Specialized Aethos: Weight of Accessories and Tool Kit

Although the Specialized Aethos is a very lightweight road bike, the reality is that some accessories need to be added to the bike in order to make it more practical. 

Bottle cages and lights are necessary, as well as some simple tools to fix a puncture. You can always leave out some of these items, but there is a risk that you might get stranded if you can't fix a puncture yourself.

In this post, the weight of the bike accessories will be measured, to see how much weight is added onto a bare bicycle.

Specialized Zee Cage II side load bottle cage. A bit heavier as it is made of plastic instead of carbon fibre.

Generic carbon fibre bottle cage. Reason I got this is due to the gap between the two screw holes that allows an Airtag holder to be slotted in between.

Topeak Saw Guide and Park Tool Hack Saw

Here is a tool that I don't use often, but good to have when I actually need it. It is a saw guide and a hack saw for cutting handlebars, seat posts or steerer tubes. In fact, it can be used to cut any cylindrical material as well.

Previously I have always borrowed these tools when I needed them, but I decided to get one set for myself, when I started to build the Specialized S-Works Aethos.

The saw guide requires a bench vise to hold it in place, and I did not have one previously. Now, with my own workbench and bench vise, I can use a saw guide at home.

There are different brands of saw guides, but I eventually decided to get this Topeak Saw Guide, as it has a feature that other models do not have.

It has an interchangeable saw guide spacer, which is used to control the gap of the saw guide. This is necessary because of different materials to be cut. For aluminium or steel, a normal flat saw blade is used. However, for cutting carbon, a special wider saw blade is needed. This means a wider gap is required to guide the blade properly.

Topeak Threadless Saw Guide. The threadless probably refers to threadless steerer tubes, instead of the old threaded type.

Topeak Weatherproof DynaWedge Saddle Bag

This has to be one of the most lightweight and simple saddle bag I have come across. Ever since I started cycling, I have used only Topeak saddle bags as they are well designed for function and are also very durable.

I came across this new lightweight saddle bag while browsing at bike shops, and decided to get this saddle bag to try out. Wonder how it will look on my Merida road bike?

Topeak Weatherproof DynaWedge

Very lightweight at only 45 grams!

Very simple attachment methods. Uses velcro straps to fix the saddle bag under the saddle.

Actual weight is 46 grams, perfect for weight weenies

Special sealed zippers makes this saddle bag weatherproof, which probably means rain proof. Not waterproof as you cannot dunk this saddle bag underwater.

As the zipper opens along the bottom, there is a netting inside to prevent the contents from spilling out when the saddle bag is unzipped.

As shown on my Merida road bike! This size is perfect for one spare tube, tire levers, CO2 cartridge and multi tool.

Slim and compact size

Overall view of the saddle bag on the road bike

Pros:
1) Super lightweight
2) Simple velcro attachment method allows easy transfer across different bikes
3) Weatherproof

Cons:
1) Slightly too small for my usage as I usually bring more tools
2) Not sure how secure the velcro straps are
3) No hook for hanging a rear light on the saddle bag

Seems that this is a saddle bag that is equally good or bad, depending on your preference and usage. It is great if you want a lightweight and compact saddle bag that is also weatherproof. However, if you are like me, and want to carry more stuff in your saddle bag, this one is not for you. In the end I decided to sell it off as it does not really suit my usage.

Topeak RedLite Aero Rear Light

In one of my previous posts about the Merida Scultura 5000, I noted that the rear light sticks out too much from the seatpost, and it does not look too nice. This is a minor issue, but I wanted to look for a nicer rear light that can blend in nicely with the seatpost without sticking out.

Bontrager Flare 3 rear light mounted on the seatpost.

The Moon Comet Rear Light does not fit the bill as the mounting bracket causes the light to stick out quite a bit. The Cateye Rapid X does blend in nicely with the seatpost, but it is rather expensive at over $50. After looking around, I found a rear light by Topeak that can blend in nicely with the seatpost.

Topeak RedLite Aero Rear Light

The "Aero" in the product name does not just refer to how aerodynamic the rear light is. It also means that this rear light can be mounted on aero seatposts that are not cylindrical in shape. The aerodynamics of a rear light does not really make a difference as it is so far back from the front of the bike. However, what attracted me to it is that when mounted, it blends in nicely with the seatpost.

2 lighting modes, Constant and Blinking.

Comes with 2 rubber straps to suit different sized seatposts.

The light grey rubber strap is more stretchy and fits larger seatposts.

Closer look at the rear light

The yellow button at the bottom of the light is the On/Off button and also changes the lighting mode between constant and blinking.

Note that the LEDs are tilted at an angle. This ensures that the light beam is directed more or less horizontally when mounted on the tilted seatpost.

Uses 1 x AAA battery. This is covered by a rubber back cover.

Weighs 33 grams which is rather lightweight

Specifications of this rear light. A nice long runtime of 80 hours in flashing mode.

Seen as mounted on the seatpost. Although the rubber back cover does not fit tightly to the red casing, the rubber strap will pull and seal the back cover tightly when mounted on the seatpost.

Blends in quite seamlessly with the seatpost, without any clamps or mounts protruding from the seatpost.

Decent side visibility from the 3 bright LEDs

Very aerodynamic look when viewed from the rear of the bike.

How it looks when it is turned on

Bright enough to function as a primary rear light on its own

Comparing it to a Smart 0.5watt rear light. It does not have such a bright focused beam, but does have a good vertical coverage. Horizontal coverage is not so good though.

Pros:
1) Decent side visibility
2) Blends in well with the seatpost
3) Lightweight
4) Slim and compact size
5) Easy to install and remove from the bike with the rubber mount
6) Excellent battery life
7) Rain proof

Cons:
1) Can only be mounted on the seatpost
2) Beam is not as bright as other lights with more focused beams

As you can see, there are many good features for this rear light, and very few negative points. Most importantly, it blends in nicely with the seatpost which helps to keep the nice aerodynamic look of the road bike.

Merida Scultura 5000 - Tools and Accessories

After getting my new Merida Scultura 5000 road bike, it is time to add some accessories to the bike! As I want this bike to be a lightweight road bike, it would be best to minimise the amount of additional weight due to tools and accessories. However, some tools are essential, such as a small hand pump, tire levers and a spare tube.

There are a few ways to carry tools on a road bike. By far the most common is to use a rear saddle bag, but it can be kind of bulky (even the small ones) and spoils the streamlined look of the road bike. An alternative way is to get a top tube mounted bag which rests on the top tube, just behind the stem. However, I find that I will hit the top tube bag when I move down from the saddle during a stop, so that is out of the question too. Some riders will put spares in the back pockets of the cycling jersey, but I am always afraid that the items will drop out too easily.

Finally I decided to use one of the water bottle cages to hold the tools and spares. You can always use an old water bottle to hold the stuff, but I wanted to get a nicer looking tool bottle that can be used to store tools. Although this occupies one of the water bottle cages, leaving only one for the actual water bottle, I feel that this should be enough for most of the rides I do. On longer rides where I will need two water bottles, I will probably put the tool bottle in the backpack.

The two water bottle cages on the Merida frame. One will be used for the tool bottle!

This is the Large sized tool bottle...

...and this is the Small sized tool bottle. What is the difference? Let's find out!

They are similar in circumference, and only differ in height. The small tool bottle is about 133mm in height, while the large tool bottle is about 183mm in height.

I first tried the small tool bottle, but it does not fit tightly in the bottle cage. The catch on the bottle cage is higher than the tool bottle, and the bottle's circumference is slightly smaller than the bottle cage.

The large tool bottle has a depression at the side which is meant for the catch, however it is unable to fit securely.

To get the large tool bottle to fit, I turned the tool bottle around such that the catch on the bottle cage pushes against the flat side of the tool bottle. This creates some interference which fits the tool bottle snugly in the bottle cage.

After some trial and error, I found that all my tools can actually fit in the small tool bottle. However, the small tool bottle cannot be securely fitted to the bottle cage, which is why I decided to use the large tool bottle.

As the tools are unable to fully fill the large tool bottle, they will rattle in the empty space in the large tool bottle. My solution is to fit in 2 pieces of lightweight foam to fill up the space at the bottom of the tool bottle, before putting in the tools. This is kind of silly as the extra space is wasted, but I can't think of a better way for now, apart from stuffing in more tools?

2 x foam blocks are first placed into the large tool bottle. This takes up the extra space in the bottle, and also provides a soft layer to prevent the tools from rattling against the bottom of the tool bottle.

The weight of the empty large tool bottle + 2 pieces of foam inside.

The large tool bottle with all my selected tools and spares! This means that the tools and spares weigh about 400 grams.

The full complement of tools and spares in my tool bottle

Items in my tool bottle:
1) 2 x cable ties. Weigh next to nothing, but useful for tying up loose stuff or cables if they are broken or loose. A roll of tape will also work.
2) Topeak Mini 9 Multi Tool. Bare minimum of tools to adjust and tighten bolts and screws on the bike.
3) Topeak Universal Chain Tool. Necessary if you ever need to fix a broken chain.
4) 11 speed KMC Missing Link (spare quick release chain links). Quick and easy way to fix a broken chain by removing the damaged link with the chain tool, and installing these Missing Links by hand.
5) Schwalbe Tire Levers. Best tire levers for removing tight tires from the rims.
6) 700x18/25C spare tube
7) Park Tool Emergency Tire Boot. Used to patch a torn tire if sliced through by sharp road debris. Different from a tube patch.
8) Park Tool Super Patch Kit. Comes with sandpaper for scuffing the tube and some pre-glued patches for fixing the hole in the tube. Only will be used if the spare tube also gets punctured.
9) Some cash for buying food and drinks, and for taking the taxi home if all else fails
10) Lezyne CO2 Trigger Drive, for quick inflation of a flat tube to the correct high pressure.
11) Lezyne Pressure Drive hand pump (not shown). Just in case the CO2 cartridge fails.

That is a pretty long list of spares and tools! Some may be redundant, but it is better to be safe. If I were to trim down the list, I would remove the Lezyne CO2 Trigger drive and depend solely on the hand pump. The emergency tire boot, patch kit, KMC Missing Link and cable ties can also be removed, but they are so lightweight that there is no reason not to carry them.

The other tools and spares are absolute essentials for me. Multi tool, chain tool, tire levers, spare tube and hand pump are the minimum that I would carry on this road bike.

So how does everything fit into the tool bottle? It is important to fit everything snugly so that there is no space for the tools to rattle about in the tool bottle.

Managed to squeeze everything into the tool bottle. The multi tool (not shown) will be placed on top since it will be the most frequently accessed.

The tool bottle fits nicely into the bottle cage and looks well integrated with the frame. No extra bags hanging around the bike!

Other than the tools and spares, the other accessories would be the front light, rear light and the cycle computer.

For the rear light I am using the Bontrager Flare 3, which was originally mounted on the rear rack of the Dahon Boardwalk.

Bontrager Flare 3 rear light mounted on the seat post.

There are a few accessories on the handlebar which I want to use, so it was quite tricky to arrange everything such that they fit on the narrow drop bar, and yet don't interfere with my hands when holding the top of the drop bar.

Since there are no bags on the bike to hold my mobile phone when I am riding, I had to mount a Topeak Smartphone DryBag on the drop bar. This bag is rather big and takes up one whole side of the drop bar. This leaves only the other side of the drop bar for the cycle computer and the front light.

For the other side of the handlebar, I had to get another of the Bar Fly Bracket for Cateye cycle computers, so that the cycle computer can be moved to the side. This also puts the cycle computer closer to the side so that it is easier for me to reach the cycle computer with my hands. The cycle computer that I am using is the Cateye Strada Digital Wireless.

Lastly, the front light that is on this road bike is the slim Moon Comet front light. I just took one of the two Moon Comet front lights that are on the Dahon Boardwalk and installed it on this bike.

Managed to fit everything nicely on the drop bar!

The Topeak bag is large but necessary for holding the phone.

With the large Topeak bag removed, the handlebar looks much neater. 

Overall view of the bike with the tool bottle and the lights installed. The rear light kind of sticks out like a sore thumb, maybe I will change it to a rear light with a lower profile...

Update:
After getting some new bottle cages, I can now use the small tool bottle on the bike as they fit nicely into the new bottle cages. Click on the link below to find out.

Merida Scultura 5000 - Colouring the Bike

Topeak Universal Chain Tool and Topeak Mini 9 Multi Tool

What tools and spares do you carry on your bike? Most people will say to carry a spare tube, as a puncture is the most frequent malfunction that we are likely to encounter while riding a bike. Together with a decent hand pump and tire levers, these 3 items are the minimum spares and tools that we should carry on every ride.

For the more paranoid (or better equipped), they will have at least a multi tool. The multi tool will have the common Allen key sizes and a Philips screwdriver head. This will allow adjustment or tightening of almost all the bolts and screws on the bike.

On certain unlucky days, the chain of the bike may give way and break or get damaged. Although this is a rare event, it is a major malfunction, as a broken chain basically reduces the bike to a push bike as you cannot pedal any more. If you are far away from a repair shop or transport, this will mean a long long walk.

In my portable tool kits, I will have a portable chain tool to remove a broken chain link. With the chain tool, I will be able to remove a broken chain link and join up the broken ends. This shortens the chain a little bit, which means that I will not be able to use the front top (53T) and rear low (28T) combination. However it will repair the chain and enable me to continue cycling.

The smallest and yet effective chain tool that I have come across is the Topeak Universal Chain Tool. Not only is it powerful enough to actually be able to break and join chains, it can also be disassembled for even more compact storage.

Simple packaging of the Topeak Universal Chain Tool

Small chain tool but packs many features!

Small size but with good length on the metal handles for sufficient leverage.

Metal clip to hold on to the chain, in order to reduce tension at the chain link which you are trying to join or break.

Hollow metal handle can be used to store extra chain pins

Can be disassembled into 3 parts for more compact storage

An example of how to store the separated chain tool compactly

The chain tool shown on the left is the older version of the chain tool, which has a longer handle. However, the older version does not have a compartment for spare chain pins or a metal clip.

Weight of the new chain tool

Weight of the older chain tool. Just a bit heavier due to the longer handle.

With the chain tool, I can rest assured that even if there is a problem with my bicycle chain, I will be able to repair it and continue on my way. I have tested it in actual conditions while out cycling, and it works nicely to break and rejoin a chain. Highly recommended for those who are prone to breaking chains or for those who want to be well prepared. Very useful for overseas trips where there is no transport and you need to be fully self sufficient.

I noted that the chain tool is not recommended for use on 11 speed chains. From what I understand, it is OK to break an 11 speed chain with this chain tool, but it may not be able to join an 11 speed chain properly. This is OK for me as I will be joining the chain with a KMC Missing Link for 11 speeds and not a chain pin.


Topeak Mini 9 Multi Tool

Another useful tool for the bike is the multi tool. This is necessary if you want to tighten loose bolts on the bike or adjust stuff on the bike. For example, you may need to adjust your brakes while out riding, and the Allen key and screwdriver on the multi tool will allow you to do that.

I chose a very basic one that has only a few Allen keys and Philips screwdriver. There are larger multi tools with many more functions, such as chain tool, tire levers and such. However I have tried and found that integrated tire levers or chain tools are difficult to use and are often much less effective than dedicated chain tools or individual tire levers.

The Topeak Mini 9 Multi Tool is one of the smallest available, and weighs only 92 grams. Another thing I like about Topeak multi tools is that most of them come with a nice neoprene pouch to protect the tool and also protect other items in your saddle bag from the multi tool.

Topeak Mini 9 Multi Tool. Comes with Allen keys sized 2 to 8mm, A Torx T25 bit and a Philips head screwdriver. Sufficient for 95% of all bolts and nuts on the bike.

Nice pouch for the multi tool

Small but strong tool bits. The size 8mm allen key comes as a hollow bit that goes onto the 6mm Allen key.

I have used the Topeak Mini 9 multi tool before on my other bikes, and it can get the job done reliably. Small and simple, but effective. One downside that I noticed is that it tends to get rust spots if you handle it with sweaty hands, which is likely if you use it while out riding. However, this does not actually affect the function of the multi tool at all, just the appearance.

These 2 new tools, the Topeak Universal Chain Tool and Topeak Mini 9 Multi Tool were bought for the new road bike, as the road bike will require its own tool kit. They are tried and proven tools that I had good experience with previously, which is why I bought them again. Also, they are small and lightweight which will minimise the weight of the tool kit on the road bike.

In the next few posts I will be reviewing and showing the new tools that will be carried on my Merida Scultura 5000 road bike.