On the Road

It’s vital to take anything you are really likely to need. You won’t find it out there, wherever you go, although it’s amazing just what a mechanic in a place like India or Uzbekistan can do, sometimes, to botch a repair. I saw an Indian mechanic copy a broken axle on a lathe once.

The best precaution is to make sure your bike is in the best possible shape before you go. Take it down to a decent mechanic if necessary and replace anything that looks like it’s on its last legs.

Obviously, you could go nuts and take just about every spare part possible but there’s no point in being paranoid. A reasonable list of supplies might include:

A tyre, tubes, puncture repair kit, spokes, spoke key, a chain, chain-tool, axle, cables, brake pads, some bearings, lube and grease, a collection of appropriate nuts and bolts, some wire, glue, tape, a freewheel mechanism and tool (optional). You also need tools, but remember, if you are pushed for weight, that you can buy stuff like spanners and pliers even in places like Nepal or Georgia when you arrive. A multi-tool, cone spanners and bike related tools are good to have with you, and of course a pump!

Remember, you can do without a lot if you really need to. If your derailleur fails – big deal. You’ll spend most of your time toddling along at slow speed anyway usually, and you can move the chain by hand to another cog when you get to a hill. Likewise, one set of brakes is plenty enough when you aren’t shunting through city traffic. Luggage from home always seems to fall apart eventually, but street tailors can stitch it back together or find new bags that will fit your rack.

Make sure you know how to do the basic repairs before you go. Cycle-shop dealers can be very helpful in explaining stuff like how to get your bottom bracket out, or refit spokes. Like it or not, there’s no avoiding the little bits of weekly maintenance on the way. If you’re riding over hard ground for months at a time, even a really good strong bike will be looking fairly shot-away by the end of it all. So do some of the cyclists…

For really long rides, like across China or South America, you could post some things like tyres ahead, or have someone send them to you, to keep going.

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