Tools / parts to carry on tour

[froze]

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I do long-distance bike camping myself, but my tools are rather thin because I do a very extensive pre-ride inspection before I go, and do one every morning.  But this is a practice I've done for the last 50 years, about 40 before I started multi-day trips, and I've never had a mechanical breakdown on the road, not including flats of course.  Every morning, I go through my water bottle cages, fenders, and pannier racks to make sure the bolts are tight, those things seem to be the most likely to loosen, but so far they haven't.
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Agreed the pre-ride inspection is super important!

On rack and fender bolts and keeping them tight, Loctite is your best friend.  I've noticed that some bolts are more likely to loosen up than others, so it might be a good idea to ride around home with your bike fully loaded for a few days and figure out which bolts those are.  But I'd recommend putting a threadlocker and all of the rack and fender and cage bolts.

You mentioned wheels and spokes... my experience has been that broken spokes under mostly normal use is usually a sign of a poor wheel build.  High-quality custom wheel builds with alloy hoops and an adequate number of spokes are not grossly expensive (on the order of $300 each) and you can abuse the heck out of them and they won't let you down.  Usually from a return on investment standpoint wheel upgrades are a very good deal.  If you do basic maintenance (checking your wheels to make sure they are still true) you aren't likely to have problems.

I'm curious though.  You didn't mention chain oil at all.  At least for me riding dusty and dirty I usually need to clean the chain and reapply chain lubricant every couple of days.

I forgot to mention about the chain lube, I do take chain lube.  Currently, I use Dumonde Tech Lite because it lasts between 400 to 500 miles between applications, and I wipe it down after each ride.  But I am thinking of switching to Effetto Mariposa  Flower Power lube, supposedly it lasts about the same amount of time as the Dumonde, but it runs a lot cleaner with less friction, hmmmmm, so I will probably try it and if it fails to impress me I'll go back to Dumonde.

My touring bike, as do almost all touring bikes, are now coming with a max of 32 spoke rims, some just have 28, and if one spoke fails those lesser spoke wheels could cause a taco effect of the wheel.  Bike manufacturers are excusing the low spoke count wheels as making up for it with a stronger rim, but it doesn't work that way.  I'm like you, I think a touring bike wheelset should have at least 36 spokes with 40 being ideal, or 40 on the rear and 36 on the front, but my newer touring bike is using 32 spoke wheels, and I don't care for them but I'll keep using them till a rim starts to develop a crack somewhere, usually at a spoke hole.

I forgot to mention too, that I check my tires at night for holes and cuts, if any are found I fill them in with Super Glue, I do that at night because it takes a while for that glue to get real hard when it's not being used to put two things together.

I've been doing bike camping for about 12 years, on two different bikes, and so far none of my bolts have ever loosened, so Loctite has not been necessary, but just because they haven't loosened in all that time doesn't mean I don't check them because one day I could get a nasty surprise if I don't.  You can't take anything for granted when riding long distances for days on end.

I do a post-trip on my regular bikes after each ride, not as involved as a touring bike but it still needs to be done.

I even do a pre-trip when I'm in the RV as well, blowing an engine due to low oil, low antifreeze, a worn belt, a tire that has low air blowing out causing the potential for an accident, and other assorted checks I do every morning before leaving a campsite, having an issue on the road can be very expensive, an engine alone can run you around $8,000 these days, plus installation which is about 12 hours of labor, not to mention the time you have to wait for a part to come in, thus motel and food expenses.  So you want to make sure you do your due diligence to ensure the vehicle is up on all of its fluids and air pressure.

Some people probably think I'm anal, but if you read my list of tools you would allow me to come back to Earth!

[BikeliciousBabe]

I've been doing bike camping for about 12 years, on two different bikes, and so far none of my bolts have ever loosened, so Loctite has not been necessary, but just because they haven't loosened in all that time doesn't mean I don't check them because one day I could get a nasty surprise if I don't.  You can't take anything for granted when riding long distances for days on end.

Good idea.  One time I hastily installed my racks under a bridge in Missoula in order to get back to camp before an approaching storm.  On the 5th day of the trip, which included some rough, unpaved, hilly roads, one of the bolts of my front rack got rattled loose and fell out.  Didn't notice it until we got to camp and I noticed the rack listing heavily to one side.  A rack into a front wheel on the unpaved road we had just finished would have likely been a disaster.

[froze]

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Good idea.  One time I hastily installed my racks under a bridge in Missoula in order to get back to camp before an approaching storm.  On the 5th day of the trip, which included some rough, unpaved, hilly roads, one of the bolts of my front rack got rattled loose and fell out.  Didn't notice it until we got to camp and I noticed the rack listing heavily to one side.  A rack into a front wheel on the unpaved road we had just finished would have likely been a disaster.
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The odd thing about pannier rack problems, I've run into more people who have had welds break on aluminum racks than I have with bolts coming loose!  Apparently, as the load is bouncing up and down on the rack, which could be made to carry a 75-pound load for example, but that weight is measured as the weight just sitting on the rack, it isn't taking that 75 pounds and adding another say 35 pounds when the 75 pounds jumps and comes back down constantly like a slide hammer.  A slide hammer might have only a 10-pound hammer, but you slide that thing back and forth on just 23 inches of rod and that weight is multiplied.  Now of course a load on a bike isn't jumping 23 inches, but even if it's only jumping an inch it's causing more weight than what the rack was designed for to be hammering away at the welds.  I've been on roads that have ridges every 12 feet or so, you hit those damn things and the load is bouncing up and down for miles, aluminum can't take that for long unless your load is at least 25% lower than the max carrying weight of the rack.

[davidbonn]

A lot of inexpensive and lightweight aluminum racks aren't built to carry very much and could easily be overloaded by a bicycle tourist.

When you look at a lot of the low-cost racks on Amazon I suspect that the carry weight ratings are at best very optimistic.  And given that most folks don't have a serious clue about how much weight they are actually carrying it is surprising to me that there aren't more stories of rack mayhem and disaster.

[BikeliciousBabe]

I finished a loop tour from/to Missoula maybe 10 years ago and was visiting the office.  A German guy came in and was asking where he might find a new rack because he had broken his rear aluminum one.  Someone from the staff suggested he try REI.  I have Nitto Big racks fore and aft.  Nickel plated steel.  Not worried about them breaking.

[froze]

I have Nitto Big racks fore and aft.  Nickel plated steel.  Not worried about them breaking.

I have the Tubus Cargo rear rack, it's also made of 25CrMo4 steel, it's supposed to hold 57 pounds, but I have about 45 on it. The odd thing with that rack I have is it has the tubes open and exposed to the elements on both ends, so rain runs down the tp and out the bottom, so I sprayed rust-proofing into it in hopes of preventing rust from occurring inside. I thought about closing off the holes with caps, but then I got to wonder why they left them open, so maybe they're supposed to be left open?

[BikeFreak]

I have the Tubus Cargo Rack as well. Its 25 years old and I have done some 60000 km with it. It never ever came loose and it's not rusty at all. I have not plugged any tubes except for the factory ones.

[froze]

Great start on your touring essentials! Consider adding a spare derailleur hanger as they're prone to bending in a crash. An extra cassette might be overkill unless you're planning on riding a lot of tough terrain. Don't forget a chain whip for cassette changes. Happy touring!

There is no need for a chain whip, if a person is that paranoid then they need to carry an extra cassette, and all that does is add weight for you to haul around mile after mile.  If you put on a new chain and cassette before you leave that cassette should last at the very least 8,000 miles, and chain at least 3,000 miles and probably closer to 5,000 if you get a good chain. So unless the poster is doing a 12,000 mile expedition trip there's no need for a lot of stuff.

A bare bones minimum you need:

2-3 Tire levers, good ones like a pair of Lezyne XL Power levers, and a Kool Stop Tire Bead Jack if you have very tough to install tires.
Small bottle of chain lube.
Mini bike pump, like the Lezyne Road Drive, but get the large one, it's about 11 inches long but skinny, but that length makes it easier to pump tires with.
If you're tubeless you need a few pluggers and a couple of valve cores, but even with tubeless you'll need tubes and patches.
A couple of Rema Patch kits.
Park tire boots.
1-2 spare tubes.
Spare chain link
Spare spokes (2 rear drive side, 1 rear non-drive side, 1 one front); however there is a product called FIBERFIX Emergency Spoke Replacement Kit, this kit allows you to easily replace spokes without having to take off the cassette so you don't need a chain whip, and these Fiberfix spokes are lighter in weight than steel spokes, and come packed in a very small round canister.
Replacement brake pads.
A mini tool like the Topeak Alien II Multi-Tool that comes with 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 8 mm allen keys, A chain breaker, Spoke keys, 8, 9, 10, 15 mm wrenches, some might have pedal wrenches, but if you break a pedal...well, you can't carry an entire bike shop on your bike!
4 to 6 Zip ties.
About 2 feet of duct tape.


I don't see a need for a spare chain, you can remove a broken link or two, and put the chain back together, the only problem you'll have doing that is you won't be able to to shift into the smallest or tallest gear, but you can still ride it.

If you have brand new cables put on, and your bike doesn't eat them, there is no reason to carry any spare cabling thus no need for tools for that.  You also don't need a spare derailleur hanger unless you'll be riding off road; and the poster was talking about using panniers, if the bike crashes those panniers will protect the derailleur.

Some say to carry a spare tire, but todays tires, especially the Schwalbe line of tires used in touring, are all but indestructible, unless you're going off road a spare tire is an overkill in my opinion; but if you must carry one find the lightest weight folding tire you can get in the correct size, then put the remaining heavier touring tire on the rear and the lighter weight tire on the front.

There are a lot of tools a person can carry, but it comes down to how far and how remote you will be, doing a exhibition trip in the Outback of Australia is vastly different than taking a touring trip in America!  There are people doing ultralight trips on trails in America and they carry very little in tools and parts.

Below is a link to a guy who goes ultralight touring off road, look at his bags and tell me if he's carrying a lot of stuff.  https://tomsbiketrip.com/ultralight-bikepacking-a-fully-loaded-cycle-tourists-perspective/

[davidbonn]

If you are running tubeless you likely want a small bottle of sealant as well.

If you run tubeless, you won't often need tire plugs, but I'd recommend getting two different sizes of plugs.  The "bacon strips" are excellent for plugging smaller holes.  The more expensive Stan's Darts or Dynaplugs can plug quite humungous holes and can save you and ironically aren't as good as "bacon strips" for smaller holes.

Make sure that whatever multi-tool you bring has all of the tools you'll need and that it has enough reach to get everywhere you'll need it.  You should expect to carry a hex key or two to get to hard-to-reach bolts.  Which sizes you'll need depend on your bike and the bike build.

Also a valve core tool is tiny (you can often find versions that act as valve caps) and you'll need it desperately when you need it.

You can wrap the duct tape around your pump or a water bottle.