Nine years ago, I quit BMX to become a world"class road racer and criterium terror. I immediately hooked up with a couple of like-minded roadies and set about training myself to be a lean, strategy-minded, never-tiring duplicate of Greg LeMond. We'd ride thirty miles out of town at maximum pace, turn around, and go home. Day after day. Looking back, I have to say it was the least fun I've ever had on a bike.
Despite the complete lack of ten-foot doubles in our daily training run, our bikes broke down constantly. Flat tires, cranky derailleurs, brakes that broke---you name it. The first time I saw someone get a flat tire, I sagely delivered the following advice: "Dude, have no fear. I'll ride back home and snag a car. You just sit down in that ditch and try not to pass out from the cold. I'll be back in two hours." Imagine my surprise when he produced a new tube, inflation kit, and everything else from the pouch under his seat. In ten minutes we were pounding down the road again.
Have you ever heard of a "sag wagon"? I thought for years that it was an unkind reference to my mom's car, but the term actually refers to a vehicle that rides along a group of touring road bike riders and gives them snacks, drinks, and carries a complete set of tools. Hungry? Check the wagon. Thirsty? Check the wagon. Need to have your rear wheel rebuilt and your headset bearings polished? Check the wagon. These guys know how to live.
When an individual road rider will willingly attach a pound and a half of tools to his bike, even though he knows he's got anywhere from fifty to two hundred miles to cover in the day to come and that extra weight is going to feel like dragging a dead zebra behind his Cannondale, that's devotion to the proper use of tools. When tour groups make somebody drive behind them at nineteen miles per hour for weeks, that's devotion to the proper use of tools. When a BMX rider gets to the track and has to cancel his registration because he doesn't have a 15mm wrench to reattach his crank arm... that's pretty much business as usual. Most BMX racers don't bring a single wrench to the races with them. The ones who do bring a wrench don't bring an air pump. Go figure.
We've got it pretty easy compared to other cycling sports. No matter where you wreck on a BMX track, it's a short walk back to the pits. You don't have to put tools in a pouch and hang said pouch under your seat. You don't have to have some poor guy in a Jeep follow your moto around the track, ready to flow you a Gatorade. Any tools you bring can be left in the car. Easy as pie. If I were you, I'd bring my entire toolbox. I certainly do.
However, in my youth "my whole toolbox" consisted of a ViseGrip and a 6mm Allen key. I'm aware that most BMX riders don't have a whole bunch of tools. But fear not. Here's what you need and what you don't.
If you purchase the following tools and learn how to use them, it will enable you to take your entire bike apart within half an hour. Reassembling it will take slightly longer. Got your shopping list out? You need:
The above tools will cost you about two hundred dollars if you buy a reputable brand. I would also recommend the following:
In addition to the above, pick up an air pump. Not only will you be able to utilize tire inflation strategies, riders from all over the world will want to be your friend.
The "racers' toolkit" I'm recommending is an expensive one. As you continue in your BMX career, however, you will likely save twice that amount in mechanics' fees and in parts that you were able to fix instead of ruin. Having a properly adjusted bicycle is also an essential part of winning. The least expensive motocross bicycle in the world, properly adjusted and lubricated, is more than a match for a two-thousand-dollar aluminum wonder with loose cranks and brakes that rub the wheel.
Most of the parts on my bike were purchased during either the Reagan or Bush administrations, and they all work just fine. And I have never, repeat, never had to withdraw a registration because I couldn't repair my bike in time.
As I have recently discovered, there's also no excuse for not taking your toolbox with you when you drive to the local trails or street riding arena. After all, you're more likely to damage your bike riding trails or bunnyhopping mailboxes than you are by simply racing.
Today's assignment, then, is to take a look at the tools you have, and figure out what you need. And if you make developing the proper toolkit a priority over getting that new anodized, super-adjustable, mega-light widget for your scoot, I predict you will be pleasantly surprised at the results. Just as I was pleasantly surprised, nine years ago, to learn that BMX really is the best cycling sport out there. But you already knew that.