Riding "lighter" – How?

Quick rides, don’t take anything, why would you ?

Unless your bike is poorly maintained and you ride in a way that makes you puncture prone

Because even a quick ride can leave you a few hours walk from home, or dependant on someone to come and rescue you, when taking even the bare minimum of a tube and pump/CO2 would get you out of that pickle.

And the ‘puncture prone’ bit is just silly, sure you take extra care on the rocky bits but you take the spares for the unexpected, the screw/nail you didn’t see or the freak flint that jumps out and bites your tyre.

I guess it’s the big baggy enduro jersey thing.

Completely. It is a fashion thing. I’d no more ride MTB with my jersey pockets rammed full than I’d ride my road bike with a Camelbak on 🙂

Back on OP, if I do a “playing in the woods” ride I often go out with nothing other than me and my bike. I’m an easy walk from home. Otherwise I tend to take a fairly large pack.

I have a small bundle of tube, multitool, chainlink, tyre levers and mini pump. Fits in one of my (xc/road-fit) jersey pockets. The other pockets are for food, phone and keys.

If I want my pockets free, then I use a small seatpack and put the pump on a bottle cage mounted bracket.

I can’t afford to risk a walk-back as I’m usually up against it for time – school pick-ups, sat am kids activities etc, so going with nothing is not an option, despite tubeless tyres etc.

If I’m riding with the kids at a coaching session, then it’s a camelback with spare clothes, camera, tubes of all sizes, bigger pump, bigger tools, kitchen sink etc.

I’d no more ride MTB with my jersey pockets rammed full than I’d ride my road bike with a Camelbak on

If my pockets were stuffed I’d just take a pack (mtb) but they’re not. Just a small one of these cases in one pocket with co2, chainlink and a multitool in it. And a phone in a zip loc bag in another pocket.

This article appeared on STW recently – worth a quick read:

http://singletrackworld.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/10-things-every-rider-should-have-in-their-pack/

Being an BC MTB Trail Leader, ML and a member of an MRT, I tend to go well prepared, but with a little thought and planning this doesn’t mean carrying a shed load of unnecessary kit.

Running tubeless doesn’t mean puncture free. I was very glad of my toothpaste tube and gaffa tape recently when I gashed a tyre at about the furthest point out in a ride the other day.

Even on a quick hour’s round the local woods on the commute to work could leave me with 10K plus push/walk back if I couldn’t fix a mechanical.

…….be a good Boy Scout and Be Prepared

Have recently been going packless. Have tried to secrete as much stuff on the bike as possible.

I keep the following inside the handlebars:
– spare gear cable
– zip ties
– couple of quick links
– a section of chain (4 links),
– puncture repair patches
– Park emergency tyre boot.

All apart from the gear cable are taped to the zip ties in small zip lock bags so they pull out in one go from the end. Lock on grips make access easy. Surprising how much you can get in there.

– Spare gear hanger in zip lock bag taped under saddle (not visible).
– Small pump attached to bracket on bottle cage.
– Topeak Aero Wedge Micro saddle pack contains Lumenator battery pack and a spare tube (can’t squeeze any more stuff in and don’t want a larger saddle pack).

In the jersey rear pocket I keep keys, money and a phone. In the rear shorts pocket I keep a Topeak Hexus tool. Endura Singletrack shorts have well designed pockets so don’t feel the weight or movement of stuff in there when pedalling.

I have to say, I really couldn’t ride without a camelbak. When I started riding nearly 30 years ago, all the stuff was either in pockets, frame mounted or bumbags.
This meant it got wet, covered in shit and when you fell off you got pocked in the back by various bits of hardware in your pocket. Nothing better than finding a clod of shit over your waterbottle mouthpiece, or chasing back up the trail to locate a bottle / item that had bounced off the bike / pockets.

Other things to take with you – always in my saddle bag.

100ml bottle of stan’s jizz for those times when the fluid has dried up in the tyre.

Replacement valve core and tool – for those cold, dark rides when you get all ham fisted and trash the valve.

All of these have saved rides but ironically mostly, though not exclusively, for other people. I will now proceed to forget them next time I go out!

Other tiny extras – seatpost bolts and cleat bolts. They take up no space and weigh next to nothing. You’ll probably only need them once in a blue moon but you’ll be so grateful they are in the saddle bag when they break or drop out!

I’m with bigyinn, everything just goes in my rucksac, I can carry all my stuff, water, and a waterproof in a convenient and easy way, and it’s not taped to my bike and getting covered in shit

FS: Tiny saddlebag that doesn’t need a seat post strap (reverb)
SS: Alpkit fuel pod on the frame
London Road: Handlebar bag

I also carry a couple oz’s of Stans jizz, in my spare tube 🙂

The thought of doing a quick blast, and then having to walk back a good few miles isn’t much fun. We’re talking an hour or two, that just seems like a waste to not have something simple like a tube/pump/multitool

For a longer, local loop from my house I like the bumbag approach as if I get particularly hot I can stow my windshirt. My bigger bumbag gives me space for a hipflask and a warm top too, just in case I stop somewhere

Framebag works pretty well too

I must just be very lucky then. I’ve not had a puncture on mtb in years

Anyone remember the Crowood MTB guides from the 1980s? Not sure if they are still for sale. The shots of riders were invariably without a sack but with a homemade frame bag on their bike.

The thought of doing a quick blast, and then having to walk back a good few miles isn’t much fun

What you and others are not factoring in is the chance of something happening which would require a walk back.
If you are getting mechanicals and/or punctures on every other ride then yes, good idea to take stuff with you.
If on the other hand you don’t get mechanicals or punctures then no, taking a load of stuff is not necessary.

The only mechanical I could get would be so major that it couldn’t be fixed on trailside anyway as simple things are not going to go wrong with a well maintained, simple bike.

The only mechanical I could get would be so major that it couldn’t be fixed on trailside anyway as simple things are not going to go wrong with a well maintained, simple bike.

Congratulations on your good fortune so far.

Just two examples from my experience, neither of which were caused by riding/maintenance skills being any less awesome than yours:

– a tyre cut on a flint, needing a repair to the tube and a bit of toothpaste tube under the tyre
– a stick caught in the drivetrain, which snapped a rear mech in half (an XT, not some sort of cheap bobbins), needing a chain tool to singlespeed it and an allen key to remove the mech

What you and others are not factoring in is the chance of something happening which would require a walk back.

And what you’re not factoring in is the almost total lack of inconvenience of having a multitool and (for the tubed luddites like me) puncture repair equipment in a tiny saddlebag.

Legal aspects aside, I’m guessing your approach to wearing a car seatbelt isn’t purely based on the chance of needing one? I assume you also consider (a) the consequences of failing to wear it when you suddenly do want it and (b) the almost total lack of inconvenience of wearing it…?

A properly sorted small saddle bag sized toolkit and spares will get you out of trouble 99 times out of 100.

Why does everyone assume a camelbak means a huge rucksack full of junk? They make small ones.. I only have minimalist kit in mine, less than in most people’s saddlebags.

Even the small camelbaks are huge compared to the sort of saddlebag i’m talking about and I would suspect what an empty camelbak + bladder weighs is not far off the weight as much as my full saddle bag, plus empty bottles. And i don’t have to wear it on my back.

The only mechanical I could get would be so major that it couldn’t be fixed on trailside anyway as simple things are not going to go wrong with a well maintained, simple bike.

Rigid singlespeed here, or at least I was on this ride: little stone got flicked between sprocket and chain, and snapped the chain. relatively new chain, correctly tensioned.

Spare link and a chain tool meant I could continue being dragged round the Cannock trails, hungover and dehydrated for another hour and a half by people quicker and fitter than me.

I might have been happier with an amble back to the campsite in that instance.

I must just be very lucky then. I’ve not had a puncture on mtb in years

haha, just jinxed yourself 😆

I often do a “risk ride” if less than an hour local I’ll neck a litre of water before I go and then take nothing.

No issues. YET.

I carry a little pump on a little bracket behind my bottle cage, adds less than 200g inc. bracket

I think the biggest difference for me, especially at this time of year, is somewhere to put an extra layer. Either taking one off or adding it on. And again having that is much less hassle than not having it and getting it wrong and being cold or hot or cutting back your ride or generally enjoying it less (I know some people like the martyrdom of uncomfortable rides though)

Also, it’s nice having a real pump, pumping up a tyre with a pump that fits in a pocket is barely faster than doing it by persuasion. Faff again.

(free observation- people who say they’re self sufficient are always borrowing my stuff, or asking if they can put their jacket in my bag)

scu98rkr – Member

ie Road, 26″, 29er

The problem with the camelbak is that you end up with the wrong tube for the ride. Unless you have 3 camelbaks with 3 different tubes in them.

Not so much. You can stretch a 26er tube into a 29er at worst or squeeze a 29er tube into a 26. And they’re both very happy with 650b. Same applies if you don’t use camelbaks, for that matter, if you run out of tubes you can always use the others, or if you’re blagging one. It’s an issue with road/cross tyres and with fatbikes really.

I always used to ride with a backpack with everything for every eventuality I could think of.

One day, in a hurry I forgot to take the pack with me. Guess what? Nothing happened. No mechanical disasters. No walking for miles. No doomsday scenario. I also realised that riding without a backpack was much more comfortable and strangely liberating.

Later I worked out I could leave behind the pack and also stash stuff on the bike which would cover most likely mechanical disasters: repairing tubes/tyres; broken chain; broken mech hanger; gear cable replacement. Pockets serve for the few other items such as phone/keys/money. I could therefore have my cake and consume it exactly as I wish.

That reminds me, mmmmmm cake…

nd i don’t have to wear it on my back.

No, but you do have to strap it all over your bike.

Preference innit.

One day, in a hurry I forgot to take the pack with me. Guess what? Nothing happened. No mechanical disasters. No walking for miles. No doomsday scenario.

One day I went on a ride without my toolkit. Guess what happened? 😉

@molgrips

What was Victor Meldrew’s catchphrase again…? 😀

I had a puncture which involved a walk home, which in the grand scheme of things was an annoyance really

New bike picked up from LBS, thought I’d take the fun way home. Punctured on a path I’ve since been up many times. New bike so had nothing with me. Had to walk home, only took about 40 minutes to walk home but I was annoyed nonetheless. Cut my ride short, but in fact ended up taking more time. A tube and a pump would have fixed that fine!

Thankfully I wasn’t that far from home, and it was mostly downhill, but I could have been a lot further away

Can you fit a pump in one of those Alpkit frame bags?

I’ve got a Topeak Mtn Morph or a Blackburn Mtn Air, neither are small.

I have a minipump on the frame and a very small saddle bag that has tube, patches and levers in it – so it’s always there and I dont have to worry about picking anything up for short rides.

For rides much more than an hour my back pack has a spare folding tyre, packable waterproof trousers, hat, gloves, sometimes a fleece, basic first aid, water bottle, chain tool, two allen wrenches a screwdriver and a quicklink.

Legal aspects aside, I’m guessing your approach to wearing a car seatbelt isn’t purely based on the chance of needing one? I assume you also consider (a) the consequences of failing to wear it when you suddenly do want it and (b) the almost total lack of inconvenience of wearing it…?

You won’t drag me into a such a clear straw man.

And in your two examples 1, I run tubeless, 2, I run single speed so neither would have happened.
Nothing to do with my awesome riding/maintenance skills.

My assessment is based on the fact I haven’t had a mechanical for 10+ years. And if I did then I would walk home – a 10 mile walk every 10+ years is hardly a big deal (and could also be just a 1 mile walk based on luck)
Like I said, if you are getting a few mechanicals a year then sure take tools. This thread was about travelling light and I am offering how I do it – rightly or wrongly!

You won’t drag me into a such a clear straw man.

😉 Maybe straw… I’m not convinced the “it won’t happen” argument stacks up too well against the “it’s just a tiny thing stuck under your saddle” argument, but yes, it’s subjective, of course.

2, I run single speed so neither would have happened.

Though note the “stone caught in an SS drivetrain” incident above 😉

Riding “lighter” – How?

lose some weight?

And in your two examples 1, I run tubeless, 2, I run single speed so neither would have happened.
Nothing to do with my awesome riding/maintenance skills.

My assessment is based on the fact I haven’t had a mechanical for 10+ years

You’ve been lucky, nothing more.

I’ve punctured and torn enough tubeless tyres in the last couple of years alone to make carrying a repair kit and tube worth while. Tubeless isn’t a magic or invincible solution!

And SS only lowers (not negates) the risk of a drivetrain related mechanical, it doesn’t have any impact on brakes,hubs,headsets,frames,forks,bars, etc. all of which can be subject to failure no matter how well maintained, and god forbid you should ever crash and need to do a repair as a result of that.

Luck, nothing more.

* from another SS and tubeless rider, I can understand not carrying the kitchen sink as I don’t either, but a small multi-tool and a puncture repair kit are no burden and not taking them is just silly.

I’ve lost count of the times I’ve given a tube or patch, or leant a tool to someone else on the trail who would have otherwise been facing a long walk home.

Bugger all fits on an Orange bike so I can take only what’s in my pockets with me if I leave my back pack behind 😉

I did fit everything to a previous bike to go pack-less via bottle holders, attachments and saddle pack and everything just got so covered in mud it was much more faff cleaning it all than drying off a back pack and brushing the dusty mud off the bottom of it the next day. Riding without a pack was lovely, but I got fed up of the faffing about and swapping bikes became even more faff.

I did an XC race recently with no pack, no water, no tools, just a few gels in my pocket. Almost 2 hours flat out with no water. It made me realise how long you can go without water if you’re already hydrated. Done some local loops since without water but still carried my emergency tube, pump and multi tool with me. It’s habit.

I take a pack on my rides just in case of a mechanical and now with winter here to store some food, a thin waterproof and extra gloves now it’s cold and horrible out.

If I’m racing I’ll think about ditching it since a mechanical is pretty much race over anyway. Depends how long the loop is and how hot it is. I probably do need to get myself a lighter, smaller pack with less stuff just for races though.

only take the water you need, if there is a cafe/pub on route potentially you could top up.

All over? No idea how a saddle wedge the size of a couple of clenched fists and a couple of 500ml water bottles is “all over”, maybe you are carrying a huge rucksack full of junk?

All over means up on the saddle, down on the seat tube, down on the down tube. All over.

A light bike handles well, that’s why I like to keep my weight on the back. I also like the convenience of a camelbak, I find it easier when riding. On road however, where it’s less of an issue, I put it on the bike, although I still find drinking difficult.

I’m allowed preference, right?