tools

Judging from the number of cyclists I rescue on the road, carrying a basic and adequate toolkit is a rarity. The basics can be carried unobtrusively and neatly on both the Torq and Quando models as the examples of my two bike's tools show.

Here's the contents of my Torq toolkit. Spare tube, puncture outfit, tyre levers*, universal spanner, 10 mm spanner to supplement that to enable rear brake arm bolt removal, cut down 18 mm and 16 mm spanners for the wheel nuts, Allen keys for all sizes on the bike, spare battery fuses, valve cap, pressure gauge with Schrader tightener on end, scraps of rag. In addition, there's a ball point pen and pad in the base of the toolbag and a compact trackpump mounted below the crossbar.

All those tools and parts are stored in this toolbag from the Specialised range, 16 cm x 10 cm with velcro strapped mountings. The straps sit just above the mudguard stay extensions so the bag doesn't slip down, leaving battery removal and carrier use unaffected. The weight of the complete kit with the bag is 760 gms, a small burden for the security given.

The Quando's needs are a little different. Here there's a spare tube, puncture repair outfit, tyre levers*, 18 mm and universal spanners, Allen keys and a spare valvecap with Schrader tightening end. Since there's little convenient room for a normal tyre pump on the Quando, there's a CO2 pump and a spare cylinder which pumps 20" tyres to a "get me home" 30 lbs pressure using one of the cylinders.

These sit in the same size and type of toolbag as above. This time I've raised the carrier by one hole at the adjuster strips by the rear wheel spindle and squeezed the toolbag in below the carrier front rails, thus again not interfering with battery removal or the carrier function.

The Torq and Quando motor spindle nuts are 18 mm, a size often not included in the average spanner set which commonly jumps from 17 to 19 mm. Separate spanners are expensive and even open ended spanners are often too long for a compact toolbag like the one mentioned above. A rummage in your existing toolbox can provide a solution if you have a spare 17 mm or 11/16" spanner, since chrome vanadium is easily filed and hacksawn. A millimetre filed out of the jaw of the former or just over half a millimetre from the latter will do the trick. Then you can saw off the unwanted end of the spanner with the usual high speed steel hacksaw blade and smooth it to provide a compact 18 mm spanner for your "on road" toolkit. Both the 18 mm spanners in the Torq and Quando toolkits illustrated above were made in this way from old unwanted items. and the 16 mm ring spanner for the Torq's rear wheel nuts is an old item cut in half.

*As an ex cycle trade apprentice of many years ago, who as the junior had to do all the bike punctures, I very rarely need tyre levers, and certainly not for the eZee bikes. The reason they're in the kits above is for when I help ill-equipped cyclists who are often riding cut price junk bikes with low grade Chinese tyres. These are often almost impossibly tight on the rims due to poor design and tolerances.