Recommended equipment to carry?

[LeetleGreyCells]

Vittoria Ranonneur on both front and rear on the Summer bike, no punctures in 3 years.

Sold! I’ll definitely be checking these out!

 

[NorthernDave]

First off, run gatorskins or similar. Having suffered five punctures in ten rides, since gatoring up I’ve not had a puncture in two years.

2x Practice changing tubes at home

Sound advice - I run Gators on both road bikes and can't recommend them highly enough.

And even better advice about practicing fixing a puncture. I didn't cycle for 20-odd years, but just assumed I'd still be OK with stuff like that - after all, it's like riding a bike innit?
Actually it wasn't. I was lucky enough to have reached home before noticing the 3 inch thorn sticking out of the sidewall. It took me nearly half an hour of wrestling with the bike, the wheel, the tyre and tube in the warmth of a well lit kitchen - goodness knows how long it would have taken me in the cold, on a bridleway, in fading light. The good news is that following fixes have been much quicker and involved considerably less swearing...

 

[Ming the Merciless]

Beer tokens

 

[Sharky]

You can worry too much about what could go wrong. Aside from punctures, very little goes wrong and you always get home some how.

But if you do any maintenance on the bike, take all the tools you used on the next ride - nuts & bolts always seem to work loose on the first ride if they are going to.

 

[PaulSB]

@Sharky is spot on with this and apart from fixing flats the only roadside maintenance I can recall in recent years is to tighten a bottle cage and raise a saddle.

I did recently have to scrounge a cleat screw on two separate occasions from the same friend!!!!

I love guys who carry the kitchen sink in their saddle bag.

 

[Jody]

Stick a £20 note in your phone if it has a removable back for emergency taxi, food, drink, beer.

 

[mjr]

@Sharky is spot on with this and apart from fixing flats the only roadside maintenance I can recall in recent years is to tighten a bottle cage and raise a saddle.

I did recently have to scrounge a cleat screw on two separate occasions from the same friend!!!!

I love guys who carry the kitchen sink in their saddle bag.

They hate you, scrounging cleat screws from them and not learning to carry spares

I've also snapped a gear cable, a few brake cables, had a pedal come loose, had a crank come loose... probably a few more things like that. Also, when I was hit by a car, the gear system was knackered but I had the tools to disconnect it and ride home as a low-geared single speed. I don't carry everything, but I think a 400g toolkit will cover most things except bearing failures.

Stick a £20 note in your phone if it has a removable back for emergency taxi, food, drink, beer.

Either taxis are cheap where you live or you don't ride far from home!

 

[Jody]

Either taxis are cheap where you live or you don't ride far from home!

Both. MTB and road loops will usually stay within 10-20 miles of home. A bit further out and if it ever happened the money would keep me fed and warm while someone came to pick me up.

 

[Thorn Sherpa]

I can vouch for the Marathon+ got them on my current bike and had them on my previous bike. 20 mile round trip to and from work using busy roads and no issues with punctures worth getting in my opinion. I think sometimes it can just be luck with punctures

 

[mikeymustard]

Stick a £20 note in your phone if it has a removable back for emergency taxi, food, drink, beer.

Great thing about the new tenners is being plastic they're not affected by water so I keep one in the zipper pocket of my jersey. The current one has been through the wash dozens of times!
I also keep a cereal bar or two in my baggie, "frusli" or "nature valley" are my favourites.
I keep all my items in a little home made saddle bag permanently fixed to the bike I'm currently riding, I've only ever been out once without it (due to swapping bikes). You can guess what happened

 

[Ming the Merciless]

Taking a couple of Scotch eggs with me for tomorrows ride.

 

[Kajjal]

2x latex gloves (or more)

This is a big one as it saves getting oil all over your hands and then everything you touch afterwards.

 

[NorthernDave]

I've tried various "energy" bars, some are better than others (High5 are quite good), but if I'm totally honest a Snickers bar does much the same job, is cheaper and more importantly tastier.

Energy gels however are the work of the devil and should be avoided except in dire emergencies...

 

[Sharky]

I've tried various "energy" bars, some are better than others (High5 are quite good), but if I'm totally honest a Snickers bar does much the same job, is cheaper and more importantly tastier.

Energy gels however are the work of the devil and should be avoided except in dire emergencies...

Bought one today and it was called more appropriately a "knackered bar" !

 

[Sharky]

And a photo ..