[Closed] Why do mountain bikers take so much with them?

jekkyl - Member 
I like to take a couple of pies and 4 stellas, you never know when you might need them.

jekkyl has it, though the execution could be improved 😉 .

Stella? Surely something 'craft' made by elven virgins under a full moon

Stevious nailed it.

Nothing too fizzy, it'll only end up with wastage.

Stevious nailed it.

[Gets coat & backpack & tools & spares].

Hope for the best, plan for the worst. Depends where/what you're riding.

http://radventure.cc/chris-ball-enduro-access-and-ethics/

Some points in here well made.
Mountain biking varies from one person to the next, on my local rides we are within 5 mins walk of a road and always in phone signal and close to town.

Previously mountain biking meant riding in actual mountains, coming from a climbing and mountaineering side I have a lot of respect for the conditions and they way things can change very quickly.
Early on in my MTB life we got caught out at Kirroctree with a underestimate of the time/singletrack and distance. We were out of food and water and not doing well. They don't give out a badge for riding with no water, hungry and making bad decisions for the last 10km.

In the proper mountains weather can change in an instant too, you're just walk out could be a done ankle and the nice day turning 10c colder and wet. Even hitting the road in places like the lakes doesn't mean a signal or passing motorist for help it can be another 1hr walk while somebody is going hypothermic - even on a nice day.

Some of the people I have seen out with a little printed map and nothing else are a statistic waiting to happen. It will mostly be fine in the southern motorway trials but anywhere serious you are a liability.

rOcKeTdOg - Member
People carry a spare tyre!

Actually, I've seen a couple of elderly gents on proper road bikes spinning on the TPT with a spare folding tyre cabletied to the back of their seat, so it does happen!

More seriously though, the earlier point about 'depends how far from train station or nearest means of escape' is on the money. As a road cyclist, you are on the road network and have far less need to be self sufficient - and don't really even need a map and compass.

Personally on MTB, I always have water, first aid kit, something to eat, a jacket, relevant map and compass plus at least one tube, multitool with splitter, lever, pump, tyre patching stuff, quicklink and brake pads. I add to this as appropriate for the ride, taking into account how far out I will be and how well traveled the route is. Not just tools, but odd items like a BruKit and means of ignition, for instance.

Surprised no one has mentioned group shelters yet. I have a 2 man one and an 8 man one. If with a full MBLA group (leader plus 7) the latter is required to be taken, along with most of the things mentioned by others.

Actually, I've seen a couple of elderly gents on proper road bikes spinning on the TPT with a spare folding tyre cabletied to the back of their seat, so it does happen!

Was probably a tub wasn't it?

I take more on a road bike than an MTB.

MTB - phone and keys
Road (track) bike - phone, keys, tube, CO2, tyre lever, wheel nut spanner

Definitely a flat-folded tyre of some description, sidewall visible. Not sure if a tub or not, wouldn't recognise one TBPH.

MTB - Phone (for Strava), water, pump, bank card. That's your lot.

worst case scenario, i break down, walk to nearest pub, get post code, phone the wife "Come get me...." Although it's never happend yet. Tubeless tyres and riding in Berkshire means you're never really far from safety.

What I've learnt from you lot is that for a couple of hours local to home where the rides are never more than about 4 miles from any village or town then I should be fine with not too much. Big days in the hills are a different kettle of fish. Makes sense.

I'm finding it very interesting to see what odd bits people take with them on rides and how different the selection is but also how similar in many way they are.

I take the following when I'm away from the world -
Spot Tracker
First aid kit
Space Blanket
2x tubes (even though tubeless)
Tyre boot
Tubeless repair kit
Multitool
Pump / inflator (it's a dual use thing)
Chain spares
Mech hanger bolt
Water
Food
Jacket if it looks like it might rain
Hat

All fits in a small bag, I don't notice it so it actually comes most places.

I expect a lot of the differences come from experience. If you've had something fail then you take that spare with you. If you haven't then you ask why on earth someone is carrying that spare.

For me I take a reasonable spares kit. Not so I can get home safely but so I can enjoy the ride. Something fails, I fix it then carry on. I do love a good trail bodge too.

Entirely dependant upon where you are riding.

Long day on the high fells in the lakes demands that I carry everything I need to get me out of trouble or potentially have to overnight.

The fact that all this is left in my camelbak just means that for ordinary local rides, I just pick it up and put it on. CBA emptying it for every ride.

2 things are certain on a thread like this:

1. It will consist of a load of blokes writing lists of what is in their pocket/bag when they ride a bike.
2. I'll still click on it and read some posts despite knowing point 1

This. It's dangerously close to those survivalist forums where they talk about what's in their "Everyday Carry" in case they have to battle the zombie apocalypse on their commute across Minneapolis.

Still, 2 obviously applies to me, so you got me.

I once tried to borrow a pump from a roadie near Holmfirth when for various reasons I'd ended up not having one with me - yep, incompetence - he didn't have one. Or a spare tube. If he flatted, he simply flagged down passing cars and hitched a lift home. Apparently he'd done it successfully twice. So it worked for him, though I'm too shy to pull that caper.

I carry a few oddities - chainring bolts, used twice by other people, spare cleat bolts, brake pads, zip-ties, spare mech hanger - as well as the obvious multitool, tube, patches,gel wrapper, anchovies, tyre boot. None of that stuff weighs much and saves your butt from various potential ride-ending glitches.

I don't care to criticise other people for carrying too much or too little. It's their choice and i'm happy to help out if someone's short of a part I can spare. I carry less on the road, but then road bikes tend not to get quite the same battering.

2. I'll still click on it and read some posts despite knowing point 1

It's like a car crash. A really dull car crash.

Sometimes you watch the car crash. Sometimes you want to be part of the pile-up.

I don't take enough, as yesterday proved.

Got a tear in in my tubeless tyre that wouldn't seal. Looked in my bag for the tubeless repair kit but couldn't find it.

No problems, Took the wheel off, got a tube out ready and bodged a tyre boot from a energy bar wrapper.

However, I simply couldn't get the tubeless valve off the wheel. The locking nut had cross threaded and wouldn't budge, even with a leatherman on it. Luckily I was with a friend and pretty local so he went to get the car and I walked down the best descent in the area 🙄

In the end it took a vice and a set of molgrips to get the damn thing off.

Next time I'm taking a junior hacksaw. And buying tyres with stronger sidewalls.

To compound matters, after I'd gone home to get the spare bike and continued the ride, the front shifter fell off that bike. Luckily I was prepared for that so a couple of zipties later I was up and running.

I think my point is that there are a lot of potential issues to go wrong that can turn a good day into a very long day so its better to be more prepared than less.

I don't ride much MTB these days, and when I do, it is either local to home or trail centres, so I tend to take tube/levers/pump and a few other bits.

For local road rides I take -
1 x tube
tyre levers
pump
2 x C02 cans + inflator
spare bolts (had a cleat bolt fall out last year)
Multitool

for longer/multi-day road stuff I just scale it up..

I'd rather have it and not need it, than need it and not have it.

People carry a multi tool on their road bike.?

Always. Things I've used it for:

Truing a wheel after clattering a pot hole
Repairing a broken chain
Tightening up a loose seat clamp bolt

Seems a bit silly to ruin a ride for the sake of a few grammes, which allows you to do a simple repair at the roadside.

Breakages tend to be binary, they either happen or they don't. It's the probability of them happening that you need to look at along with the ease or otherwise of repairing them.

In twenty years of mountain biking I've bent my mech hanger just once. It's a rare event. Conversely, if I broke the hanger then since just about every bike has its own variant carrying a spare might be a good idea, even if you were close to a bike shop there's no guarantee they'd have one that would fit your bike.

I wouldn't take spare brake pads for a local ride (checking them before heading out should be a given) but for a multi-day ride away from things then they'd be a good idea.

@jimdubleyou's tool list looks long but it's fairly similar to mine and packs down small into a downtube bag so can stay on the bike meaning I don't forget it.

First Aid Kit? Once you get beyond simple cuts and scrapes then you are going to need a substantial kit. You can improvise support bandages from clothing so upper body injuries are walking wounded and can get to the nearest road. Head injuries, broken pelvis, spine, leg, etc. are MRT territory.

stuartlangwilson - Member

I've used tyre boots many times. Assorted spare bolts have saved a long walk or a spoiled day when caliper bolts have fallen off, cleat bolts lost, seat clamps have stripped threads etc. Brake pads have been handy when one disintegrated. Gear cables have snapped and been replaced. Tubeless repair kit, tube and patches are sometimes all necessary in one ride. I have used 3 spare spokes on a ride before.

I always take some toilet roll in case i have to go alfresco.....again.

Road - minipump, tube, multitool, tyre levers, spare chain link - all in a jersey pocket.

Mountain - Mountain morph pump (with gaffer & pvc tape wrapped round it), shock pump (item other riders most often want to borrow), 2 tubes, tubeless plug kit, multitool, leatherman (knife is always useful, plus small saw for clearing fallen trees), cable ties, spare gear inner cable. Little tin containing an assortment of bolts, spare set of brake pads, mech hanger & bolt, jockey wheel & bolt, cleat & bolts. All this is stuff I've been caught out by not having in the past - cables snapped in a crash, jockey wheels split by bouncing rocks, brake pads that wear to the metal in a single decent etc.

That's the basic kit that goes (along with a variable amount of food & water) in an Osprey Raptor 10. Depending on weather, add in a gilet and light waterproof. Outside summer add in a dry bag containing a spare fleece, skull cap, buff, and quite possibly a spare pair of gloves. (I'm skinny and get cold very quickly if I stop when wet)

Most of my MTB riding is Peaks stuff, so it's pretty easy to be a moderately decent way from "civilisation". Also I'll be buggered if I'm relying on some random passer by to get me out of trouble - self sufficiency is the order of the day. I also only have the 1 pack, so it has the same stuff in whether I'm going out for 2 hrs or 8.

It's also not an un-regular occurrence to have to dig others out the shit - a couple of years ago on holiday the guy guiding us lost a cleat and didn't have a spare. I did - that meant we could carry on as planned for the day, rather than abort so he could find a bike shop.

I always take some toilet roll in case i have to go alfresco.....again.

Travel / complimentary hotel wet wipes FTW. In the event of having to do as bears do, it's usually the case that paper just isn't going to deal with it adequately.

Other than that: In a saddle bag; tubes, multitool, CO2, patches, chain links and brake pads (plus pins/screws). On the frame; pump. Pump + CO2 is probably overkill, but CO2 alone could go wrong, and some days your in a hurry and CO2 is just convenient.

Same on the MTB and the road bike.

Wheras I like to service my bike before I go for a ride.

Because if you service your bike regularly, nothing will ever fail unexpectedly. Like the Campag crank axle that sheared on me. If only I'd checked over my bike first and changed the cranks, it would never have happened 🙄

Toilet paper? Do you also take a plastic bag to pack it out? Otherwise it's litter. Sticks, stones or grass.

Brake pads? Ever thought of checking your bike over before you go for a ride?

Because if you service your bike regularly, nothing will ever fail unexpectedly.

Toilet paper? Do you also take a plastic bag to pack it out? Otherwise it's litter. Sticks, stones or grass.

Kick hole in the ground, drop kids off at the pool, wipe, bury the lot.

Brake pads? Ever thought of checking your bike over before you go for a ride?

Ever thought that some people ride in areas where pads often last <1 ride?

Although TBH since moving down south I've only had one XC race like that, but it's a force of habit now.

I take a lot of gear but I would be rather looking at something that I need than looking for it.

In the tradition of this thread, I will now list kit! 😆

Rab bothy shelter - great for lunch stops in the cold and wet. Keeps the midges off too!
Midge spray.
Mini tool including disc truer and disc pad separator.
Spare gear cable.
Mech hanger - single speeding tends to end in a stupidly tight chain for me as the chain moves up the block.
Belay style jacket.
Hat.
Spare gloves.
Waterproof with hood.
Foil survival bag.
First aid kid with proper strength pain killers.
Phone that is waterproof and shockproof.
Various bolts for chainrings, brake mounts, cleats etc.
Gorilla tape.
Spare brake pads and chain links.
Pump and two tubes.

They all easily pack into a 13 litre ride pack with space for food etc.

Cheers

Sanny

Oh and I forgot toilet paper and a fire stick to light it if I need to go for an al fresco jobbie! It's easy to find a stick to dig a wee hole but I like to make sure there is no paper trace.

Brake pads? Ever thought of checking your bike over before you go for a ride?

If it's a long ride, why not? They might last, they might not. They might have another a few hundred dry miles in them, or 30 wet gritty miles.

It's not like filling up with petrol where you're going to use what's left anyway. You're just chucking pads away before you need to.

If you are going to carry toilet paper just in case, you can get [url= http://www.backpackinglight.co.uk/personal/LA113.html ] biodegradable toilet paper[/url].

I forgot toilet paper and a fire stick to light it

FFS!

Jockey Wheels... I'll admit to carrying one in the pack. I had a set where one broke (mid ride) and replaced the set, so had a spare and another bike had one nearly shot, so I just chucked the spare in the pack.

Brake pads, rather than faff about pre-ride replacing a pad that's still got life in it and end up with potential calliper alignment faffing, I'll just stick pads in the pack and if it comes to it, replace pads on the ride. Usually I find I can still go fair bit longer on the last mm of pad anyway.

I also may carry a gear cable. Weight is next to nothing. Snapped cable is end of ride or maybe a singlespeed bodge with a cable tie. Or stick in new cable and tie the loose end to chainstay.

What I carry depends on the ride length and distance from car or home though. Mostly it's down to multi-tool, tubeless repair kit, spare tube, mech hanger, couple of CO2 carts and inflator (though I've got a mini pump too now having had minor punctures that sealant fixed but lost a bit of pressure and don't want to waste a full cartridge).

I must get the first aid kit sorted though. I used to carry one, but took it out as got battered about. I've used the kit a number of times. Been at least one where it would have been handy to have a foil blanket for one of the guys.

Spare tube is debatable with tubeless as mostly I end up giving them to non-tubeless folk, along with advice to go tubeless.

Although I was never in the scouts I have the reputation for being the boy scout in our group. I have mostly used my multi-tool, cables ties, first aid kit, electrical tape to fix other people and their bikes.

I suppose it comes from a background of spending big days in remote hills walking/scrambling/climbing. That outlook of being self sufficient and able to handle most situations you could reasonable expect to encounter.

Due to having riding bag packed with kit and just chuck in the hydration bladder before going riding I do tend to take my remote riding kit on short local rides too. The heavy bits (spare tube, multi-tool, pump, water) would be taken anyway so the lighter bits that might not get taken on short rides (spare gear cable, brake pads) just come along for the ride too.

I won't list my full kit as there's enough similar lists already. One thing I didn't see mentioned, though I may not have read it all thoroughly is couple of rubber gloves, handy for mechanical or first aid situations.

I think it's extra clothes/foil blanket/food/tubeless repair things and spare mech hangers that are the only extras I take. Mostly the clothes etc though.

Having a camelbak does encourage you to fill it up, though.

Multitools both have tyre levers, spoke keys and chain tools on, although I'd only envisage using the spoke keys in a position of desperation, not for some trailside re-tensioning.

If I trust the weather and I'm out for a short ride, I can put everything in my back pockets (even if I don't I can get a jacket in too).

I like to take some fun sized mars bars, because I'm a dwarf they're like normal sized mars bars.

Spare Tube(s) taped to the frame, mini-pump zip-tied to the frame, Multitool, spare chain link, Spare brake pads, CO2 all bundled up together will fit comfortably in a pocket, but I'm sure if I put my mind to it I could tape/strap those to the frame neatly enough as well...

I desperately try and avoid taking a bag now, if I do take it it's because I feel I need more water than my bottle carrying capacity...

Jackets seem to be the main sticking point, some bundle up small and can be stashed out of the way, I prefer not to need one unless I'm really sure I'll require it but Autumn/winter time can be tricky weather to plan for, and if you end up with excess clothing to stash mid-ride a bag of some sort starts to makes sense maybe.

However I've been riding with mates during summer who after twenty minutes need to stop to strip off two layers of clothing and stuff it into a rucksack...

well, here's the list of what was required for MBLA Level 2 assessment :

selection of spare parts - brake pads, chain links (9,10 and 11 speed), tyre boot, anchovies, tubes, universal hanger
multitool, leatherman, tyre levers
lube, duct tape, zip ties
shock pump, trail pump
whistle, compass, pad and pencil
mountain first aid kit, nitrile gloves
spare jacket, hat, gloves
food, water
emergency bivvy bag
group shelters for 8 people
foil blanket
torso sleep mat (casualty care)

It all goes in a 20l EVOC FR Trail Blackline - heavy to get on but not so bad when riding.

Needleess to say, I don't carry all that all the time 🙂

I carry the same bag of stuff on my local loop as I do for an all day ride - an hours walk home is still a long walk if I can't repair a chain/ puncture / whatever, particularly if it's a pre-work ride. In fact I even carried it during oktoberfest/bikefest - i'd rather spend 20 minutes repairing my bike by the side of the track than a 20 minute walk back to the pits.

I do need to have a bit of clear out though - went through my bag the other day and found i've been lugging round a d-lock for probably a couple of months...

Because I love lists like this

Bike Stuff:
-Tubes x2
-Mountain Morph with duct tape wrap
-Pedros tyre levers
-Crank Bros multi-tool
-Leatherman Skeletool (just for the pliers which have come in handy more than you'd think)
-Park patches
-Tyre boot & spare bit of tyre for big rips
-Powerlinks
-Gear cable
-Brake pads (used ones so I can fit them in without having to try and push pistons back)
-Mech hanger
-Zip Ties

First Aid Kit:
-Second skin blister tape
-Saline wash sachet thing (for eyes and wounds)
-Scissors that can cut through clothing / straps
-Wound closure strips
-A few large meopore type plasters
-Israeli style military bandage
-Ibuprofen, paracetamol, chewable aspirin (for heart attacks)

Misc:
-Phone
-Map
-Fancy emergency bivvy bag that folds up smaller than my fist
-Whistle
-Energy Gel (out of date emergency use only)
-Bontrager packable waterproof shell (I love this thing)

Winter Extras:
-Micro-fleece
-Primaloft packable jacket
-Thermal Buff
-Spare gloves
-Mini-flask of hot chocolate

When you list it out, it is a lot - still when bad weather rolls in on the fells I'm glad I know I'm self-sufficient.

However, for local rides I'll take a bottle of water in my back pocket and take the risk.