Wedge pack cruise kit

Today's ride was a short streak extender around the neighborhood this evening. Palm trees silhouetted against the soft pink of the sky, and the air had cooled enough for children to pause their video games and go outside. Near the AC–DC path, I found some goathead plants growing in a public space rock bed and yanked out of the ground as many as I could.

So much for today's ride. In this post I'm instead going to write about some of the stuff I lug around with me on rides.

Wedge pack attached to bike, below saddle. Rear blinky attached to wedge pack.

Through the years, I changed my on-the-ride tool kit countless times. My current kit is only a couple of months old, but so far it's my best and favorite kit. I based it off Kent Peterson's kit. I figure if Kent's kit is good enough to ride the Tour Divide, it's good enough for my around-town riding.

Here's what I cram inside my wedge pack.

Clockwise from top-left: cable lock, patch kit, Topeak multi-tool, tire levers, tubes, pump, Park multi-tool.

(Note this is my utility riding kit. For competitive, recreational riding, I carry a much smaller and much lighter kit.)

My utility riding kit is, among other things, a complete flat fix-it kit, without CO₂ cartridges, all tucked beneath my saddle. I like being able to stuff everything beneath my saddle because it means I can devote my backpack or panniers to carrying other stuff. The key for making this work is the super small Topeak mini pump, a fully working pump that weighs less than three servings of Grape Nuts.

As for the tubes, I've carried two with me since shortly after moving to Phoenix and flatting multiple times on one ride because of goatheads. Phoenix has a lot of goatheads, mostly because of its abundance of landscaping rock beds devoid of native plants. Native plants choke out goatheads, but goatheads win against nearly everything else here in Phoenix. Cyclists suffer as a result, another testament that people generally suck at distinguishing between pretty and functional. But that's a rant for a different day.

Flats are by far the most common bike problem. Probably the second most common problem is the occasional loose screw. Most screws on a bike are metric Allen, and either of my multi-tools is suitable for tightening or loosening those. I can also handle flat heads, Phillips head, Torx, and spokes. Lots of capability for tightening and loosening things. And the Park tool also has 8mm, 9mm, and 10mm socket wrenches. I got this tool for adjusting my fenders, which require a 10mm wrench.

Besides fixing flats and tightening and loosening things, the next-most common catastrophic bike problem is a broken chain. The Topeak multi-tool can handle this because one of its 16 functions is a chain tool. I was skeptical about such a dinky chain tool before buying the multi-tool, but I changed my last chain with it, and it works well.

The Topeak tool also includes a pair of tire levers, but they're also dinky, and I don't trust dinky tire levers, so I carry another, more rugged pair. It's also good to have tire levers that are brightly colored—useful for those cold, dark winter morning flats.

That's my kit. May I use it as little as possible.