One day I went down and got an ice cream cone (pecan-praline), and as I walked past the bus stop towards my bike, my friend Amy got off the bus. If you knew Amy you would have to stop and talk, especially if you saw her get off a bus. Amy rides her bike everywhere. I asked her what she was doing on the bus, and she proceeded to tell me about her theory of bike repair. It's a very simple theory: carry bus money and a bike lock. When your bike breaks down, lock it to something sturdy, take the bus home, get your car, go back to pick up the bike, and drop it off at your favorite bike shop. I was impressed. Not a spot of grease on her. Then I told her about my friend Herman.
When I first started cycling, Herman took us out on rides. Herman must have been forty or fifty at the time; hard for me to tell cause he still looks the same 14 years later. One day we were out riding, and my rear derailleur wasn't quite adjusted. And as it must always happen, I shifted into the spokes, tearing up my derailleur and breaking a few spokes - on the freewheel side, of course, I was ready to call Mom to come get me when Herman rolled up; he always seemed to be there when you needed him. He looked at the bike, said no problem, and unrolled his took kit. Lo and behold, he had an extra rear derailleur, a few spokes of various lengths, a freewheel tool for every bike you could think of, plus a five-pound wrench to use with the freewheel tools. What a guy!
My conversation with Amy made me think about tool kits. Cyclists want to know, "What tools should I buy and when should I carry them?" There are two basic philosophies. One extreme says that you should maintain your bike well enough that you don't need to carry tools at all. Repair it at home, not on the road. These folks just carry phone money and have Mom come get them if something really goes wrong. The other extreme carries every possible tool to fix every possible problem on every possible bike.
My rule of thumb is that you should carry the tools to get you home from any distance you are not willing to walk.
| Amy | type 1 | bus money and a lock |
| Minimalist | type 2 | patch kit, tire levers and pump |
| Smart Minimalist | type 3 | spare tube |
| Smart Cyclist | type 4 |
basic tool kit: |
| Experienced | type 5 | spare nuts, bolts and selected bearings |
| Touring Cyclist | type 6 |
spare spoke, freewheel tool, pocket vise |
| Smart Tourist | type 7 | crank puller, spare tire, chain lube |
| Traveling Tourist | type 8 | pedal wrench |
| Good Samaritan | type 9 | 6, 7, 8 above, for other kinds of bikes |
| Herman | type 10 | big adjustable wrenches, bailing wire, spare chain and freewheel |
from the Seattle Bicycle Atlas, via the Sharecopy Agreement