Commuting: what do you carry with you?

[WoodyAlan]

Planning my commute - thinking about what I should carry with me for safety/spares/weather protection etc....but dont want to carry too much....

what do people recommend? My commute is going to be 7ish miles each way, bke (Torq) locked inside building at each end. Im thinking:

Flashlight and mobile phone
Gloves/helmet/hat/clips
Puncture repair kit (hoping the marathon plus will not make it necessary)
Waterproof coat

Anything else anyone regularly carries/uses?

 

[flecc]

I carry a complete toolkit for all my riding. See here.

 

[Nick]

I commute about 6 miles each way. I wear normal work clothes but for a pair of trainers, helmet, some clear glasses and some goves. - I leave my shoes at work. I carry a few bits in a small saddlebag: latex gloves, spare inner tube, tyre levers, CO2 cannister (mini-pump was hard work to get bog all air in), couple of allen keys, spanner for rear wheel. I also carry a few quid in change and my mobile. I tend to use a small rucksack and carry some very lightweight waterproofs. I think that's about it.

 

[WoodyAlan]

Thanks: didnt think about the clear glasses, but will be useful. The repair kit is sensible too....

just need the bike now!!!!

 

[Baboonking]

duck tape, £1 multitool plus undetermined quantity of optimism that i'll reach my destination

 

[Flying Kiwi]

Commuting tools and gear

When I was commuting 6.5 miles each way daily, I took nothing extra than my helmet, cycling specs with spare lenses for bright sunshine or the dark, gloves and wet weather cycling jacket. As standard I also take the 2 most important things to effect a rescue mission, a mobile phone and some cash. There are plenty of minibus/van sized taxis big enough to fit my Twist into around here. I left my locks at work and charged my battery at home as the bike would easily cope with a return journey on one charge. I guess it depends how keen a person is to do roadside repairs on the way to or from work as to what is carried.

 

[flecc]

I guess it depends how keen a person is to do roadside repairs on the way to or from work as to what is carried.

True. Having been in the trade at one time, doing the roadside work doesn't worry me and I use all the dodges. It always surprises me how many people mention removing a wheel to repair a puncture. I often don't even take a wheel out to change a tube.

Bet that's started some puzzlement! (No, I don't cut the tube).
.

 

[Flying Kiwi]

Hmmmm

Isn't it alot of work welding up the section of frame you've hacksawed out though?

Not sure I'd feel comfortable doing any 'frame flexing' on my precious baby....

 

[nigel]

nigel

Thats right flecc there is no need to take of the wheel just one side of tyre then pull the tube out but it might be tricky to find out where the air is coming from what with the noise of our busy roads i would just hope it was a slow puncture and could keep pumping it up maybe one day bike companys will all fit marathon plus tyres NIGEL

 

[Flying Kiwi]

maybe one day bike companys will all fit marathon plus tyres

That'll be the day they cost £50 each as a spare part purchase

On the Giant Twist Comfort the original Maxis tyres have a special 'for electric bicycle use' marking on the sidewall. I spoke with a salesperson for a UK company who deals with this brand of bike tyres and was told that retail versions of tyres, although costing more, are usually much better quality. Although he wasn't certain, he also doubted whether there was any difference between the electric bike marked tyre and other unmarked OEM versions.

Although in-situ puncture repairs with the wheel still on the bike are commonly done as you refer to, fleccs post did mention replacement of the tube with the wheel remaining on the bike.

 

[nigel]

Nigel

It does not surprise me that some electric bike tyres are not up to standard i suppose it a way of saving a few quid? however its not always easy to change over to new tyres electric bikes seem a bit more tricky when removing the wheel then a normal push bike. nigel

 

[Flying Kiwi]

It does not surprise me that some electric bike tyres are not up to standard i suppose it a way of saving a few quid?

Exactly, 'built to a price' was the term the salesman used.

its not always easy to change over to new tyres electric bikes seem a bit more tricky when removing the wheel then a normal push bike.

Not if you have a pedal crank motor driven bike it's not. The problem is that many electric bikes are hub motor driven and then there's all the fussing about with electrical connections to attend to. With the former, the electrical components are far away from the wheels (other than possible hub dynamos which are also used on unpowered bikes).

 

[nigel]

Nigel

Dead right
flying kiwi i will be getting my ezee torq next week and whats the first thing i will have to do THATS RIGHT change the tyres to marathon plus just hope i can put it all back the same way as i took it of:confused

With ref to twist lite as you said with that design it seems to make many more jobs easy to do ie taking wheels off no wires to worry about i cant think of many negatives for the giant twist lite just tyres

 

[Jaytee]

I will be interested to know how you get on with changing the tyres. Its something I feel I ought to do too, but I've not got the courage to start. Tell me where you buy the tyres and, if your comments are OK, I'll bite the bullet and change them too.

 

[Jaytee]

Should have mentioned, I've got a Torq too.

 

[flecc]

Isn't it alot of work welding up the section of frame you've hacksawed out though?

Not sure I'd feel comfortable doing any 'frame flexing' on my precious baby....

In fact the Twist is a bike which is happy with it's left hand A frame triangle stretched out sufficiently with the SRAM spindle overreach. It can be done single handed (plus a foot!), and I've taken the photo below, doing it on the Twist with my other hand operating the camera.

Believe it or not, I even fitted the very thick Marathon Plus without taking the wheel out.

Many years ago when there were loads of Sunbeam and similar oilbath chaincase bikes owned by impecunious customers, using a frame stretcher* was the only viably economic way of replacing tyres and tubes. Those bikes lived for many decades despite that treatment.

WARNING, don't try this at home unless you're confident of your abilities to judge metal stress.

and that's stretching the rear tow hitch frame as well!

*No longer available these days.

 

[flecc]

Here you are Jaytee, I'd recently described doing just that on the Torq for Nigel.

Here's the link.

To that I'll add, when taking the old tyre off, let all the air out and try to work the tyre beading into the centre well of the rim on the opposite side of where you are removing it, to give you the maximum of slack.

If using tyre levers, take care not to pinch the tube against the tyre beading, though in fact with care you won't need tyre levers on the Torq.

When putting a tube in, add a tiny amount of air to give it a touch of shape, then when replacing the tyre bead onto the rim, start opposite the valve area and work round to that. Work that start area into the rim centre well, then push in the valve a little way and finally pull that last bit of beading onto the rim around the valve. Again if using tyre levers, be careful not to pinch the tube.

"Work" the tyre on the rim so that it sits evenly, checking the lines on it's sides to ensure it's sitting centrally. Finally pump it, making sure the tube is not pinched under a tyre beading at any point.

Tyres and tubes can be bought from any cycle shop, but the more expensive types like Schwalbe Marathon Plus may have to be ordered in for you. The main wholesalers stock them so a dealer will only take days to get them.
.

 

[Jaytee]

Thanks Flecc, - again, two most useful texts. I read somewhere that the Schwalbe Marathon Plus tyres for the Torq were very difficult to fit due to their inherent stiffness. Did you find this to be the case?

Do you think the Schwalbe tyres are really that much better that the standard KendaTorq tyres, enough at least to justify the cost?

I cannot see Schwalbe tyres listed in the 700C x 48 size used on the Torq. What size did you fit?

 

[rsscott]

I used tyre levers to hook the Marathon's over onto the Torq rims. It wasn't particularly difficult. I believe the width I have is 38mm but I'll have to check when I get home.

As for whether they are worth it, I've done well over 10,000 miles on the Plus. Could I have achieved that on cheaper tyres? I guess I'll never know but I remember getting a puncture 4 miles from home on my second day of ownership with my previous electric bike!

cheers
Russ

 

[flecc]

Yes Jaytee, confirming Russ' size indication, the Marathon Plus for the Torq are 700 x 38C, the largest they do.

I'm still using the Kenda tyres on my Torq to see how they perform, ok so far, but have the Marathon on my Twist.

700 rims are usually easy to fit with tyres, and if you let te air out of the standard Kendas, they will happily fall off the rim if you sneeze!
.