on my IGH; this is highly unlikely to be good enough to get the wheel out with, but it might get me out of the poop if one comes loose (as has happened with new paint on the dropouts for example).
cheers
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It depends what I am doing.
Day rides is a multi-tool, tyre levers, patches, pump and a tube.
A tour would be above plus another tube, chain tool, spoke key, chain oil, quick link, spanner with lots of sizes incl 15mm for pedals, scissors, cable ties, tape.
A faster solo ride (600km+ audax or ultra-race) would be day ride plus a couple of things from tour list plus, with current bike, Di2 charger.
I don't carry spare spokes or cables but do a bit of preventative maintenance. I don't carry masses of tools as there is a tendency to pack for what you would have needed on past trips rather than what is probable I'd need on the next one.
Multi-tools not being able to access certain bolts has caught me out before. I remember a Di2 bar end shifter coming loose and, luckily, I had the right size, but there was too much bulk, so needed a bit of bending and forcing. There is an argument for individual keys vs a multi-tool as gives more options (ie 2 ends!).
Ultralight Igor has some good thoughts on tools (vvv towards the bottom of the page):
http://ultralightcycling.blogspot.com/ (http://ultralightcycling.blogspot.com/)
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Other things I've been caught out by are allen bolts that you can't actually reach with the bit on a multi-tool (old-style Minoura SpaceGrip, IIRC),
This is one that's caught me out, though thankfully non-critically. I wanted to adjust the stop on a Di2 front mech. but the 2mm allen key was unusable as the larger body of the tool prevented the correct positioning of the key.
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The tool that's conspicuously absent from my kit is anything resembling pliers/wire cutters (although a subset of pliers jobs are covered by an adjustable spanner, of course). I'm sure that's going to be my undoing one day, though I maintain that if a Swiss Army Knife was good enough for MacGyver, it should be enough for anyone.
I've always preferred a leatherman to a swiss army knife. Tho I realise this may be blasphemy to some. It works for me. I have quite a few (Original Wave, New Wave, Juice CS6, Squirt PS4). The Waves don't leave the house (not legal every day carry in .uk). The Juice lives in the bike top tube bag, and the squirt lives in the breast pocket of my jersey.
I'd be inclined to agree. It's mostly that the SAK has sentimental value, and I've been carrying it since I was 14.
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Yeah. The spanner went into my touring toolkit before the DunRun many years ago, and I've not got round to removing it; it's not like I'm going to notice the weight.
The tool that's conspicuously absent from my kit is anything resembling pliers/wire cutters (although a subset of pliers jobs are covered by an adjustable spanner, of course). I'm sure that's going to be my undoing one day, though I maintain that if a Swiss Army Knife was good enough for MacGyver, it should be enough for anyone.
I am not sure that wire cutters come in the set of substitutable tools. The day I have to buy a brake cable in a supermarket and the only one available has nipples at both ends I will find out ???
Does anyone remember the time when derailleur cables had a choice of nipples, one at each end? Of course in those days we had double sided hubs so you could always convert to fixed or ss on the side of the road.
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Yeah. The spanner went into my touring toolkit before the DunRun many years ago, and I've not got round to removing it; it's not like I'm going to notice the weight.
The tool that's conspicuously absent from my kit is anything resembling pliers/wire cutters (although a subset of pliers jobs are covered by an adjustable spanner, of course). I'm sure that's going to be my undoing one day, though I maintain that if a Swiss Army Knife was good enough for MacGyver, it should be enough for anyone.
I am not sure that wire cutters come in the set of substitutable tools. The day I have to buy a brake cable in a supermarket and the only one available has nipples at both ends I will find out ???
Hm, yeah. I carry spare brake and gear cables (they're small and light, so silly not to, especially when tandem-length ones are required). The one time I broke a gear cable twice on a tour I managed to find a) a bike shop that was b) open in c) the middle of Wales on d) a Sunday afternoon. I assume that means I've used up all my karma.
On the other hand, any shop that sells bicycle brake cables probably sells cheesy pliers, too.
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Someone on urc, possibly Peter Clinch, broke a cable while island hopping off the edge of Scotland. He phoned his LBS back home and got one posted to the post office he'd be passing in the next couple of days.
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I am not sure that wire cutters come in the set of substitutable tools.
The only lightweight wire cutter I've seen was a DIY job - a hardened cylinder with a screw thread driven plunger that cut the cable against the side of a hole (or slot?) though which the cable was passed.
The Leatherman style tools I've tried (4 different) wouldn't cut a stranded cable cleanly, ending with strands jamming the jaws so the handles just folded when you tried to open the jaws for another go.
I take rear cables, and coil up the excess if I use it on the front. Remember to trim it properly when you get home - if you don't, the weight of the coil bouncing up and down will eventually break the cable flush with the clamp bolt (DAHIKT)
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doubtless some folk will say that genuine leatherman tools are better than copies and they are probably right. I try to avoid cutting cables by the side of the road; spare cables have welded ends, and (on tour) I carry a small triangular profile swiss file which can be used to
a) cut and dress spiral wound cable housing
b) clean threads up which are damaged
etc.
I have a few times on tour (with a group so a shared load is more tolerable) carried a small (4-5") pair of Elliot-Lucas engineers pliers with me, like these
(http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-xIeFMtMEZY8/U64tGy9U2bI/AAAAAAAAT-w/NWjNPkZkzNU/s1600/Elliott-Lucas-pliers-1.jpg)
these have cutting jaws which will just about work on cables and housing, but to use them you need to hit the pliers with a hammer (or rock...). The notches which work as 'wire cutters' built into many similar pliers (near the pivot) are next-to-useless on bike cable and housing IME
cheers
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I wasn't referring to shortening a cable that is too long, that wouldn't normally bother me (except perhaps a front mech cable which goes into your legs if it is too long). I was referring to those universal cables that have a nipple both ends (and which some cycle instructors advocate as spares on group rides 'cos they're universal). Without a tool to shift the unwanted nipple cleanly you're stuffed! A frayed end doesn't help matters either.
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Indeed. Excess cable can be coiled up at the mech/brake end, and tidied up when you get home.
As well as double-nippled cables, I can conceive of a cable becoming damaged in a way that might require you to cut it cleanly in order to easily extract it from the shifter / outer cable.
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I wouldn't take cable cutters.
I have broken gear cables on two rides - an audax and a tour in Wales. It was no hardship to ride with two gears until I finished / found a shop to buy a new cable.
That's two rides out of XXXX many. I wouldn't plan for such an unlikely event.
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I've broken one cable on my bikes during long brevets (think I just rode it to the finish). I've replaced perhaps half a dozen cables for others during long brevets. It didn't seem likely that they'd have finished without replacing them. I've never carried cable cutters.
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I carry spare cables for both gears and brakes. They are single ended with a nipple on only one end, so I can fit them without needing to trim them, if it's a "get me to the next bike shop" kinda fix. On my trip to Hell this year, I had a section where I for 400km I had no bike shops within easy cycling distance, and at one point, so I needed to make sure I could keep going, and with the hills, simply having 2 gears, wouldn't be an option.
J
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I wasn't referring to shortening a cable that is too long, that wouldn't normally bother me (except perhaps a front mech cable which goes into your legs if it is too long). I was referring to those universal cables that have a nipple both ends (and which some cycle instructors advocate as spares on group rides 'cos they're universal). Without a tool to shift the unwanted nipple cleanly you're stuffed! A frayed end doesn't help matters either.
I realise that, but I think the advice to carry those cables is somewhat flawed; they can be a PITA to fit (because you always need to thread a freshly cut end) even in the workshop. It is surely easier to carry an additional cable or two rather than a set of cutters that will definitely produce a cut end that can be threaded easily....? Does such a set of cutters exist anyway?
If you want to reduce the spares inventory for a group, it takes a few moments in the workshop (before you go) to modify a gear cable nipple so that it will work OK in any type of gear lever. IIRC it is also possible to make an adaptor piece so that a pear nipple will work in almost any brake lever. In any event if it is not perfect a temporary repair only has to last until you get to a bike shop.
To allow continued use temporarily, I have removed (peeled back) a single strand from a slightly frayed brake or gear cable before now; the single strand just needs to be cut/left somewhere where the free end won't cause binding, eg between cable stops.
To remove a frayed cable from a shifter or brake (which BTW shouldn't be necessary mid-tour if the cables are checked over carefully before you go) you don't need a very good cutting tool; almost anything that is capable of cutting/breaking even one strand at a time will do, because it is not required that you thread the cut end or anything like that. In extremis flexing each strand in the cable separately in a tight bend will soon cause it to fatigue and break, so it is possible to sever a damaged cable without much at all in the way of tools should it become necessary.
Needless to say a triangular Swiss file will quite easily sever damaged cables too; it is a really useful tool.
cheers
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Most current smallish multitools (e.g. Topeak) no longer have any hex spanners. Not much good if you have any vintage components or need to adjust a mudguard stay. My Topeak Power 16 (early 90s) does most jobs and will even tighten 14mm crankbolts!
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I carry spare cables for both gears and brakes. They are single ended with a nipple on only one end, so I can fit them without needing to trim them, if it's a "get me to the next bike shop" kinda fix. On my trip to Hell this year, I had a section where I for 400km I had no bike shops within easy cycling distance, and at one point, so I needed to make sure I could keep going, and with the hills, simply having 2 gears, wouldn't be an option.
J
If you snap a brake cable you might have more to worry about than pedalling up hills in a high gear! It's very very rare that they do snap but better to replace beforehand than carry spares / tools in case they do. That's true for most bike maintenace.
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of course, but when you are leading a group, (or at least are one of the most experienced members of it) it is as well to be prepared for the, uh, 'variable' standards of maintenance employed by others. It really doesn't matter how well-maintained the best bikes are, in effect the group is at the mercy of both accidents and any breakages in the least reliable (usually worst-maintained) machines.
FWIW one of the things I often carry is a half-roll of insulation tape. This is easy to carry and has countless uses eg
- packing under a loose 'P' clip
- lashing broken stuff together (it will sustain a tension of about 2kg when applied; ~20 tightly applied turns exerts a clamping force of ~40kg and in combination with a splint of some kind (e.g. a spare spoke) all kinds of things can be reinforced)
- repairing/replacing a duff rim tape
- lashing around a punctured tube that can't be repaired properly for whatever reason (it will leak and need pumping often but at least you will be mobile)
- holds a tyre boot in place well enough to get the tyre inflated without it moving too much
- temporarily repairing scuffs in bar tape
- ditto lever hoods, saddles etc
- reinforcing SIS outer cable that has started to crack up and may burst/collapse otherwise
- covering exposed lube ports
- covering scrapes (eg on a frameset) so that they don't start to corrode
- protecting rubbing parts so that the finish isn't degraded
- lashing a broken spoke in place within a wheel so that the bike can be ridden until it is replaced
- lashing loose wires/Bowden cables to the frame
- stopping cable ends from fraying
- improving the fit of cable outer into ferrules
- several tight turns will work as a tourniquet at a pinch
- can be used to lash field dressings in place temporarily
and so forth. If you envisage a relatively small amount may be useful, you can simply wind a length of it around something convenient, eg your bike pump, so that you will always have it with you.
cheers
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If you snap a brake cable you might have more to worry about than pedalling up hills in a high gear! It's very very rare that they do snap but better to replace beforehand than carry spares / tools in case they do. That's true for most bike maintenace.
Agreed, but murphy lurks under bridges, it weighs little, and given that some trips may be 3700+km, replacing it before the big trip is no guarantee...
J
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If you envisage a relatively small amount may be useful, you can simply wind a length of it around something convenient, eg your bike pump, so that you will always have it with you.
I carry a couple of yards of duct tape wrapped around the shell of an old Biro which fits nicely over the shaft of a screwdriver.
I've tried several multitools over the years and have ditched them in favour of separate tools, being easier to use.
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Leading a group is clearly different, it could be sensible to take loads of spare and tools.
I know lots of people who have ridden 3700+km but I am not aware of any who needed to change a brake cable in the course of it. They should last far longer than that. I've never had one fail and can't recall failure stories from others. For very obvious reasons, they are much more robust than gear cables.
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Leading a group is clearly different, it could be sensible to take loads of spare and tools.
I know lots of people who have ridden 3700+km but I am not aware of any who needed to change a brake cable in the course of it. They should last far longer than that. I've never had one fail and can't recall failure stories from others. For very obvious reasons, they are much more robust than gear cables.
Agreed. Tho I think there were a couple of brake cable failures, and a hydrolic failure on the SRMR this year.
I think the main reason that a brake cable might be damaged would be a crash/accident. Not being able to keep going would bug me. For a cable that weighs fsck all, and is already in my tall bag, it seems foolish to take it out.
You pack your fears. Obviously my fears involve not being able to continue riding due to mechanical...
J
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Cable ties.
Cable ties stuffed into the drops, and held in place and easy to retreive with a blob of blu-tak in the back if the bar end plug.
Black ones on the left, natural ones on the right.1
1Not mandatory
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Having a shed without power at one end of the garden and a nice warm kitchen with light and cups of tea (along with an understanding mrs trekker who agrees it's a good idea to tinker with her bike in the kitchen) means I often dive into the saddle bag for tools and spares rather than lugging my main bike box all the way down the garden. This means I pretty much know the travelling tool kit fixes any part on the bike I can think of.
I addition to a multi-tool, on tour we take an 8mm spanner, a 10mm spanner (because I was daft enough to buy two types of mudguards and they each have different sized securing bolts), the Leatherman is used in the camp kitchen as well as a bike tool, a spoke key, a half roll of electrical tape (although cutting it in half leaves lots of short strips rather than a roll :) ) and two 10 speed chain links. Oh and a bottle of chain lube.
For spares we take one gear cable and one brake cable and a pair of brake pads for each bike (one is disk, the other is caliper). On the basis that we shouldn't break a cable each on the same day and we can either get to a shop or take a day off and wait for the magic of the internet. Both bikes also have at least one spare spoke taped to the down tube of a length I'll get away with a temporary repair no matter of it's location.
Perhaps we travel a little light but on our only big tour so far (two weeks in well populated Europe) I hardly raided the tool kit except for basic maintenance. As it was a learning exercise I listed everything we carried and didn't use and don't intend to take again, so, next Summer along the Danube it looks like we are only taking a bottle of chain lube and one inner tube!! :thumbsup:
ETA oh and cable ties, thanks Jurek, and I'm knicking that storage idea, mrs trekker hates finding them shoved in any pannier pocket I've found space so they poke you in the eye every time you open the pocket!
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I think the main reason that a brake cable might be damaged would be a crash/accident. Not being able to keep going would bug me. For a cable that weighs fsck all, and is already in my tall bag, it seems foolish to take it out.
You pack your fears. Obviously my fears involve not being able to continue riding due to mechanical...
J
One of Mike Hall's many insightful comments went along the lines of for an ultra-race you don't need to take xxxx or take yyyy, but you need to take a few risks!
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I haven't gone to the length of packing spare spokes yet. This is on the basis of there being a strong chance of a spoke going on the rear wheel in a place I can't get to without removing the cassette. Finding a friendly bike shop open at 2030 on a Sunday in rural Essex is a dime prospect so I just pack a spoke key and tension the wheel to a 'good enough' orientation (sadly I had to do this in my first 200).
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so many rear hubs now have a freehub body that comes off either without tools or with (easy-to-carry) allen keys. a no-brainer for a serious trip/tour.
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Get disc brakes and keeping the wheel true won't matter nearly so much :thumbsup:
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There was a clip doing the rounds on Twitter a few days ago about a rider pushing a mate 50k home as he’d broken his chain. A proper mate would have bought him a chain tool and taught him how to use it.
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There was a clip doing the rounds on Twitter a few days ago about a rider pushing a mate 50k home as he’d broken his chain. A proper mate would have bought him a chain tool and taught him how to use it.
A proper mate would have got out his chain tool, told mate to buy his own, then ridden home with it.
Tough love is the best kind sometimes.
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I haven't gone to the length of packing spare spokes yet. This is on the basis of there being a strong chance of a spoke going on the rear wheel in a place I can't get to without removing the cassette.
That's why you need a cassette remover too.
Or a FiberFix.
(TBH, I'd only really worry about fixing spoke breakage properly for loaded touring. For normal riding, a bodge will get you wherever.)
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I haven't gone to the length of packing spare spokes yet. This is on the basis of there being a strong chance of a spoke going on the rear wheel in a place I can't get to without removing the cassette.
That's why you need a cassette remover too.
Or a FiberFix.
(TBH, I'd only really worry about fixing spoke breakage properly for loaded touring. For normal riding, a bodge will get you wherever.)
There was a dodge in fashion once upon a time of modifying the bend of a spare spoke into a hook that could then be hooked into the flange of the hub without threading through. Such spokes would be modified before leaving home and would live on the bike.
The Atom hub I had on the tandem with a Shimano Mega-range freewheel allowed me to access the drive side spoke holes through the windows in the big sprocket. B. awful idea having a sprocket sequence going 24,34 but it did have that advantage and avoided the great big bench vice necessary to shift the freewheel.
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Fixing my handlebars yesterday, I chose to use the tools from the bike bag to fix it, to see if I was able to fix it easily using the tools I carry with me, had I decided to fix it at the side of the road. Even tho I had a box full of "proper" bike tools just a couple of meters away.
I wondered if anyone else did similar things to test their tools/skills for when out on the road.
J
I presume "tools from the bike bag" is/are cycling widget multitools, I don't even own one, I carry normal tools on my bike.
This is what I carry for my commute (12 miles each way):
(https://i.postimg.cc/SKns8fh3/2018-12-08-14-09-10.jpg)
4mm and 5mm allen keys
8mm box spanner and 6mm allen key combo tool
10mm combination spanner
Above is 120g, I put the tools in a 34g bag
15m spanner if using nutted wheels
I've always got a small Swiss Army Knife on my key ring which has a sort of screwdriver.
The problem with multitools are that they contain tools I don't need, and are heavier and more expensive than separate normal tools. And they are also fiddly to use and sometimes you can't even use it because it can't reach the nut or fastener.
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There was a dodge in fashion once upon a time of modifying the bend of a spare spoke into a hook that could then be hooked into the flange of the hub without threading through. Such spokes would be modified before leaving home and would live on the bike.
like this;
(http://www.jimlangley.net/wrench/wrench_images/espoketoollg.jpg)
[edit; the tool in the picture is that rare thing, a set of special pliers that forms the bends required. With some cunning you don't need such a tool.]
If you are making such spokes I recommend as tight a first bend as possible, and to use a cut down sapim 'strong' spoke so that the bends are in the 13G part of the spoke.
The Atom hub I had on the tandem with a Shimano Mega-range freewheel allowed me to access the drive side spoke holes through the windows in the big sprocket. B. awful idea having a sprocket sequence going 24,34 but it did have that advantage and avoided the great big bench vice necessary to shift the freewheel.
presumably you could only thread 'inside' spokes through this way on the drive side; fine for a get you home fix, that.
Some Maxicar (inc tandem) hubs had flanges with keyhole-shaped holes in them, so spokes can be easily replaced in the event of breakage, even by the sprockets or the drag brake.
(http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3261/3117590649_4694a41e89.jpg)
cheers
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I sometimes use tools from the bike when at home, not so much to make sure they work as because they're to hand.
I'm another one who does't particularly like multitools. They're a neat way of keeping tools together and I can see their utility when you might expect to sort out other people's mechanicals, but usually I prefer individual tools; they're easier to use as well as lighter.
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There was a dodge in fashion once upon a time of modifying the bend of a spare spoke into a hook that could then be hooked into the flange of the hub without threading through. Such spokes would be modified before leaving home and would live on the bike.
like this;
(http://www.jimlangley.net/wrench/wrench_images/espoketoollg.jpg)
If you are making such spokes I recommend as tight a first bend as possible, and to use a cut down sapim 'strong' spoke so that the bends are in the 13G part of the spoke.
The Atom hub I had on the tandem with a Shimano Mega-range freewheel allowed me to access the drive side spoke holes through the windows in the big sprocket. B. awful idea having a sprocket sequence going 24,34 but it did have that advantage and avoided the great big bench vice necessary to shift the freewheel.
presumably you could only thread 'inside' spokes through this way on the drive side; fine for a get you home fix, that.
Some Maxicar (inc tandem) hubs had flanges with keyhole-shaped holes in them, so spokes can be easily replaced in the event of breakage, even by the sprockets or the drag brake.
(http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3261/3117590649_4694a41e89.jpg)
cheers
That spoke is a bit more sophisticated than the ones I knew, which just had the hub end flat filed to allow the spoke to pass through wrong way. Yours is better but you need to recalculate the length!
You could pass a spoke from the inside with the Atom hub, the flanges are so narrow there was space to catch it between flange and sprocket and get it in with a lot of judicious bending, pignorance and brute strength. I wouldn't have wanted to do it with one of my 12g rustless spokes though (but then I never had to, pheww!). I note that the Maxicar hub only has slotted holes on one flange - did they do them with both flanges slotted as well?
For all the lovers of multitools, check that the allen keys (sorry, hexagonal male spanners, Allen key is a copyrighted commercial name of Allen Tool,inc.) fit all the bolts on your bike. I had the experience of helping a cyclo on a feed point on a club event who needed to tighten the screw of his seatpost (highend carbon kit). The key on his mate's multitool couldn't get near. Fortunately the normal key in the car (for putting the roof bars on and off) did the job.
I have had the experience of a brake cable coming adrift in the lever and getting stuck. The nipple blocked behind its hole (which was a slot of course). The first time I had to do 150kms in a group without a front brake - not much fun. At home I sorted it out with a snoutnose pliars without pulling the cable out. The second time it happened I managed to wriggle it back into position on the ride but I could see at home that the nipple was chewed up which presumably was part of the cause. I changed the brake levers instead this time. Pity, they were comfortable.
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One 'tool' that I try to almost always have with me but which I don't think has been mentioned is a headtorch in case of nighttime fettling.
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so many rear hubs now have a freehub body that comes off either without tools or with (easy-to-carry) allen keys. a no-brainer for a serious trip/tour.
Rear hubs offering this facility were in fact available in the 1930's, although their use was not widespread. They were probably just getting known when the world went to war!
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so many rear hubs now have a freehub body that comes off either without tools or with (easy-to-carry) allen keys. a no-brainer for a serious trip/tour.
Rear hubs offering this facility were in fact available in the 1930's, although their use was not widespread. They were probably just getting known when the world went to war!
one comment I would make is that (in their modern form anyway) such hubs almost invariably impose extra loads on both the axle and the RH hub bearing. It is not that it is impossible to engineer a system that avoids these and other pitfalls, it is more that IME this is usually not done 100% successfully. Thus there are very few such hubs that I would happily use on a lengthy/loaded tour.
cheers
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I haven't gone to the length of packing spare spokes yet. This is on the basis of there being a strong chance of a spoke going on the rear wheel in a place I can't get to without removing the cassette.
That's why you need a cassette remover too.
Or a FiberFix.
(TBH, I'd only really worry about fixing spoke breakage properly for loaded touring. For normal riding, a bodge will get you wherever.)
Unless you are somewhere completely away from civilisation carrying a spoke means it can be fairly quickly repaired at a bike shop. Most bike shops in towns have a cassette tool but you will have to wait a day or two for the spoke length you might need.
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Spare spokes are also useful for toasting marshmallows, or as an upgrade on Terra Nova tent pegs.
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I haven't gone to the length of packing spare spokes yet. This is on the basis of there being a strong chance of a spoke going on the rear wheel in a place I can't get to without removing the cassette.
That's why you need a cassette remover too.
Or a FiberFix.
(TBH, I'd only really worry about fixing spoke breakage properly for loaded touring. For normal riding, a bodge will get you wherever.)
Unless you are somewhere completely away from civilisation carrying a spoke means it can be fairly quickly repaired at a bike shop. Most bike shops in towns have a cassette tool but you will have to wait a day or two for the spoke length you might need.
In spite of religiously carrying spare spokes in all 3 required lengths I have never in my recollection had to change a spoke at the roadside (except for the first trip away with the newly refurbished tandem in 1981 - changed rear wheel at Camarthen, bought 12 spokes at Waterford, used 6 getting back to the campsite, used the other 6 in 10 miles the following day, pushed tandem back to ferry and train home; the first and last time I have broken spokes on a tandem).
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Ditto (apart from your tandem significant breakage which is difficult to account for) but for the sake of a couple of spokes taped to the down tube of each of mine and mrs trekkers touring bikes, I'm not taking the risk of having to use a SPORK when toasting marshmallows :thumbsup:
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Likewise, I haven't broken a spoke since about 1979 when I attempted a somewhat ambitious jump on my Raleigh Grifter as a child. I'm not likely to be touring in Outer Mongolia anytime soon, so if I do bust a spoke I'll just find a shop. I have toured with a friend who busted a spoke mid-tour, but you'd be amazed at what cable ties and gaffer tape can do :P
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Ditto (apart from your tandem significant breakage which is difficult to account for) but for the sake of a couple of spokes taped to the down tube of each of mine and mrs trekkers touring bikes, I'm not taking the risk of having to use a SPORK when toasting marshmallows :thumbsup:
re tandem spoke breakage, read low cost, crap wheels in 27" size, too much weight and total inexperience. The replacements broke one spoke in 25 years ( 26" wheels, 12g spokes lf hub brake hubs, trailer for load carrying - so much more fun!)
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Ditto (apart from your tandem significant breakage which is difficult to account for) but for the sake of a couple of spokes taped to the down tube of each of mine and mrs trekkers touring bikes, I'm not taking the risk of having to use a SPORK when toasting marshmallows :thumbsup:
You tape them to the downtube? I use the seat stays...
J
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....In spite of religiously carrying spare spokes in all 3 required lengths I have never in my recollection had to change a spoke at the roadside (except for the first trip away with the newly refurbished tandem in 1981 - changed rear wheel at Camarthen, bought 12 spokes at Waterford, used 6 getting back to the campsite, used the other 6 in 10 miles the following day, pushed tandem back to ferry and train home; the first and last time I have broken spokes on a tandem)....
....re tandem spoke breakage, read low cost, crap wheels in 27" size, too much weight and total inexperience. The replacements broke one spoke in 25 years ( 26" wheels, 12g spokes lf hub brake hubs, trailer for load carrying - so much more fun!)...
sounds like a baptism of spoke breakage fire, that. Some wheels are no-hopers of course; cheap parts that don't fit one another (eg where the spokes are anchored in the hub) or bad quality steel in the spokes, or badly made spokes (eg I have seen some with creases on the inside of the J-bends; these spokes are effectively pre-cracked..... ::-)) . But for average quality wheels on half-decent bikes these days (aluminium hubs, stainless spokes) the single biggest thing is stress-relief in the wheelset.
I learned the hard way (at least 35 years ago now) that 'new wheels' were not 'good wheels' unless they had been stress-relieved; a rash of rear wheel spoke breakages whilst on tour with a load on (in the first few hundred miles on new bought not built wheels) looked like it wasn't going to stop, so when the third or fourth spoke broke in the same wheel, I set to and stress-relieved the wheels thoroughly and hoped for the best. Several thousand miles later I had yet to break a further spoke in that wheelset. [I'd already built several other sets of wheels for myself for other bikes, and they had been OK. I've only used one set of machine-built wheels since then myself and I broke spokes in those too.]
In fact I would go as far as to say that in all the wheels I have newly built since then (including many sets for other people) I have had no spoke breakages. I don't recall handing over a set of wheels without asking that they should be sure to tell me if it ever happens...
cheers
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Ditto (apart from your tandem significant breakage which is difficult to account for) but for the sake of a couple of spokes taped to the down tube of each of mine and mrs trekkers touring bikes, I'm not taking the risk of having to use a SPORK when toasting marshmallows :thumbsup:
You tape them to the downtube? I use the seat stays...
J
Well, not the downtube, I was in a hurry when typing, more accurately they are cable tied to the back of upright part of the bottle cage on the seat tube and nestle in the weld that joins the downtube to the seat tube a little rubber band around the end stops them rattling and protects the paint.