Drivetrain Related Emergency repair gear

During my Round Lake Erie tour I experienced multiple problems with a very significant part of the drive train, the right pedal. I broke not one but two pedals in very different places during that tour. The first pedal likely broke from lots of use and a lack of proper maintenance and lubrication. The second pedal broke after less then two days of touring.

I learned from these adventures in many ways. The first lesson is that you really can't use ziplocks to help create a temporary fix for a broken pedal when it's the main attachment point that's broken. The second lesson was to take a second set of pedals and some maintenance gear with me during my next tour. I've been doing so ever since.

On this page I will mention some parts that I use for drive train maintenance. I don't take all of them with me on tour although most do come along. I'll specify what I don't take in the remainder as I describe each part.

A picture of my grease gun attached to a tube of grease.
Click to enlarge.

Grease Gun

My first set of pedals likely disintegrated from a lack of lubrication and proper maintenance. I purchased another set of Eggbeater pedals to replace the ones that had broken. This new set had a feature lacking in the original pair, the ability to inject new grease into the pedals.

Bob, my fellow touring buddy showed me a handy grease gun that he picked up from a local bike shop. This grease gun screws into a tube of grease and allows you to easily service the pedals from almost anywhere. Service consisted of simply removing the end cap from the pedal, attaching the piece to use for injecting the grease, place the grease gun into the adaptor and fill the pedal with grease until it comes out clean.

I experienced no problems with these pedals during my Round Lake Huron tour. I will continue to take this gear with me on tour.

Full sized pedal wrench.
Click to enlarge.

Pedal wrench

I haven't taken a pedal wrench on tour and I hope that I won't need to. I know that some people carry them on tours where they have to take the pedals off to ship the bike via airplane, train or bus. The Eggbeater pedals I use now connect using a allen key. About my only concern is that I will someday have problems removing a set of pedals with an allen key due to a lack of enough leverage. (One advantage of a full sized pedal wrench is that it makes removing stubborn pedals from a bike very easy due to it's increased leverage from it's extended length).

My Park chain tool with a useful piece of chain for practicing.
Click to enlarge.

Chain Tool

I've broken a chain while cranking up a heavily snow covered hill during a bike commute to work. I've also broken the chain numerous times while mountain biking but I have so far not broken a chain while on tour. There have been a few reports of broken chains in touring journals.

Currently I have an Alien Multi-use tool that includes a chain tool that I usually take on tour. At home I use a Park Chain Tool for any chain work I do from removing the chain for cleaning through to putting a new chain on the bike.

It is important that when purchasing a new chain you find out if the pins in the chain can be reused after a chain tool has worked with them. In some cases the pin has to be replaced. One brand of chain that seems to require new pins is Shimano. Other chains have Masterlinks that allow easy removal and replacement of a chain without needing a chain tool. Of course if this type of chain breaks on tour then you still may need a chain tool.

Rear cassette remover

I have included some information about the handy Stein rear cassette remover on the Spoke Emergency Repair Kit web page.

With time I will add additional parts to this list.
If you believe that a critical drivetrain related part is missing from this list then please let me know!

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