What Bike Tools Should You Never Be Without?

Your backpack shouldn’t be weighed down with all the tools and parts you keep at home on the bench, but all the same, when you go out on the trail, there are some bike tools you should always have on hand that can get you out of a pinch when the chips are down. 

These are the sorts of tools that can get you home when things go awry on the trail. Make sure you always have them with you. 

Tire Pumps

A flat tire is one thing, a low tire is another because even if you don’t have a flat, riding on a tire that’s too low can result in a pinch flat, and then you will be up a creek. Having a tire pump with you can help circumvent this potential issue. 

On top of that, having a tire pump is just necessary to give you the flexibility to set the tire pressure to be appropriate for the conditions. Let’s say you start the day riding on blacktop or concrete and then move to sand or mud or something else soft; or, perhaps it starts to snow.

You’ll be burning way more energy riding on a higher tire pressure on the soft stuff in that case. You need a wider contact patch and the only way to do that without actually replacing the tires is to lower the pressure. 

Of course, if you reverse things, you need a way to bump the tire pressure back up when you get back onto a hard surface, and while lowering the pressure is a little more straightforward and doesn’t necessarily require a pump, getting the pressure back up does.

And that is why you should never go out on the trail without this bike tool in your pack. 

Tire Levers

You’ll probably also want to have a tire lever on you (and a spare tire or tube) because it can be really hard to get the tire off with just your fingers, let alone get it back on, which is really hard without a tire lever. 

They’re pretty much only good for getting tires over the rim, but if you have an issue with a tire or need to replace it, you’ll be glad you had one on you. 

A patch kit and a replaceable tube can also be a good idea to keep on you when you’re out there, even if they aren’t conventional bike tools. 

Also, if you have a tubeless setup, you can use patches called darts or plugs that can be used to provide a temporary fix to a hole to prevent you from experiencing a bigger issue while you’re away from home and before you can more properly address the situation. 

Wrenches

A set of wrenches is also a mandatory bike tool to have on you whenever you leave home. As far as tools go, wrenches are not just relatively lightweight, compact, and easy to pack, they are nigh indispensable, since without them you won’t be able to tighten any fasteners on the bike.

That being said, the next reasonable question is what type and sizes of wrenches should you bring with you. You can’t bring the whole tool chest for obvious reasons so you need to be as judicious as possible with what you pack in your loadout. 

A typically metric Allen wrench set from 2.5mm to 10mm will cover most of what you need, but you should also carry a Torx T25 and T30 since these fasteners are also relatively common on bikes. 

As for what’s most important, usually the 10mm will work for the pedals and crank arms, and a 4mm for a water bottle holder (which is actually sometimes a T25). Either way, just get a metric set with sizes between 2.5mm and 10mm and you’ll be covered in most cases. 

Chain Breakers 

One other bike tool you might also want to carry with you most if not all of the time is a chain breaker, despite its niche application. 

Also called a chain tool, a chain breaker is so called because it enables you to remove the rivets in the chain so the chain can be “broken” so that it can be shortened and reconnected, which can be necessary if you ever have any problems with the chain drive when you’re on the road or trail. 

On top of that, a chain breaker makes it easier to remove and disassemble the chain so it can be cleaned, serviced, or otherwise repaired, making it one of the most indispensable bike tools out there. 

Explore Bike Tools Here 

Looking for bike tools to round out your prepper loadout before you take your next trip? Check out our unicycle and bike tools here and get in touch with us if you have any questions before you buy; we would be more than happy to help.