Last week I went out on my gravel bike and got “mechanical”. This is a euphemism for the mistake of something happening in your garage, whether it involves something falling apart, breaking, or just being too lazy to grab a torque wrench. is. There were two types of multi-tools in the saddle bag. One is a flip-out pocket his knife style, which I found to be too large to fit in the space this screw was in. He also got one multitool as a gift, a bit replaceable type, and on the plane he brought three drinks with him, like the one he ordered from Skymall. I was able to reach the screw, but I could only do a quarter turn, and the bit fell out every time I repositioned the tool. I’ve run out of profanity, realizing that pocket tools aren’t ideal in most situations. Inspired by this, I’ve put together some of the best deals on his EDC tools that actually work on Amazon.
Ever Day Carry (EDC) The same day I fell down the YouTube rabbit hole of the fetish world. I adopted a multi-tool quite early on. I bought my first Leatherman when I was a teenager. Like most things, EDC has far surpassed its original vision. Probably for good reason. Most people who, like me, have needed a tool to get out of a bad situation have found that a fancy, glorified pocket knife can make things even worse. The solution is to carry the actual tools in the smallest form factor possible. Ironically, these people have discovered bicycle tools, but the vast majority of cyclists seem to ignore them.
I’m in the process of adjusting my bike kit to better handle these situations. The next time you use your “machine” on the road, you can repair it without the hassle of using crappy tools. Start with a small ratchet set. This Toppeak Ratchet Rocket Lite NTX+ set ($73.96) is perfect, as it also comes with a small torque adjustment tool. Everything fits in a bar bag. But like the EDC YouTuber, I might even start not only riding my bike, but also carrying some real tools with me at all times. There are so many great things about having children. One of them was realizing how great it is to carry around a dad bag. Indiana Jones carries a bag, but so do we all. To fit my archaeologist/adventurer aesthetic, I’m considering his Sechunk vintage military leather canvas bag. It retails for $40.99, and the more beat up it gets, the better it looks.
For those just starting out, I’ve included some links to a stubby ratchet and some small pliers. If you’re like me, you probably already have a ton of redundant sockets rolling in from other kits. So as long as they all use the same drive size, you should be fine.