New rear rack for my Cruz Bike

In an effort to get the weight low and minimize the wobble from having the rack sway when I pedal I bought an Arkel Low rider front rack and mounted it reversed on the back wheel of my bike. This took only one bit of finagling,  and that was to use two Nitto Steel clamps, and to cut two spacers (1 1/8" long) to mount the forward bolts. No test ride yet, but it seems solid and I was able to put a Ortlib rolltop rear pannier on it without it seeming to want to fall into the wheel. Once I put it on the road for a serious commute, I'll post a full report.

Micro tool kit! Fits in an Altoid tin

So I have been working on collecting my own tool kit since I started riding back when dinosaurs roamed the world and all I had was a stick and rock and the wheel had yet to be invented. I started with a 1/4" hex drive breaker bar and some sockets from Craftsman and Snap-on (the Snap-on one's were allen hex heads and screw driver heads). Recently I was told by a mechanic friend about the Wera 1/4" ratchet and I added some extensions to run regular hex drill bits which are now a dime a dozen... well maybe a dollar each, but it's not hard to collect them. The Altoid tin works as a thing to hold all the bits and keep them from poking through the 1qt freezer bag, because I don't want to lose any of these while on the road. I stuck in all the weird allen keys that have come with various racks, water bottles bosses etc and you can see the heap I now have. But with these tools I can do a lot of on the road repairs. If you get a 1/4 to 3/8th converter you can add the breaker bar for bigger sockets like a 15mm, and disassemble almost any bike. But I've whittled my pile down to this.

The funny shaped tool is a Leatherman(tm) MAKO Shark Ti tool. I carry it because it has spoke wrench cutouts, the bottle opener, and it's another way to use the sockets.

The rubber "O" rings you see hold the extensions in the Shark tool and allow it to sort of "ratchet" if you slide the o-ring off, insert the extension in the hex hole, and put the o-ring back on. It keeps the extension in place.

The Wera ratchet is really nice, and has held up well. There may be a better quality one out there but so far I haven't seen it.

Anyway it fits in a nice tight package, and rides in my tool roll. Along with some latex gloves, a multi tool, etc.

Tool Roll

I bought a tool roll from SILCA.ca (it was their biggest at the time) and it was too small for all the stuff I carry. So I used it for a pattern and made my own using a yard of black Cordua(tm) nylon some heavy duty carpet thread, some velcro(tm) tape (without the sticky bits on the back.) and some nylon binding ribbon. The idea was not to have one that fit under the saddle as I'd hate to lose my tools and I nearly always have at least a trunk bag with me, but to have a way to lay out my tools alongside the road and find the one I need, do the repair, and get back on the road.

The nice thing about a tool roll gives you a clean place to lay stuff down as opposed to the dirt, and black won't show the inevitable grease marks. The pockets were eyeballed for size to fit my tools. If I make another I think I'd move the velcro straps closer to the edge of the roll and force you you to roll it one way, vs what I have now are these really long straps that roll either way.

The dimensions of finished project are 21" x 12". Like the Silca one, I folded the material in thirds to make the flap and pocket, Take one of the long edges and roll it into a 1/4" seam and sew it flat. (this will be the top edge of the inside pocket.) Invert the material so that the nice side is in and sew the top 2/3'rds all around the edge.  Turn the material rightside out and sew the pocket closed. Sew the velcro strap (tack down about 2" of it.) to the middle. Sew a velcro tab to one edge. Invert the bottom material into a pocket  Fold the bottom 1/3 up and trim the corners and sew the edge. You should now have one big pocket on the bottom. If you are good, make that big pocket with a pleat in the bottom bit. The SILCA one has a pleat along the bottom edge but I got sloppy and didn't sew one. I probably should have as it makes the pockets better and the roll lay flatter. Now lay out your tools and eyeball the size pockets you want, be sure to put the narrow tools at the fold points about a 1/3 of the way in from each side. This way it will have a chance at laying flat when you are done and the tools are all in it.  But it's really up to you, a tool flap, tool ball, whatever it still holds your tools.

Anyway it was a fun Saturday project. I used a basic sewing machine, nothing fancy.