What do you REALLY need?

what do baggies offer to the experiance of falling off ?

Depends on the baggies in question, but potentially a lot less cuts and grazes than football style shorts.

On the subject of baggies : A word of caution about the otherwise excellent Endura Humvees. If you wear them whilst playing with your kids on enormous near vertical slides at The Big Sheep in Devon it is possible for the back panel in them to melt and burn/stick to your arse. I know this from bitter and painful experience.

I just wish that I’d had an emollient soaked cat with me to soothe my poor scorched ‘arris on.

hugo – Member

Amused to see Camelbak on the need list. I’ve got one, but “need”?!

Well come on, almost the first reply said a pressure gauge was necessary! 😆

Helmet – whatever you feel comfy with peak or no peak
Decent shorts/liners they will quite literally save your ass
Gloves – maybe with the hard rubber on the knuckles, I could do with these myself
Decent shoes – either flats or spds
Decent Pedals – to match the shoes
Shin knee pads – I don’t ride with out them order 5 different types from CRC and keep the ones you like/fit best – Free returns are great!

after that just hunt around here for the next 6 months and try not to get embroiled in the Shimano v Hope v Avid threads before deciding which bike to buy next 😉

Oh and if you don’t already know then great handbuilt wheels are great!

This is STW so probably best to ask what you don’t need.

But you WILL need:

Multiple bike in all wheels sizes for all types of riding, seasons and latest fads, plus at least 3 others which do the same job as other bikes.
Tyres for mud, dry, damp, wet, ice, snow, mostly wet with dry bits, mostly dry with wet bits, rocks, grass, fire roads, commuting, beaches, enduro events, popping to the shops.
Dropper post (because seat posts only became invented when they came on the market)
Top of the range and highly unnecessary bling to pimp your “steed”
1,000,000,000,000 lumen lights.
Stupid looking bars so everybody looks at you.
Matching kit incase you get scouted by a pro team.
Cycling specific everything (aka overpriced base layers and jackets)
A big rucksack to take all your gubbins in for every ride…
A white Audi A4 estate with a private plate and a bike sticker on the back so everybody knows your totes rad and a cyclist.
A weird taste in beer.
Wood burner.
The need to ask the forum about pretty much every decision in your life.
Oh nearly forgot.. To be vastly overbiked for 99% of your riding.

Other than that a bike with round wheels, a helmet and gloves to keep your hands cosy in the winter, a sense of adventure and the rational to realise that there is more to mountain biking that trail centres.

The above is a huge sweeping statement and should be taken in good humour.. Apart from the bit directly above!

Welcome along and enjoy.

Depends on the baggies in question, but potentially a lot less cuts and grazes than football style shorts.

Yes, much less.

Oh I forgot pump. That inner tube isn’t much use without it.

Shock pump, if you have air shock/fork

Welcome ella!

Just been chuckling through a couple of pages of your blog. Very good, hats off for the long rides!

Kit: I reckon you’ll be just fine for now, and figuring the rest out as you go. Looks like you’ve got a pretty good idea of what’s necessary and what’s not!

Also, you’ve inspired me to make sure I get out for some long rides. Ta!

I’ve built up stuff over time, in order I got it if I remember, it’s more for longer rides, but it all tends to permenantly live on the bike or in my pack so I know where it is and don’t have to think too much about packing for rides:

Frame mounted mini pump
spare tube
Patch kit & levers
krypronite mini7 D-lock on frame, sometimes also take the extension cable depending where im going
back pack, fairly small Karrimore urban30
water bottle
Pack-it cheap waterproof overtrousers
bag of pisacios and water for emergency snack
basic first ard – plasters electrical tabe a bit of bangage and some small bottle surgical spirit
2 allen keys, one screwdriver
chain tool
Recently got my first baggies with inners after wearing out normal clothes
endura strike gloves – gain more for winter after ruining normal gloves last winter
this time of year a fleece and a waterproof overjacket, one to wear, one in backpack depending on weather
whetever additional food/fluid I think I need at the time
a spare folding tyre if im doing an all dayer without much chance of a freind being able to nip out and ‘rescue’ me

take out more clothing than you would on a road ride as your less likely to be keeping up a constant work rate therefore not generating a fairly constant level of heat on an mtb than a road bike. in simple terms (which always work best for my limited intellect) i always find mountain biking more stop starty than road bikes, so i tend to get colder easier.

also an extra layer for the inevitable trailside repairs which always seem to take longer on an mtb than the road.

deff consider baggy shorts – not only are they visually less intrusive for your fellow riders (no one needs to see my lycra clad backside out of the privacy of the boudoir), they will provide more skin protection when you crash – which i find a do a lot more of on the MTB

IdleJon – Member

Well come on, almost the first reply said a pressure gauge was necessary!

guilty, OTT i know, but hear me out.

How many times does the OP need to be told that a pump and tube might be a good idea? But all the roadies i know have their mtb tyres waaaay too hard. Suitable tyre pressure is surely on the ‘need’ list?

Suitable tyre pressure is surely on the ‘need’ list?

Thumb?

(for the benefit of the OP, rock hard – bad, really squishy – bad, nice bit of squish – OK)

Thumb?

well, the OP’s a recent convert from the dark side, his thumbs might not be calibrated yet.

His idea of ‘really squishy’ might mean ‘i can move it a whole micron with my thumb’.

His

hers. I don’t know, the sexism on here… 🙂

You’ve already got a bike and the ability to ride it so you don’t need much else. Your road helmet’s just fine.

Stuff that makes it more pleasurable:

Gloves – the full fingered variety as no-one likes cold fingers, also handy for protection on the off-chance you get too close to the ground.

Camelbak – saves getting a mouthful of mud every time you want a drink and also provides storage for sarnies/tools/hip flask/jacket

Malt Loaf – ’nuff said.

Glasses – you probably have some already, but if not then it’s a great way of keeping mud/flies/vegetation out of your eyes

Baggies – much more resistant to the rigours of mountain biking than roadie stuff.

Tools/spares – you probably have all the necessary for your road bike, I have a set of spares in the camelbak for the MTB and a separate set for the road bike, mainly because I’m lazy and forget to swap stuff over. If you’re the same then do that, no one likes getting a puncture and not having tyre levers.

Tubeless set up – personal preference, I like it as due to the afore-mentioned laziness it helps to avoid the need to fix punctures by not getting them in the first place. Although if you go down this route still carry tube/levers/pump just in case, if you have it you won’t need it but the second you leave it at home …….

hers. I don’t know, the sexism on here…

You need a cup of chamomile. 😛

I’ve just made a pot of Apple+mint, will that do?

I’ve just made a pot of Apple+mint, will that do?

So you’ve got a sludge of stewed apples with some dried mint thrown and you’re claiming that it’s tea? 🙄

😀

I’m sippin’ on gin and juice. No chamomile, indo, or any of that other stuff, though.

Multi tool
Puncture repair kit
Pump
Map

Gin and Juice.

3 important things; bike, sense of humour and fitness. So not much you can add to a Christmas list there!

My mate rob the roadie has used a road helemt while mtbing for years, he does crash lots, the helmet may or may not be responsible, who can tell!

Hi OP
If your going “on your own” knee pads a a big one IMO. You come off in the sticks and break an arm, dislocate a shoulder you can walk and get help, knee injury and your staying wherever you are until, someone “may” find you.
So IMO you need

Helmet
Full finger gloves
Half decent shoes (I’ve always used cheap Karrimor water proof trainers ,not any fancy biking stuff they tend to last about 4-5 months by which time you need another pair anyway as they will be minging lol
knee pads

Other than that, usual crap I carry is
2 x tubes
1 x pump
1 x multi tool
4 x tire levers (they can break)
1 x Proper none bike multi tool (Leatherman in my case)
1 x puncture kit (to back up the two tubes).

water.
food.

On big rides back in the car I’ll have a FULL change of clothes, towel and can of deodorant 🙂
Nothing worse than doing a 2-3 hour drive home in wet gear.

As stated above.
A coffee machine (not a pod machine you heathen)
An Audi or nicely converted VW T5.
The aforementioned riddled, creamy coated cat or small puppy.
A MASSIVE shed.
A wood burning stove.
Photoshop.
A CNC router would be nice but not essential.
Two hundred tyres of varying tread patterns and widths.
Finally the ability to have a good laugh at yourself when you stack it in the mud.

You don’t NEED anything, tools you know already because a bike is a bike. If you want to take a bottle in a cage then fine, I do. Experiment with saddle heights as what feels way too low for road is about right for off road.. This may help to feel more comfy on steep descents and allow you to get your backside off the back of the saddle

Shock pump is a good shout because there is no other way of setting correct pressure in air shocks. That’s about all I can think of.

If you’re considering coaching, I’ve heard good things said about AllianceMTB. A few people from here have used them in the past.