What wrenching skills/tools do I need for independent touring?

[jolie]

You shouldn't take too many tools for there is a long riding distance for you. Just take the basic repair tool is ok.

[PscyclePath]

What I pack around for touring/commuting/whatever:

--- Park MTB-3 multi-tool. Can just about disassemble a bike and put it back together by the side of the road with this thing.
--- Leatherman multi-tool. Good for the pliers, cable cutter, and knife blade tools. Also kewl every now and then for the wine corkscrew ;-)
--- 6" crescent wrench. Used mostly in good Samaritan mode, sometimes there are things your standard bike multi-tool just doesn't fit, quite often on kids' and box store bikes.
--- Park patch kit, with tire levers, micro-inflator, and a handful of CO2 cartridges. Couple of spare tubes.
--- Topeak Road Morph frame pump. (Yes, I have CO2, but I'm a belt & suspenders type of guy. The number of flats you're subject to having can be mathematically defined as the sum of the spare tubes and patches/cartridges you are carrying, plus one.)
--- A Surly Jethro Tool. Just because it's cool.

Haven't had but one problem where I had to replace a spoke, but if I were out on a long, long loaded tour, I'd probably pack along a cassette lockring tool and maybe a chain whip...

[OakLeaf]

Haven't had but one problem where I had to replace a spoke, but if I were out on a long, long loaded tour, I'd probably pack along a cassette lockring tool and maybe a chain whip...

Have you, or has anyone here, tried one of those temporary cable spokes that the ACA has in its catalog?


ETA - sounds like DebW has, how far would you ride on one? Is it like a spare car tire, just good enough to limp to the next shop?

[DebW]

Have you, or has anyone here, tried one of those temporary cable spokes that the ACA has in its catalog?


ETA - sounds like DebW has, how far would you ride on one? Is it like a spare car tire, just good enough to limp to the next shop?

Actually, I tried one while wrenching for a charity ride. Good points: small, light, folds into tiny tube for carrying and includes a spoke wrench, fits any size wheel, can be installed without removing the cassette. Not needing a lockring tool or chainwhip is a huge deal if trying to keep weight light on a tour. I found it doesn't work as well as a normal spoke, doesn't take as much tension, and may take some fiddling to install correctly. You need to set the length to have enough windup left to add the tension - took me 3 tries to get this right the one time I used it. I have heard of people riding 100s of miles on one of these, and I wouldn't hesitate to ride however far I had to on it, but I'd replace it with a normal spoke when I could.

[Eden]

I don't know if he ever needed to use it, but my hubby has carried one of those kevlar temp spokes when we've been touring - being a big fellow in the first place, plus added weight of gear makes him susceptible to broken ones (of course after two in one weekend, he had tandem wheels built for his tourer and its not been so much of a problem since)