Talk to me about multitools – what do you carry?

[pushpush]

Not carrying anything is great until it isn't. The boy scout thinking drilled into me as a child has given me the tools I need to get out of most situations on my own. Mechanical failures are rare but the rewards of being prepared for them are plentiful. It isn't just about not needing to call for a rescue, it is about being able to finish the ride and feel the satisfaction of self-reliance. It usually takes less time to sort out a problem than it does to wait for a rescue to arrive.

My multitool takes up the same space as a tube. We aren't talking about lugging around a toolbox. I'm unsure why anyone would forego something so small when it can save a ride.

[joebusby]

So all this frippery aside, is there actually anything for sale that beats the Daysaver tool for weight?

Either combined with the Coworking lever+Chain breaker, or the ZTTO 19g pink chain breaker and some Schwalbe Blue levers.

[OtterSpace]

is there actually anything for sale that beats the Daysaver tool for weight?

The Wera Bicycle Set 15 can be lighter but is not something I'd trust for a through axle. Therefore, unless you are fine with only one or two individual titanium keys Essential8 is basically unbeatable from a weight perspective.

There likely are lower weight ways to get whatever features you need from the Coworking5 but it will be less integrated and not significantly lighter.

I covered the Essential8 earlier in this thread and while I use it there are three issues to be aware of:

• It is farily easy to lose the bits
• The smallest bit can get stuck in the tool if you attach it incorrectly which is easy to do
• The bits can get stuck in through axles

The last two can be fixed with pliers but thats not in a WW carry kit so there are situations where if the last two happen you can be left stranded.

[mdeth1313]

is there actually anything for sale that beats the Daysaver tool for weight?

The Wera Bicycle Set 15 can be lighter but is not something I'd trust for a through axle. Therefore, unless you are fine with only one or two individual titanium keys Essential8 is basically unbeatable from a weight perspective.

There likely are lower weight ways to get whatever features you need from the Coworking5 but it will be less integrated and not significantly lighter.

I covered the Essential8 earlier in this thread and while I use it there are three issues to be aware of:

• It is farily easy to lose the bits
• The smallest bit can get stuck in the tool if you attach it incorrectly which is easy to do
• The bits can get stuck in through axles

The last two can be fixed with pliers but thats not in a WW carry kit so there are situations where if the last two happen you can be left stranded.

Ummm, I have these -

https://www.amazon.com/ARFUKA-Keychain- ... _pp?sr=8-5

take off the keyring part and they fit nicely.

[gurk700]

Not carrying anything is great until it isn't. The boy scout thinking drilled into me as a child has given me the tools I need to get out of most situations on my own. Mechanical failures are rare but the rewards of being prepared for them are plentiful. It isn't just about not needing to call for a rescue, it is about being able to finish the ride and feel the satisfaction of self-reliance. It usually takes less time to sort out a problem than it does to wait for a rescue to arrive.

My multitool takes up the same space as a tube. We aren't talking about lugging around a toolbox. I'm unsure why anyone would forego something so small when it can save a ride.

Totally get it. For me carrying all the extra stuff takes out the joy of riding. It might sound silly but it's all what you're into. I ride to train only (i.e. not really the "adventure" stuff) and love when I look at the bike and see nothing extra on it. Like a purpose built race car.
It depends on the area you ride as well too I guess. I don't by any means choose urban environments to ride in but in the Bay Area, any ride up to 100 mile 10k feet mountainous route I can plan has pretty much full cell service and or civilization nearby enough to get me out of a jam.

[AFE]

If you don't carry anything this thread is not for you

[bobones]

Totally get it. For me carrying all the extra stuff takes out the joy of riding. It might sound silly but it's all what you're into. I ride to train only (i.e. not really the "adventure" stuff) and love when I look at the bike and see nothing extra on it. Like a purpose built race car.

I don't like the look of saddle bags either, but I can usually get by with one bottle for rides up to 85 miles, so I use a zip up tool bottle in the free cage. For longer rides, I can stop to refill my bottle, or I'll take two bottles and put my tools in a pouch (Rapha Essentials case) in my middle jersey pocket. Bike therefore stays clean looking.

It depends on the area you ride as well too I guess. I don't by any means choose urban environments to ride in but in the Bay Area, any ride up to 100 mile 10k feet mountainous route I can plan has pretty much full cell service and or civilization nearby enough to get me out of a jam.

Unless you're calling an Uber, expecting someone to drive 50 miles to collect you then back again is quite a burden to bestow, not to mention the amount of time you'd be left hanging around waiting.

Just a couple of weeks ago, we had to abandon a riding buddy because his 10-speed chain snapped and he didn't carry a quick link. The other two of us have 12-speed chains, so our quick links were no use to him, and he had to call his wife and wait in the freezing cold for about 45 minutes before getting collected. He also got sent to the dog house as they were supposed to be going out with relatives for a meal after his ride. (I was going to try to join the chain without the quick link, but he insisted we go on without him).

I am the opposite: I like to carry everything I need to be able to continue a ride, so even running tubeless, I have Dynaplugs, tpu tube, boot and patches. I also carry spare valves and cores, spokey key, coin cell battery, tiny pliers (for valve lock nuts), sharp blade (for trimming plugs), 2 x CO2 carts, hand pump, and cable ties alongside my Daysaver Essential 8 and Coworker multitool.

In the last 14 years of riding, I've never had to make the call of shame for a mechanical but have jumped a bus home when my freewheel (Shimano 105 hub) started spinning both ways, and on another occasion, take a train and taxi when I blew through a rim I'd let get too thin. I was lucky in both cases that the bus and train stops were right where I'd broken down. There have been countless other instances were my tool kit was enough to prevent me (or a buddy) having to abandon a ride early, walk, or call for help.

[joebusby]

is there actually anything for sale that beats the Daysaver tool for weight?

The Wera Bicycle Set 15 can be lighter but is not something I'd trust for a through axle. Therefore, unless you are fine with only one or two individual titanium keys Essential8 is basically unbeatable from a weight perspective.

There likely are lower weight ways to get whatever features you need from the Coworking5 but it will be less integrated and not significantly lighter.

I covered the Essential8 earlier in this thread and while I use it there are three issues to be aware of:

• It is farily easy to lose the bits
• The smallest bit can get stuck in the tool if you attach it incorrectly which is easy to do
• The bits can get stuck in through axles

The last two can be fixed with pliers but thats not in a WW carry kit so there are situations where if the last two happen you can be left stranded.

It was more the propensity for tyre levers to snap, so not wanting to be left with an unusable chain breaker if/when that happens. Of course, you can always use that as your "Second" lever, and do the heavy lifting with your other lever (obviously a schwalbe blue).

[OtterSpace]

It was more the propensity for tyre levers to snap, so not wanting to be left with an unusable chain breaker if/when that happens. Of course, you can always use that as your "Second" lever, and do the heavy lifting with your other lever (obviously a schwalbe blue).

Yeah that is partially why I have never owned the Coworking5 and personally have no interest in ever owning it. Its big advantage is its integration but its disadvantage is.... its integration. Plus I love pedros levers making me resistant to swapping. I no longer ride with a chain tool but when I did I took one off an old cheap lezyne V-10 multi tool and then turned the round end with a 5mm. I just did this because I already owned the V-10 but wanted better quality hex than the lezyne. I have not deep dived chain tools after I've gotten way more particular in the passing years. I actually used the chain tool not mounted to the V-10 in the field once and it worked fine to turn a chain into single speed after losing a pulley wheel bolt. Unfortunately I dont have a weight for this breaker.

[gurk700]

In the last 14 years of riding, I've never had to make the call of shame for a mechanical

I mean. We don't even need to discuss the logic of it because you're starting from this logic when I already said I'm not ashamed to call my partner at all. We even discussed this with her right after I responded in this thread and had another laugh about it. Neither of us mind one bit helping each other out. So I'm not ashamed to call uber or my partner or anything like that.

I understand the logic of it all. I just choose a different way.

Bottle thing is cool. No question it looks better than a saddle bag. But not an option for me. I need to carry 60 to 100 grams of sugar water in 2 bottles for my rides and no solid foods. Pretty non-negotiable. 10 years of training and this is the only nutrition plan that works for me. Solid / gas station food is last resort. I could do sugar flask type deal but it's the same issue as all the tools and spares where it takes up space in jersey pockets.

Again I'm not arguing any logic. Just prefer to ride exactly how I like to ride and accept that 1 out of 600 or so rides, I'll have a minor inconvenience.

[OtterSpace]

I understand the logic of it all. I just choose a different way.

Thanks for sharing your story. The wide discussion in this thread is good and shows people have different ways to approach the same problem.

I ride the same way on my 4.4kg tubular bike. I just bring a 5mm to remove the axles, & wheels, in case I flat and just take the Uber XL of shame. This is my plan any time I flat on that bike.

On other bikes I bring a weenied down toolkit as I don't want to be late for work or cut a ride too short.

This brings me to a new tool I have under test that came in lighter than expected bang on the claimed weight of essential8 but a tiny bit heavier (0.36g) on my scales.

This is just the wera multi bits (from "Wera bicycle set 15") and the lightest ratchet I could find which I took from ("VIM Tools 3 Piece 1/4 Inch Drive Nano Ratchet Kit"). I just received the ratchet today and tried removing two 6mm through axles installed at 12nM multiple times and it can do that higher torque task with no chance of damaging the tool. However, it is not the best tool for this task as it lacks leverage so it takes a bit of omph to initially disengage the axle but nothing too crazy. You can nest the second bit in the tool but with the bit ends being spring loaded it doesnt remain engaged deep enough to add more leverage compared to using the tool without the second bit connected. I'm debating removing the spring loaded 3mm, 2.5mm, or dilling out the magnet so I can engage one bit in the low torque side of the tool but I don't want to do anything destructive yet. Also I could keep the TX 25 + 6 & 5 + 2.5 and replace the 4 + 6 & 5 + 3 with a 4mm and save some weight. There are slightly heavier & much longer ratchests too for those who just want more leverage.

I heatshrinked it for better grip and visual identification amongst my home use tools which follow PBSwiss coloring but that is my personal, and admittedly kind of insane, preference for all my tools to help me quickly see when a bit is being used with too big or too small of a lever if the colors are too far out of sync.

I'll see how it holds up over time and will report back after a few months for a longer term review if I remember. In theory this should address my three issues with the essential8 as these bits are much harder to lose, you cant get them stuck in the tool, and the longer wera bits are easy to get a grip on and remain well engaged with the tool so I dont think they can get stuck in an axle if the head deforms or is undersized. Even if one does get stuck you have two sets of 5 & 6mm as both bits have these. It does lose the 8mm hex but I see no personal need for 8mm field use in general, let alone from such tiny tools.



Edit: I'm also interested in modifying a low profile bit ratchet with carbon plates instead of metal but that would be a project and take up more pack volume and likely more weight just to improve leverage and these low profile ratchets have worse ratcheting mechanisms. No idea if I'll ever see the idea through but I wanted to share anyways.

[pushpush]

@OtterSpace your color coding ocd gives me great satisfaction

[basilic]

These Wera bits - a nice idea, but are there really 2 each of 5 and 6mm hex bits, but no 2mm? Then you cannot adjust a shimano derailleur

[Talrand]

@OtterSpace you should be able to save 5g with an aluminium Topeak Ratchet (claimed weight 15,5g, should be arriving in my mailbox soon). It's rated for 18Nm only but that should be plenty for roadside repairs. They also have a plastic and alu bit holder but don't specify the weight of the handle only. I've ordered one too since it comes with a detachable 5Nm bit holder.

Also, could you show individual weights of the Wera 'multibits' please?

Edit:
I've got one of those low profile ratchets (a cheap one, not sure if any 'good' company makes them too) and its mechanism is pretty stiff. Really only works on bolts that already have quite a bit of resistance.

[OtterSpace]

@OtterSpace you should be able to save 5g with an aluminium Topeak Ratchet (claimed weight 15,5g, should be arriving in my mailbox soon). It's rated for 18Nm only but that should be plenty for roadside repairs. They also have a plastic and alu bit holder but don't specify the weight of the handle only. I've ordered one too since it comes with a detachable 5Nm bit holder.

Amazing, truly great info and it seems like Limmys thinking struck me again. I did search extensively for a Ti ratchet but nothing feasible came up and I didn't think to look into Al. Therefore, I went for the smallest steel option I could find. Thanks to your info I ordered one to test but please post more info on yours when you get it in hand. To me the silver color one is more attractive than the black one as the directional lever will have significantly better contrast to the tool body on the silver color version. Not that you really need to look at the direction lever but still.

Edit2: Actually there is a fairly big problem for use with Wera multibits with this tool. The end is capped off so it doesn't allow the rear of the bit to protrude so it will need to be drilled out to support the Wera bits.

If the Al topeak even matches the weight of the other one I'll use it if I can make it support the Wera bits. This would fix the leverage issue and is lighter weight so the only negative is higher torque loads could damage the Al but such a tool won't see over 12nM for me (10nM +20%). It will be slightly less packable but it fixes an issue in turn so a good tradeoff. Also anyone who torques their axles to 15nM (SL8 spec but not sure how many people deploy that recommendation) should be more cautious with it.

Edit: R2-bike has photos of the Al ratchet weighted at 15.6g which should get you somewhere around 28.32g for it & the Wera bits (that it doesnt natively support).

These Wera bits - a nice idea, but are there really 2 each of 5 and 6mm hex bits, but no 2mm? Then you cannot adjust a shimano derailleur

Also, could you show individual weights of the Wera 'multibits' please?

Good catch I missed that one in my post above. There are a few options I can think of: use an individual hex key which is the lightest tool for such a small head size, use a conventional bit, or just dont use one. Personally I'm on the fence on if I want one at all given 2mm is only used for high, low, and b-screw physical limits on electronic shifting from memory. If I did I would use an individual key but it likely will be easy to lose.... something for me to think about along with how to keep the Wera bits from rattling around in the dynema bag I posted earlier. My first thought is a very small rubber band maybe two so that if the Wera bits are removed for use the 2mm stays connected to the tool given 2mm won't be needed as often.

I've got one of those low profile ratchets (a cheap one, not sure if any 'good' company makes them too) and its mechanism is pretty stiff. Really only works on bolts that already have quite a bit of resistance.

Yeah looks like the juice just isn't worth the squeeze with that type.