Looked at my multi tool today - then looked at my bike
Most of the tools on their are redundant!
Bike has 4-6mm hex that may need tightening/loosening on a ride plus t25 - can't remember the last time I used it!
I carry a Gerber suspension tool also but have never used it to gut a fish or remove a stone from a horses hoof!
Chain tool I concede I may need plus my CO2 pump and tubeless repair kit.
Looking at Fix it sticks - seem to be customisable? The £30 to seems to do everything I need. Anything else that is modular that I can buy the bits i want?
What about your ride buddies bikes? 😁 My mini-tool has probably spent more time fixing other people’s bikes…fix their bike, get riding again.
They carry their own stuff
The tool you need will be the one you don't carry on your bike.
Is there anywhere that does a bespoke modular tool
Look at mini ratchet sets, you can customise all the bits you like. Lots of ones available. I have a topeak ratchet rocket and a version of the silca one
Looking at Fix it sticks and the like
The other week a mates chain Snapped and I was the only one with a chain tool...
Would have ruined a fine evening if I wouldn't have had it.
Current 'EDC' is.
PB Swiss PB470 for actually usable Allen keys/T25, uses bits so can be tweaked if required.
Park folding chain tool
Wolftooth masterlink pliers with spare links in handle
Dynaplug air system with 2 x CO2 carts, mega plug tube and spare plugs.
All of which fit into a waterproof pouch that can be easily moved from bike to bike.
Only been caught out when trying to help out another rider and needing an 8mm for an old fashioned crank.
I have a small birzman multitool with 2-8mm hex, T25, screwdriver and a chain tool. Tyre lever, dynaplugs, Co2, couple of cable ties, bag of 11 and 12speed quicklinks.
Yeah, it's not a great tool and you wouldn't build a bike with it, but it's fine in an emergency and is perfectly usable.
Another +1 for ratchet tool with bits specific ti the bike
Chain breaker
Chain links
Zip ties
Tape
A couple of common sized bolts
Micro pump
Tube & co2 +?tyres levers.
Never walkee home yet!! But then i usually maintain to within an inch of new from the shop.
I use that stuff to fix riding mates mechanicals.
Apart from presses / BB tool you can just about build a bike with a topeak ratchet tool!
I like my fix it sticks but the replaceable one is heavier than my other multitools (that also have chain tools) so it’s not the option to take if it’s weight rather than ‘number of tools’ that you’re worried about.
Currently running
Crankbrothers multi tool with chain breaker
Woolf tooth quick link pliers with spare links inside
Leatherman squirt ps4
Topeak rescue box with some puncture repair stuff and an 11 speed link
Peatys tubeless repair thingy
Co2 and valve.
Valve core, zip ties, wire to help join a chain.
Seems a lot but weighs very little. Served me well when I had a chain break, and it’s done a few good things for fellow riders. Yea I know everyone should have their own tools but that doesn’t always happen. I’d rather have enough to sort any bike in the group and get the ride back on track than watch so one struggle with a fault.
A chain tool has save my friends' rides more often than mine, plus spare links in ever-increasing varieties. Also, going on failure rate, some spare cleat bolts would have come in useful over the years.
I've got a 6mm Allen Key for my front axle.
I've just found out my rear axle handle isn't part of the axle as such, but a push fit 6mm handle, you can pull it off and do the front wheel!
Mind blown
Tools? I carry a multitool and nowt else. Only once wished i had pliars when i bent a disc. Otherwise never needed anything more. Got a tiny torks bit and holder on this long tour as its needed to change a gear cable and bleed brakes
Apart from presses / BB tool you can just about build a bike with a topeak ratchet tool!
This. Pretty much all you need, aside an 8mm, which I've stuck in the end of the ratchet handle.
If the bits don't suit, swap them.
One up edc does for me. Only issue I’ve ever had is getting the quick link removing function to work. I’d just repaired a broken chain … except I’d put the chain back on incorrectly (!) and had to remove the quick link again.
The one issue I found looking at fix it sticks was the chain tool looked quite bulky.
My old CB 17 has a decent chain tool, over and above hex keys a chain tool is an important one IMO.
Specialised SWAT tool in headtube with most of the allen/T25 I need, and SWAT box for tube, and pump. My hydro bag has tool roll with pretty much anything else I'd need away from home.
What are the best ratchets, like the look of the wera and topeak
The Topeak ratchet is amazing - but too easy to put in a pocket and lose.
Just replaced with the Bosch - heavier and bulkier and less pocketable.
The Wera Mini Zyclops is an ace bit of kit, small but very robust and able to take standard bits.
https://products.wera.de/en/zyklop_ratchets_and_accessories_zyklop_mini_zyklop_mini_1_8001_a_sb.html
They do a few kits that include them.
Quadlock bounced off out of nowhere on todays ride. Happened to be the one size I didn’t have on my multi tool grrrr. Do agree, most tools are redundant, would be great to pick your own.
Crank bros multi tool with chain tool,
Mini leatherman style thing and some park tools tyre levers. A Lezyne mini pump a CO2 one.
I have more but that covers everything.
If items just me on a short ride it’s CO2 and a tiny Topeak roadie multi tool
I have the CB M17 and also have a Superstar mini ratchet set that’s lasted years of garage work, Ikea building, etc. not carried it on the bike as have the M17.
@Bikerevivesheffield - The CO2c, mini leatherman copy, 2 canisters, mini Topeak tool and a tube all fot in one of the little Huck dry bags and stays strapped to my seat tube with a bit of Velcro. And then I carry more when I go farther or have to sort out wife/kids bikes.
Oh and I have cable ties as well
Ordered a selection to have a look at, will choose the best and send the rest back
I carry more than most, far more it seems but then a lot of my riding is in remote areas - better to have stuff I need.
Also tools for fixing other folks bikes - I'll let them use my tools once and then if they need my tools again, tough.
Oneup EDC pump thing with a CO2 and then a lezyne bottle cage with a small storage compartment on the back that has chainlink, tyre plug, cable ties. Additional CO2 on the other side of the bottle cage.
Settled on the wera - the quality is amazing, the 2 Topeak ratchets ran it close though. Reckon the wera will be used loads in the workshop too
Was looking at the RATCHET ROCKET LITE DX+ or ratchet rocket. Anyone tried or used both?
I wonder at times why I carry so much. As a youth I carried nowt and nor did any of the club members. A club run might see an old time with a dumbell spanner and a tyre lever but only if he was of the Carradice and yellow cape genre. Tubs could be yanked off with fingers. What else broke? Chains most certainly didn't Same when I bought my first MTB aboyut 86. You might get the odd dented rim but you kicked it back into shape or released the straddle wire. MTBB tyres came off nicely with no tools or your QR levers.
Having both in front of me plus the ratchet rocket 11, the latest wins hands down
I've never needed the 19mm spanner I keep in my backpack (TBH I'm not entirely sure why I put in in there in the first place!). But the bloke I met in the Forest of Dean whose day was about to be ruined with a loose lower suspension bolt was very appreciative indeed!
I use a multitool but have a teeny pipe plier in my bag. This is after I was caught in the middle of nowhere with a puncture but my valve had gummed up with sealant to the extent I couldn't undo it with my feeble aging fingers. The pliers have come in handy for various other jobs too
It's surprising how often zipties come in handy.
