Fixing this crushed wheel in the parking lot with wrench, screwdriver, hammer, spoke tool, and two beers.
Downhill races are hard on bikes. I think I’ve seen everything: broken cranks, blown tires, taco’d wheels, and just about anything else that can go wrong. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, then check out Matti Lehikoinen’s crash at Leogang. His mechanics had his bike back in working condition in about the time it takes to ride the lift to the top, and it was running smoothly enough to let him qualify for 4th the next day. We mortal riders don’t have a team mechanic or a van full of enough spare parts to build three new bikes, but anyone who races should at least have the parts and tools to get their rig running after a bad off.
Minimum Tool Kit
This list will go way beyond your on-trail kit. Plan to fix about 90% of the things that could possibly go wrong with your bike. Essentially, you should be emptying your garage, putting everything in a big tool box, and hauling it to the race.
- Bike stand
- Full set of Allen wrenches
- Full set of end wrenches (the ratcheting ones are spendy but way cool)
- Full set of screwdrivers
- Full set of sockets and a driver
- Full set of torx wrenches
- Wire cutters
- Scissors
- Tire levers
- Shock pump
- Floor pump
- Vice grips (sometimes you gotta grab on tight)
- Hammer (yeah, it has come to that)
- Knife
- Needle-nose pliers
- Accurate tire gauge
- Pedal wrench
- Spoke wrench
- Chain tool
Minimum Parts
There are some parts that you’re almost sure to need at every race. They don’t cost much, but they can end your weekend in a second if you don’t have them ready.
- Brake pads
- Shifter cables and housing
- Brake lines
- Tubes
Minimum Accessories
Those little extras that you never really think about but actually use nearly every time you work on your bike.
- Zip ties (you can never have too many zip ties)
- Electrical tape
- Duct tape (desperate times call for desperate measures)
- Chain lube (gotta keep things running smoothly)
- Blue Loctite (you don’t want things coming loose, do you?)
- Brush kit (to clean stuff)
- Rags (you can never have too many)
Optional Tools
Sometimes you have a mechanical prob that calls for more than the average tool kit.
- Chain whip and cassette tool
- Bottom bracket tools
- Chainring nut wrench (nothing else works on those damn things, aahhhhh!)
- Torque wrench
- Spanner tool
Optional Parts
Breaking a shift cable happens all the time, but it’s not all that rare to taco a wheel, strip a pedal, or bend a crank arm. If you’re really serious about racing (or just happen to have these parts lying in your garage), then you should bring along a few extra goodies.
- Spare cranks
- Spare wheels
- Spare pedals
- Spare brake levers
- Extra spokes
- Tires for different conditions (ever ride mud without mud tires? Yeah, it sucks, huh?)
- Seal kit for your fork
- Spare chain
- Extra chainring
Optional Accessories
Serious maintenance issues call for extra tools, expensive parts, and … all those rarely used accessories that you rarely remember to bring along but often need.
- Alcohol in a spray bottle (to clean things well if you get grease or brake fluid somewhere it doesn’t belong)
- Lighter (oh man, you got brake fluid on your pads and rotors. Well, cover them with alcohol, and light them up)
- Medium-weight bike grease (you’ll need it if you have to change out your bottom bracket or crankset)
- Nitrile or latex gloves (they’re really nice if you have to bleed your brakes)
- Magnetic parts tray (have you ever dropped a really key nut in the gravel by your car?)
- Sun shelter (somehow it’s always either hot as hell or raining like crazy. Either way, some kind of large non-walled shelter helps a lot.)
- Brake fluid
- Fork fluid
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Tags: downhill, freeride, mountain bike maintenance, mountain biking