Hi, we're Pam and Gilbert from Two Bikes for Adventure. If you've watched any of
our touring videos, you may have caught a glimpse of Gilbert working on our
bikes often changing a tire on the side of the road. Although our Brompton are
reliable machines, there are a few things that can go wrong and through the years
we have sometimes found ourselves far from a repair shop when a mechanical
problem occurred. In order to deal with these situations we make sure to always
have a minimalist repair kit with us, whether on a multi week tour on another
continent or just pedaling over to the grocery store near home. In keeping with
our Travel Lite philosophy, Gilbert has put a lot of thought and trial and error
into keeping our tool and parts kit as light as possible while making sure that
it's capable of coping with the most common problems that we might face.
Because we're not spending long months or years on the road, we can sometimes
get away with doing a quick job that will hold together for a day or two
until we can manage a more permanent fix, however another consideration is that
specific replacement parts for Brompton may be difficult to find depending on
our location so flexibility is important. The most flexible tool for us has proved
to be a bicycle multi-tool. Although there are many options, we need one with
a 15 millimeter wrench to remove a Brompton wheel. The first option is the
Brompton tool kit. It includes that essential 15 millimeter socket wrench as
well as a reversible action ratchet with four double-sided bits and ten and eight
millimeter wrenches that also double as tire levers and bonus it slips into the
bike main frame for easy storage. The disadvantage is the price: expensive
An excellent alternative is the Tern tool at about half the price. In addition to
various wrenches and keys, it offers chain breaker and spoke
adjustment tool that the Brompton toolkit doesn't have plus its open 15
millimeter wrench configuration enables it to remove pedals, something the
Brompton toolkit cannot do. Both tools are excellent. If you go for the Brompton
tool, you may want to add a Park Tool CT-5 chain breaker or the Topeak Ninja chain
breaker to your repair kit. The Ninja can be stored inside your handlebar.
To easily reconnect a damaged chain, we use a quick release chain link also known
as connecting links. The inevitable rain showers quickly strip
the lubrication on the drivetrain. We have been caught without oil on more
than one occasion when we didn't want to carry a large container that could leak
in transit. Once in desperation we drained a few drops from a bottle of
motor oil discarded in a roadside ditch. Finally we discovered an oil vial that
was small enough and secure enough for our needs and we now decant a small
quantity of oil and always have it handy. Probably the most vulnerable part of the
bike is its tyres and the most frequent problem is a flat. After many side of the
road tube repairs and replacements, we have switched to Schwalbe marathon tires
and will never go back but we still carry to spare tubes as well as an
emergency tire boot kit, a patch kit and a spare tire. Because Brompton sized
tires are not often stocked in regular bike shops, carrying the spare is not a
luxury. We mount ours on the front of Gilbert's front baggage. A pump is
essential for regular maintenance as well as repairs and most airlines insist
that bicycle tires be deflated for transport. We can and have argued that
this is not necessary as only a 3% increase of tire pressure would occur at
cruising altitude, but we have not yet won that battle and do partially
deflate them, this means we have to re-inflate all tires when we arrived
usually in the Airport arrival lounge. We find that a pump like the Filzer Mini
Roadie is ideal. It is compact, the footrest converts into a mini floor
pump, the hose minimizes the risk of damaging the valve and the inline
pressure gauge reduces guesswork, so much easier to work with them for example the
Brompton Zefal pump. Vibration in buses or cars may loosen the Brompton folding
clamps. To avoid losing any, we tighten them when we fold the bikes plus we keep
a spare clamp in our kit. We also bring a few front and rear wheel spokes and a
set of brake pads. An alternative to spokes is the Fiberfix
emergency spoke replacement kit, a type of kevlar wire that can fit any spoke
the Fiberfix benefit is that you don't have to remove the cassette when
replacing a rear right side spoke. Small pliers can be useful for cable
maintenance and extracting foreign objects from tires. For many years we
carried a Leatherman Skeletool. We used it daily for our picnic lunges but it was
impractical as a bike tool, furthermore the holes in the knife blade got gummed up
easily with food particles. We switched it out for a much smaller Leatherman
Style PS, bonus it is TSA compliant, along with a Swiss Army Picknicker knife.
This winning configuration saves weight, cleans up easily and includes a corkscrew.
Some consumable items that are incredibly versatile for both bike and
non bike repair jobs include duct tape, reusable tie wraps, metal wire and
Nitrile gloves. We always have some with us. Of course before we set out on any
tour, we check our bikes thoroughly, pay particular attention to tires brake
cables, brake pads, chain and headset. We hope that our touring videos show you
the fun of traveling by bike without being weighed down with maintenance and
repair requirements.