What to pack in pocketses – road tools & spares?

Recently my thoughts have been unhealthily preoccupied about optimising the kit I carry in my pocket for road rides. It is largely weight weeniesim, but also it is just nice having less bulk jiggling around in the jersey.

My thoughts below, but I thought in general it’d be good to share ideas about what works well, or not so well.

Usually, I’ll carry in a ziplock bag:

• A butyl tube
• A small tyre lever
• Instant tube repair patches
• Lezyne Sport Drive HP or Blackburn Airstik SL
• A swiss army style multi tool with a chain splitter (180g)
• Spare powerlink

This stuff I’ve found usually gets me out of trouble, but I’m wondering if there are some things I can optimise.

Firstly TPU inner tubes – it seems these roll about the same as butyl tubes but are about 50g lighter and pack smaller. I’m not sure if the instant tube repair patches will work with them and if I want to do permanent repairs I would need to buy a set of patches. I’m not sure if there are any downsides – like how delicate they are, or whether they might degrade when being kept in a sweaty pocket?

e.g. https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005005731593162.html

Secondly, I could save a chunk of weight on the multitool. For example the daysaver Essential8/Coworking 5 looks pretty optimal at 78g. And looks like it’ll be able to spanner most things quickly and easily, could even use it when travelling with Favero pedals. It only comes with a T25 torx, but could supplement it with standard 4mm drive torx/hex bits. The big downside, however is just it costs a lot of money ~£80!

https://daysaver.fun/en-int/products/bike-multitool-essential8

https://daysaver.fun/en-int/products/bike-multitool-extension-coworking5

Another option is a Topeak Ninja 16+, which technically has more functions for not much more weight (93g). However, it just looks a bit harder to use when spannering, and doesn’t have a proper tyre lever though. It is however a lot cheaper @ ~£25.

https://www.topeak.com/global/en/product/1160-NINJA-16+

Then there is the pump. Often I am torn between whether I carry the Airstik SL which sits nicely in a jersey pocket but is a lot of effort if I actually end up with a puncture to repair, vs the Lezyne Sport Drive which pokes out of the top of a jersey pocket but is a lot quicker and easier to use. I wonder if I would be better with something in between the two, like a topeak roadie 2stage or Lezyne pocket drive.

I carry much the same as you but in a tiny saddlebag, reserving my pockets for other stuff (waterproofs, phone, credit card, food, etc.).

^ That ^

I have a SWAT attachment on my Specialized saddle for a tube, lever and CO2.

I have a Lezyne Caddy Sack M pouch for the middle rear pocked which carries: Topeak Race Rocket pump, tubeless plug kit, Lezyne SV11 multi tool, valve core and remover, quick link, park patches and a cheapo mini foldable plier set (I was once caught unable to unscrew a valve nut).

As a multi tool option, I really like the Mt Zoom multi tool, effective chain breaker. As with much of my kit, follows a previous recommendation on this forum…. Need to consider what hex keys/ torx bits you’re likely to need though..

HANDY MULTITOOL – compact / 12 functions

You just need whatever is required to mend a puncture. A well maintained bike shouldn’t need any other repairs when out on a ride.

I tend to use a small road rucksack. Not for everyone but having some spinal damage, I’d rather roll onto a couple of tubes and a folded waterproof, rather than a hard pump in my back pocket. Also would rather have the non-too cheap phone tucked away.

PS we all have a mate that fails to maintain a bike. Used a multi tool a few times on other’s bikes

Small Fizik saddle pack with two CO2 and a nanoflate, small lezyne multitool or just two Allan keys, inner tube. I can remove tyres from my rims by technique so tend not to bother with levers. I also take a sawn off ring spanner or PDW version for removal of a fixed wheel.

For longer rides there will be another inner tube with a carbon mini pump in the back pocket. Never used it except to show it works! And some food. Continental Race are light inner tubes, but they tend to puncture too easily. Also note, will you need to remove a valve extender? On group rides, there will be a tool bottle with a Topeak Alien and an extra inner tube, plus a mini Road Morph semi track pump on the frame.

Topeak ninja pump in seatpost, co2 cartridge and tyre lever co2 combi thing, small multi tool, butyl tube in rapha pocket bag thing. Also for wolf tooth encase in bars for anything more in depth. Don’t like stuff on the bike.

Small saddle pack for tube/patches/levers & mini tool. Pump on a bracket under one of the bottle cages to keep pockets free for food.

I never bother with chain splitter or spare power link on road rides, usually 2 tubes two tyre levers and a little multi tool in saddle bag with a pump on frame.

I take absolutely nothing

Never had any issues

If I did I would just ring the wife 😂

Phone in middle pocket. Food in others. Anything else at home. If I have a mechanical issue of any sort, I’ll call it a day and ring the wife and beg her to come get me. Haven’t had to rely on that yet.

yeah same as the last two, even on bigger rides (100k+) I just carry my phone (with cards loaded on it), some food. No tools or other spares.

PS we all have a mate that fails to maintain a bike. Used a multi tool a few times on other’s bikes

I ride alone :-)

I often ride alone and I’ve helped strangers fix their bikes more times than I’ve fixed mine..

I tore a derailleur off beginning of this year (off road mind..) managed to single speed to the nearest pub and call Mrs Davy :D

Tools in a small airline toiletries bag and pump in middle jersey pocket. Specs in the left and a nana in the right.

Phone in cargo bibs or top tube bag with snacks and keys.

After recently fixing my first tubeless puncture which wouldn’t self seal, I leave the spare tube at home..

All of that goes in a small bag under the saddle apart from the pump which is under the bottle cage. Any pump small enough to sit nicely in a pocket is decoration only I reckon. Pockets are for food and arm warmers.

I’ve recently got a OneUp pump, the bigger one so I can fit the tool and a co2 cartridge in it. My small saddle bag can fit a Tubolito, Park patches and a windproof layer.

I need a multi tool to get the wheels off my gravel bike so always carry one along with a tube, a lever and a pump.

I also carry a chain tool, link pliers and some links on bigger rides (not 100k that’s a shortie). Also a valve core tool, a spare core, tyre boot kit and Ty raps. Plus some tape round the pump.

I love the TPU tubes you can pack at least 2 in the space of 1 butyl and they weigh less than a quarter.

Use a decent saddle pack mainly. Keep the pockets for phone and food.

My wife doesn’t drive so I’d have a long walk or have to bus/ hitch hike home and hide the bike behind a bush.

Wow, here’s me thinking I’m pretty minimalist, sounds like I’m packing for a fortnight expedition compared to some.

Tools are just two single hex keys (one for seat post and one for wheels). Tyres are tubeless but I still take a single Conti Supersonic tube. Levers and a patch kit including a small tyre boot. Two CO2 canisters. That goes in a saddle bag.

Pockets have phone with bank card and a £10 note. Gels and small snacks if doing in excess of 60 miles. Oh and a small cable lock for coffee shops.

Never had to make the call of shame yet. My riding friends are all roadies who take care of their bikes. The only time we’ve had an issue was when a pump snagged on to the valve extender and snapped  the valve. That was a proper ball ache, so now I avoid mini pumps.

I’ve used a seat pack in the past but I’m not such a fan of them they tend to get knackered over time and rub. So now My multi-tool, spare tube, levers, CO2 canister, spare links, emergency buff, etc all live in one of these:

I have a mini pump mounted alongside the seat tube bottle cage.
Having it all permanently attached saves faff and reduces the risk of forgetting useful items.

Depending on the ride pockets get used for phone/ wallet/key, arm warmers/gillet/waterproof (if needed) and sometimes snacks, but I’ve also been known to tape gels/flapjacks/bars (in packaging) to the top tube and/or underside of my bars, just to minimise pocket bulk, once scoffed down I just stuff the sticky wrappers/tape under the leg gripper on my bibs until I stop near a bin or get home (normally the latter)…

It is possible to be quite efficient carrying stuff on a road bike.

<p style=”text-align: left;”>Small saddle bag. Tubes. Pump. Hexus tool. Got me out of all problems.</p>
Vel bag, it’s a copy of the castelli ones. Sigma sport own brand. Much better than a load of stuff rammed in pockets.

If I did I would just ring the wife

Could you post up her number?

I take absolutely nothing

Never had any issues

If I did I would just ring the wife 😂

Is it just me that finds that somewhat pathetic and/or thinking the rider doesn’t venture very far?

I use a frame bag for the road/gravel/MTB, carries everything I need and have a bag & full ‘kit’ on each bike so I don’t even have to think about it.  Living in a more rural area, everything I need to get me home.

everything I need to get me home.

It isn’t though, it’s easily possible to have a mechanical that you can’t get home from with any amount of kit – freehub failure, snapped bars, mech and hanger into the rear wheel trashing both, snapped rim in a pothole. You can reduce your chances of needing to call in help, but in over 40,000km I’ve not had to make the call despite carrying nothing (I do run more solid tyres though)

as above – tools in a bag on the bike, waterproof in the middle pocket, food in the outer pockets

All in pockets; from L-R

Spare tube, pump, CO2 inflator + spare cart, multi-tool, tyre levers, tubeless repair kit + emergency £10

Waterproof

Phone + Food. 1x Clif bar + 1x Clif blox per hour in the saddle unless it’s a sub 2-hour ride; in which case I don’t bother

If it’s hot and sunny; I spread things out a bit more and leave the waterproof; usually phone + tube into middle pocket; and the right being food only.

I may be over doing this. :D

I don’t drink all that much when riding so I have a tool bottle in seat tube cage with 2 x tubes and smallest/lightest multi-tool I own in there. Mini-pump and levers in jersey pocket. This means I also have a “clean” seatpost to fit a garmin varia onto.

If my chain breaks then I’m walking but I do replace my chain on a conservative basis for this reason.

All my rides are road rides around Cheshire or the Peak District so being uncomfortable and inconvenienced for a shorter or greater length of time are the main consequences of any unfixable mechanicals really.

Small saddle bag:
Tube
Mech hanger
Multi-tool
Glueless patches
2 tyre levers
Zip tie

Pockets:
Phone
Food/gels (if needed)
Mini-pump

Thanks for sharing. So a variety of opinions from carrying nothing to carrying quite a lot.

Thinking back I haven’t snapped a chain since migrating to >9spd. I might not have even truly needed tools for my own bike for about 5 years, although I have fiddled with things on a few occasions.

However, I always feel the need to be equipped to deal with minor mechanicals when setting out on a ride – sods law dictates if I stop carrying a chain tool then I’m going to mangle my chain.

So I think I am going to continue what I’m doing but try to reduce the bulk a bit. I’ve bought some TPU tubes – not sure if I’m going to get any new tools – the daysaver stuff looks nice and handy but is just too expensive.

I’m not sure why you’d choose to carry pump, multitool, tubes etc in jersey pockets rather than a small seatpack. I have a small Lezyne one that still takes a couple of tubes, a multitool, some instant patches, chain quick-link and a single tyre lever plus an emergency tenner. Small Lezyne pump goes on the bottle cage. Phone and food in pockets along with a lightweight windproof/gilet/ultralight rain shell depending on the weather.

I’ve used most of the stuff I carry at least once.

The one time I managed to not be carrying a pump somewhere in the wastelands beyond Holme Moss – on a borrowed demo bike – I figured I’d flag down a passing rider and use their’s. The only one I saw in two hours didn’t carry any spares, but had twice managed to blag a lift home from passing strangers after flatting. I figure carrying a few hundred grammes and not having to hitch lifts with potential serial killers is a better strategy. YMMV.

Am I reading this right? Some people don’t even take a pump, tube or tyre levers? Crazy.

On grrrrrravel bike:

Tube, Tyre levers, multitool, pokey thing, a few bacon strips/anchovies and a spoke key in little saddle bag.

Pump is a proper frame fit Zefal under the top tube.

Phone/Soft things/snacks go in back pockets.

If I’m going out for a very long ride I might use a slightly bigger seat pack and shove waterproof in there too and put more snacks in pockets.

It isn’t though, it’s easily possible to have a mechanical that you can’t get home from with any amount of kit – freehub failure, snapped bars, mech and hanger into the rear wheel trashing both, snapped rim in a pothole. You can reduce your chances of needing to call in help, but in over 40,000km I’ve not had to make the call despite carrying nothing (I do run more solid tyres though)

I think a rational take is that no, you can’t carry everything you need to get you home in the event that, say, your forks break or a meteorite smashes your frame, but carrying a few, light, well-chosen tools and spares mean that in the event of a more common event, like a puncture, you don’t have to phone home or wave helplessly at passing cyclists. And if you ride for long enough on UK roads, you’re going to flat at some point. Unless by ‘more solid tyres’ you mean literally solid tyres.

Taking the view that you can’t fix everything, therefore you might as well not bother being able to fix anything seems a little short sighted.

Ty raps are for free hub failure. Easy to carry half a dozen of these.

I’m not sure why you’d choose to carry pump, multitool, tubes etc in jersey pockets rather than a small seatpack.

For me personally I started out putting things in a seatpack but then found it easier to just pocket stuff when I was juggling multiple bikes and races that don’t allow bike bags. Since then the habit has just stuck – Phone and tools in the middle pocket, nutrition in the left and right-hand pockets.

I also find that seatpacks have the habit of making noises and/or having points where they rub and wear out over time.

I perhaps haven’t gone back to attaching a pump to the bike due to snobbery – I mean it isn’t aero is it… Pocketing the pump limits it to smaller ones, but I am not super bothered about taking an extra few minutes pumping given that punctures don’t happen too often.

Conversely, my MTB has a tube CO2 and tyre lever in a plastic bag that is taped onto the frame, so if I get a non-sealing puncture in the middle of a MTB race I can hopefully get the bike functional again. The MTB tube is too chonky to fit nicely into a jersey pocket.

Am I reading this right? Some people don’t even take a pump, tube or tyre levers? Crazy.

Never tyre levers.  I can change a tyre without.  Depending on the ride sometimes I take a tube and a pump – depends how far from home but I run tubeless  usually tubeless repair kit and a co2 thingy but not always

Almost always a multitool with a chainbreaker and a spare bit of chain – but thats because of running IGH so cannot shorten a broken chain to get home

short local ride very little to nothing.

Longer day ride tubeless repair kit, CO2 or pump but not both, multitool, quick links and a few chain linksand some cable ties

Multiday ride 2 tubes, patches, multitool, cable ties, m5 and m6 nut and bolt, pump  Gaffa tape on the pump, spare gear cable, a couple of spokes, tubeless repair kit, cleat and bolts,

 I started out putting things in a seatpack but then found it easier to just pocket stuff when I was juggling multiple bikes and races that don’t allow bike bags.

Exactly the opposite reason for me using a seatpack :-) I just know that when I take a bike out I have all the right bits with me. Yes, it means multiple seatpacks/multi-tools etc – one for each bike.

freehub failure, snapped bars, mech and hanger into the rear wheel trashing both,

all bodgeable to get you home with a few bits and tools.