[freetime101]

What spares / tools do you all take with you on a ride? 

How do you carry it? Saddle bag? Pocket caddy? Loose in a jersey pocket? Other?

Does it vary by ride? 

I carry 2 x CO2 cartridges, a mulitool with built in chain breaker and CO2 inflator, 3 x tyre levers (my wheel/tyre combo is a PITA to remove/refit), 1 x quick link, 1 x spare tube and a couple of glueless patches in a Leyzene Road Caddy saddle bag. Now that I’m tubeless I also carry a tubelsss repair kit in my pocket as it won’t fit in the caddy. 

It bothers me that I don’t have a normal pump so I’m shopping for the “best” one… but that got me thinking about what I should be carrying and how – I figure the best way to determine this is experience, so I’m asking for yours 

I figure some of you will have been cycling since before I was born, and some of you will have started yesterday, so I wonder if we’ll get a wide range of answers…

Topic

[wycombewheeler]

Awavey wrote:

what do you mean by misuse of chains though ? other than cross gearing and its arguable how bad that is, what else can you do to chain to misuse it ?

I was wondering if there might be more chance of chains of lower quality metal hitting the market thesedays, so fatigue failures are more frequent.

The chain get fall off the inner ring, get trapped between the chainset and frame and be twisted.

N

I’ve never had a chain fail due to fatigue, but I did have one that got twisted by becoming trapped, each time it went round the cassette it went down two gears, then up two gears.

Split the chain, ditched two links, used a quick link, back mobile again. Not something that could be done by pushing the jointing pin out and back again.

I have tried re using a pin in an emergency, (not my bike wrong size chain for my split link) but actually broke my chain tool trying to push a pin through that wasn’t correctly aligned.

[mdavidford]

Awavey wrote:

what do you mean by misuse of chains though ? other than cross gearing and its arguable how bad that is, what else can you do to chain to misuse it ?

 

[Awavey]

what do you mean by misuse of

what do you mean by misuse of chains though ? other than cross gearing and its arguable how bad that is, what else can you do to chain to misuse it ?

I was wondering if there might be more chance of chains of lower quality metal hitting the market thesedays, so fatigue failures are more frequent.

[Pilot Pete]

At the risk of being

At the risk of being perceived as patronising again, your method of pushing a pin partially out and reusing it is not best practice and creates a weakness in the chain at that point. Here is an extract from a Park Tool blog as to why;

Chain Installation – Derailleur Bikes explains why you shouldn’t do it.

Some chains, including Shimano®, use chain rivets which are peened. This creates a “mushroom” effect at the ends of the rivets, which adds to the strength of the chain side plates. When a rivet is pressed even partially out, this peening is sheered off on the side pressed by the chain tool. If this rivet were reused, it would create a weak link at that rivet. In the image below, a Shimano® rivet is shown in an optical comparator, which magnifies the rivet. The original peening is seen at the bottom of the rivet. The top of rivet has the peening sheered off. This top section was pushed through the outer chain plate.
 

[Pilot Pete]

Nobody is claiming your

Nobody is claiming your ‘decision’ is not correct. You have amply demonstrated exactly what I said – that thinner, lighter, modern chains tend to be more prone to failure, especially if they are not regularly maintained or replaced well before they are worn to limits. But, I think actual snapping of chains due to chain failure is less prevelant. In my experience it tends to be misuse (regarding front shifting) twisting thinner modern chains rather than them actually snapping (despite my previous post regarding a mate whose chain actually snapped last Thursday night).

Modern chains are much more durable in terms of wear than their earlier counterparts, mainly due to design and materials developments. They are designed to withstand very high loads before snapping, but as I said, my personal experience is that I have seen more modern chains fail by way of a link getting twisted due to a ham fisted front shift than I ever saw on older, heavier, thicker plated chains of many moons ago.

So for me, this is more down to user error whilst using a superior chain (in terms of performance). Just like a badly maintained chain actually snapping, which is rarer.

These articles make for interesting reading one of which shows just how much more durable (in terms of elongation and wear) chains from 10spd onwards are compared to older 9spd and below chains.

https://cyclingtips.com/2019/12/the-best-bicycle-chain-durability-and-efficiency-tested/#8-9-10-11-12-speed

https://www.velonews.com/gear/are-broken-chains-a-thing-of-the-past/

 

[wtjs]

I suspect there are more now

I suspect there are more now because an 11 or 12spd chain is much thinner and lighter than a 5 speed chain from the 1970s….

That may be true as well as charmingly patronising, but is not relevant, as the ‘never broken a chain’ applies to the 80s….20s. Since I took the car off the road at the first lockdown, I’ve done 6 100k each way trips up to the Lakes with a well loaded trailer, walking and camping equipment etc. That’s a fair bit of tension on that chain! The comparison you’re looking for is against the 9 speed chains and groups which I have standardised on since it was Ultegra but is now perfectly acceptable Sora. So if these El Cheapo chains are indeed much less likely to snap than the chocolate 12 speeds, then my decision was correct!

[Pilot Pete]

You can still snap your quick

You can still snap your quick link ‘closed’ with the bike in a stand – hold the back wheel and push down in the pedal with your hand. Jobs a good un.

[Welsh boy]

Of the 2 chains I have broken

Of the 2 chains I have broken one was a 5 speed back around 1977 (picked up a piece of wire riding through long grass) and the other was a 10 speed quick link failure about 5 years ago

[Pilot Pete]

I suspect there are more now

I suspect there are more now because an 11 or 12spd chain is much thinner and lighter than a 5 speed chain from the 1970s….

[Pilot Pete]

No is the simple answer.

No is the simple answer.

[hawkinspeter]

Can’t say that I’ve needed

Can’t say that I’ve needed chain pliers out on the road either, but I’ve used them when putting a chain on as it saves removing the bike from the bike stand and more importantly justifies having chain pliers.

I think most of the stuff I carry is insurance against needing to use it – if I carry it, then I won’t even need it. There’s also the option of helping out a fellow cyclist, but to date I’ve only ever donated an inner tube. I’m just waiting for the opportunity to help a cyclist with a stuck quick link now.

[wtjs]

I have been cycling fairly

I have been cycling fairly long distances since I went down to college in 1970. Up to the North Cape, over the Theodulpass from Zermatt to Cervinia (ok, so that was a lot of carrying, but most of the trip was cycling), Pyrenees, Alps, Sarn Helen bike route in Wales etc.I have never broken a chain. Until recently I wasn’t using quick links, and always joined chains after altering the length using the pin that I had pushed mostly out, rather than that Shimano long pin where you snap half of it off. So are all these broken chains breaking at quick-links? The Old Timers must be told!

[Richard D]

Broke another chain yesterday

Broke another chain yesterday, 5 miles into a 50 (the chain is a new-ish – 300 miles or so – Campag 12-speed). Once again, the chain breaker saved the day.

[Pilot Pete]

It looks a lovely tool, but I

It looks a lovely tool, but I can get all the bits I need with a Lezyne V10, which is only about 2″ when folded in! It has a chain breaker too and I’ve never used nor needed the quick link pliers yours has on the end when out on a ride – why would you break your chain at the quick link when roadside? Surely all you would ever need to do is break the chain at a pin if it has kinked/ snapped etc and put your spare quick link in? You don’t need pliers to fit one – just insert it on the top run of your chain, then hold the brakes on and push down on the pedal, which will lock it shut.

I guess it depends on the sort of riding you are doing too. If bike packing/ touring and away from civilisation for some time, then a bigger array of kit may well be useful. I only really do day rides, but they can be 200 miles +, and all I’m interested in is getting home, or to a town with a bike shop etc.

I have tried to minimise what I carry. For example, I will carry a tyre boot (made from an old section of tyre) but won’t carry a spare tyre as I think that’s overkill – if my tyre fails to the point of needing replacing before I can carry on, I’ve just had a really bad day. It’s never happened thus far, but I’ve used my tyre boot on a few occasions for a short sidewall split and a hole. I usually carry one spare tube and some self adhesive patches. On really long, unsupported rides I will consider carrying two lightweight inner tubes – it depends where I’m going and if there are any towns with bike shops open en route where I could buy a tube should I have used my spare. I just hate lugging stuff around unnecessarily.

[cidermart]

Ooooo now there’s a thought
Ooooo now there’s a thought ha ha ha ?

[Author]

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