I’m planning a week’s ride this summer and the guide says bring any spares specific to your bike, but what do you think this means in terms of my bike? Should I take spare bearings for suspension? Mech hanger? Anything else?

Thanks for the advice!

Mech hanger, chain link, brake pads, tubes

Hangers and anything that is not a generic spare.
If you have weird spokes (roval wheels), BB, headset etc. basically anything that you would have to get ordered in to a bike shop.

oh and don’t ask here ask the person who told you to bring bike specific spares 😉

gear cable, mech hanger, zip ties,

Avid brakes? Get some deore xt

banks – Member
Avid brakes? Get some deore xt

Why bother if they go wrong you will still need to bin them

Chances are they won’t go wrong. That being the main point.

The short list is Mech Hanger, Brake Pads, cleats ( These already live in my daily spares kit ) + standard tubes, pump, ties etc.

There should be bike shops in the local town, but they are unlikely to have things like Straight Pull spokes or anything else funky. You are unlikely to need suspension bits, if you think you are get it serviced/fixed before you go, as you don’t want to wait 3 days to get something shipped from the UK.

+1 for talking to the guide.
P.

I would suggest you get the bike serviced (or do it yourself) prior to the trip and then ride it a bit to check it’s all sorted. Then you are just taking items which might break as above mech hanger, chain links, tubes, pads. The list could go as long as you like, I’ve bent a rotor in a crash, you can smash the rear mech too quite easily, bend a pedal/crank on a rock, broken spokes or indeed rims but ultimately you have to draw a line. Also anything which can come loose will (so check bike each night) I lost a couple of small retaining screws from my forks for example. I am assuming the trip invokes coming back to base each night so you can keep spares there.

What is/are the ‘Alps backcountry’?

Get the bike working absolutely 100% tip top, then take as many spares as you can fit in your bike bag/weight limit. Bearings shouldn’t really be an issue, they don’t suddenly go wrong in a week… The question isn’t so much “Will I need that”- that covers the basics, but then it’s “what else can I take that might be useful”

People say “take spokes if they’re a weird size”, I just say take spokes. Even if you use the most boring spokes in the world, tracking them down still takes time. It’s all about not wasting your holiday in bike shops.

Remember tools too if you have anything odd on the bike- special spoke keys, that sort of bollocks.

All the mech hangers and pads in the world. A ton of tubes too if you use tubes (that way you can lend one to Stevo 😉 ) I went through an extra set of pads last year as it turned out one of the sets I took sucked, glad I had extra spares. I bent a hanger badly in a crash and another one apparently was weakened and just snapped on a blue, so was glad I took 3 😉

If you’ve got a compatible rear mech on another bike, it’s worth nabbing it. I
took a whole spare brake system- was going to just take a lever but that worked out simpler. It was a rear, if I’d had to bodge it onto teh front I’d have probably just cabletied the excess hose up.

What is/are the ‘Alps backcountry’?

+1

when you say back country i assume you mean something like a multi-day tour. if so you won’t want to be lugging spare mechs and other components around.

when i used to guide transalp the list went something like this:
mech hanger(s)
spokes (can be bunged inside seat post or bars)
pads (times many if you’re a dragger)
tubes & patches
gear outer & cable
small bottle of lube/oil for chain/fork/shock

Nobody has mentioned what you really need. An Evo link for your frame.

What ever you take,it won’t be what you need, if it goes wrong,trust me I’ve been there! 🙂

Thanks for all the answers… It’s a multi day tour with a support van, so baggage shouldn’t be a problem.

What is an evo link?

Btw this is the model
http://www.specialized.com/us/en/bikes/archive/2011/sjfsr/sjfsrelite

JFK is that a serious suggestion? Seems overkill? And probably v expensive…

Take a spare bolt for each type/size of bolt on your bike. All of 3-4 bolts, plus the seat QR one.

Plus buy either pre-cut gear cable (ie without the v-brake nipple), or pre-cut. Otherwise you’ll never cut it well enough to push through without catching.

Tyre-boot (basically the centre tread cut out of an old tyre) and HD tie-wraps to hold it in.

tbh I carry these anyway on every ride, in my ‘spares’.

When we went to the Alps I took a spare set of wheels, as there was 4 of us – so no real extra, as we drove.

Thanks b r, what is tyre boot for?

Does anyone actually carry a spare evo link?

Sambuka, where are/did you get the spare mech hanger from?

I wouldn’t worry about the Evo link (as found on the Evo version of the Stumpy) it provides an extra 5mm (2011/2) or 10mm (2013/14) of rear travel. JLS was just being funny.

Hi Euro

I don’t have one yet! Where would you recommend?

s

A selection of spare bolts never hurts e.g. brake caliper mounting bolts, stem and saddle clamp etc. If you have any spare linkage bolts it is always worth taking these as you never know.

I’d add to the spare rear mech any spare or old disc rotors you’ve got as these too are easily bent in a prang.

Alps bike shops will have most generic spares such as tyres rear mechs disc rotors but you will be paying the full RRP. But if you are back country…

Hi Euro

I don’t have one yet! Where would you recommend?

I was hoping you’d do the searching for me 😛

At least one spare JOCKEY WHEEL – I had one fall apart and I was f u _ k dddd. …. and I broke a rear mech on a rock but I had a spare.

Jockey wheel – if you trash the bottom one, just run the chain over the bolt. If you lose the bolt, a couple of cable ties with the chain running over them will work for a while.

If you trash the top one, move the bottom to the top, and carry on as above

Two items I’ll always add (from bitter experience):

Barbs and olives for brake hoses (and reverb if you’ve got one)

Bolt(s) for saddle clamp of your seat pin