Bike Repair Kit

For the last three weeks a bad right knee has prevented me from taking the bike for a ride.  I'm getting "twitchy" with the restriction!  We both have appointments with our doctor in early January and I will be requesting a prescription for some of his magic tablets.  I last used them for the same knee issue two years ago and was very happy with the almost instantaneous relief.

Although I can't ride the bike, it hasn't stopped me from cleaning and doing some maintenance.  During this period I removed the contents of my repair kit which fits in a small bag under the saddle.

To the left I have a small container that holds my puncture patches, glue and a small rasp.  The blue tyre levers fit on top of the container.  Next is the 8mm Hex (Allen) key which fits the securing screws on the cranks and the bolt that holds the bike stand.  Below them is a cut down 15mm ring spanner that is required for the 15mm rear axle nuts.  There is a multitool at the top right with a spare inner tube below. 

The multitool has five Hex keys (5,4,3,2.5,2mm) a cross tip and flat tip screwdriver. A square shaft (green arrow) and three sockets (10,9,8mm).  The last tool (re arrow) is a combination wrench (15,10,8mm)

You might have wondered why I have the cut down 15mm spanner when the multitool wrench has a 15mm cut out.  The answer to that is the multitool wrench doesn't fit the 15mm axle nut.  It's on the wrong side of the tool to tighten the nuts.

Reflecting on the contents of my repair kit I realised I'm missing what might be an essential tool.  A chain breaker and replacement chain link.  If the bike chain was to break or be damaged I currently have no way of repairing it.

One option would be to add a chain breaker and spare chain link to the kit.  But the repair bag is already very full.  Looking at my existing repair kit I don't need the wrench, sockets and socket shaft.

I've come to the conclusion I erred in my judgement with the selection of my multitool.  In my defence it was purchased before I fitted the Shimano Alfine 11 speed internally geared hub; which resulted in the 15mm axle nuts.  Moreover, it wasn't until I converted the bike to an e-bike and subsequently added the bike stand, that I needed the 8mm Hex key.

My solution is to consider replacing the existing multitool with the one below at a cost of A$6.25 from Aliexpress.

 

The tool doesn't have the sockets and wrench.  It does have an 8mm Hex Key (left arrow) and a chain breaker (right arrow).

Replacing the original multitool reduces the total number of tools carried by one (the 8mm Hex Key) whilst including the missing chain breaker.