There’s nothing worse than being caught on a ride with a flat tire, or worse. A little preparation can go a long way to get you back home. Here are our repair kit must-haves.
Tire Repair
Tire plugs
With tubeless tires coming standard on most bikes, even increasingly road bikes, tire plugs are an essential repair kit piece. They’re designed to work with tire sealant to seal small punctures and they work incredibly well. Dynaplug's Racer Pro set up is slick, lightweight and easy to use. Just pull off the end cap and stab a preloaded plug into your tire. The plug will stay put, the sealant should do its work and when all is said and done, the applicator can be reloaded. It's so easy, you'll have no excuse for leaving the house without it.
Our favorite: Dynaplug Racer Pro
Lightweight Tubes
A wise person once said:"Never leave home without a spare tube". Actually, that’s totally not documented but it’s still sound advice. Even if you’re running sealant, it’s a good idea to pack a spare tube in case your tire plugs can’t seal a puncture or you haven't refreshed your sealant since last season.
While you can use a standard rubber tube, lightweight tubes have come a long way. By using a thermoplastic instead of rubber, lightweight tubes like our favorite Tubolito are up to 60% lighter than regular tubes and more puncture resistant. They're also compact and can easily fit in a jersey pocket.
Like all tubes, make sure to check your tire diameter and width before deciding which tuboltio to buy. Also, lightweight tubes are not compatible with rim brakes.
Our favorite: Tubolito
Tire Levers
Pedros Tire Levers are lightweight and basically indestructible. Don't leave home without them!
Our favorite: Pedros Tire Levers
Inflation
Electric pump
CO2 canisters can be finicky and hand pumps take a long time to inflate a flat tire. Our favorite alternative? Rechargeable electric pumps. While they cost and weigh more than a standard CO2 setup, they’re worth their weight in reliability and convenience. They can fill a tire in the same time as a CO2 and they won’t freezer burn your fingers in the process. An added bonus: you can fly with them in a carry on and they recharge in a few short minutes.
Our favorite: Silca rechargeable pump
Tools
Multi Tool
A good multitool is the Swiss Army knife of cycling. Multitools come with a variety of features from your basic allen key sizes to full sets with a chain breaker. The more features a multitool has, the heavier it will be but that’s a small price for being able to solve most mechanical problems.
Our favorite: Crank Brothers M17
Pack Pliers
It may not happen often, but a broken chain can end a ride and leave you stranded. Carrying a spare master link and pliers gives you what you need to repair a chain in the field. The Wolf Tooth Combo Masterlink Pliers do both for you: they can break a chain, set a masterlink and they have internal storage for your spare links to keep the whole system together. They can even work as tire levers, valve core remover and valve stem nut lock wrench. That's practical versatility we can get behind.
Our favorite: Wolf Tooth Combo Masterlink Pliers
This is by no means and exhaustive list but includes what you need to handle most garden variety mechanicals. Need a bag to pack your repair kit? Check out our packs and bike bags.
We're always here to answer questions you have and wish you safe and mech-free riding!