What is it with these massive rucksack/camelbak things ?

i carry a cx tube, 2 x 26″ tube and 2x 29er tubes. i once got a puncture and had the wrong sized tubes. got all the bases covered.

oh and single speed/ 9 speed / 10 speed quicklinks.

disc pads for shimano and hayes.

could definately cut that down a bit!! 😆

My MULE’s sometimes a bit stuffed in winter, but if I’ve gone out on the train I’ll probably be out for about 8 hours in total. I’ll carry extra clothing so I’m not sitting on a train/platform in wet clothes, as well as enough food and water for the day, a spare tube, pump and multiool.

I could go cold, thirsty and hungry I suppose, but what’s the point of that? I’m not that interested in feeling that I’ve somehow got one over on other people because I have less stuff, cheaper kit, football jersey over a T-shirt and so on rather than whatever it is they’ve got, before savouring the look on their faces as I leave them choking on my dust etc etc etc.

Thought I might as well join in (this thread could do with being killed :-))

I’ve got a small Camelbak I use for events/races. It’s enough for 1.5L bladder, plus multi-tool, tyre levers, puncture kit, pump & tube.
I could use a saddlebag, but the frame mount for my pump is knackered and I am too cheap to buy a new one, so it gets strapped to the bag. I also don’t like divving around with water bottles, so the bladder is easier.

I’ve got a large bag for general riding. I don’t really want a collection of bags so i bought one that will be suitable for trail centres, commuting, using in Spain where 3L water is a necessity, as well as knee/elbow pads, first aid kit etc.
And generally I keep all my ‘usual’ kit in the bag. As already mentioned it is far less hassle to go out for a ride if you know you can just pick up your bag and it just needs the bladder sticking in it. I even carry a skinny & a fat tube so I have one for commuting punctures and one for every other puncture.

Now I know it winds people up so much, I am tempted to fill it to the brim (couple of balloons should do it) everytime I go out, just to get people’s blood pressure up.

Do people really go out riding in the woods and on mountains, for hours on end, with only some water and perhaps a minipump and a puncture repair kit?

yes. sometimes I don’t even take water….

It doesn’t wind me up people carrying huge amounts of unneeded kit “just because one day it might be needed”. it just makes me laugh.

What winds me up is people claiming it is essential to carry all that kit and in a rucsac when clearly my decades of riding without show that it is not essential.

There is no situation I have been in or that I can think of when what I carry would not be enough.

JUST WORKED OUT THE PROBLEM FELLAS, NO MORE POSTS NEEDED ! 😆

http://www.thedailymash.co.uk/news/society/mid%11life-crisis-reduced-to-the-purchase-of-cycling-equipment-201009303131/

Roy Hobbs, 41, who spent almost a grand on cycling equipment without having the faintest idea why, said: “I bought the bike, the clothes, and some sort of bottle in a holster.

“I dressed myself in the gear and looked at myself in the mirror and thought, ‘What have I become?’ I looked like a chunky wasp.

“Maybe I will take the bike into the garden tomorrow and smash it with a mallet, while weeping.”

I prefer not to wear a backpack if possible and prefer to use two bottles, a saddle bag, frame bag and pockets.
If other people want to use a backpack, that’s up to them.

Is it OK for me to have a preference without criticising other people’s preference ?

MidlandTrailquestsGraham

No its not. You must not question the orthodoxy on here. Please go into the naughty corner

jedi
the point is that it’s their leisure time and they are enjoying what they do.

I take Pleasure in other Peoples Leisure 😐

There is no situation I have been in or that I can think of when what I carry would not be enough.

How do you carry the x-ray goggles required to tell the amount of water someone has in their camelbak?

I thought the point was that there is no point or have I missed the point?

This threads pointless 🙁

Granted the stuf we carry MAY not be needed, i cant remember the last time i got a puncture, but i do remember tweaking bar position and brake reach/ angles very recently.
I also very recently had a rear pivot bearing work lose, needing the multitool to fix.

I also recently had a spate of snapping chains that were only weeks old, needing the chain breaker on the multitool.

Id rather have enough odds and sods on my back to fix most foreseeable mechanicals and carry on my ride. id rather have enough water and grub on my back to enjoy my ride, when far away from home.
I’d rather take my waterproofs along too if it looks changeable.

The best way i have found, and this is personal to me, is to carry this stuff in my backpack.

pypdjl

I don’t. But I have repeatedly been told on this thread that carrying more than I do is essential. That 1.5 litres is insufficient.

apparently according to some you must carry a rucsac as you must carry 3l of water and loads of tools and spares – even for a couple of hours in the local trails.

i attach several helium filled balloons my my seatpost, this cancels out any weight gain from the following:

carrying essential fluids
carrying a spare inner tube
carrying a small pack of allen keys
carrying a waterproof
carrying my excess body fat

sometimes i take an AA emergency car kit with a tyre jack and warning triangle in my camelback (charriot racing special edition (as we’re naming them)) jsut incase i come across a borken down car, occasionally i bring a ladder incase i need to break into my house due to forgetting my keys when packing the balloons

not sure if i should mention the fact i wear american football padding for riding along the canal tracks, you never know when the back wheel might wash out and i could fall into a keep-net

that reminds me, i should work out how to pack a snorkel

U31. i quite agree apart from I find it easier to carry on the bike.

I carry a multitool with which I can strip the bike all bar the BB. Its the only tool I need. I find the necessities are so small that theya re easily carried on the bike and in my pockets

Most of the kit that is carried is due to people not being confident in their bike build/maintenace skills.

If your bikes given TLC and checked over, 99% of the time it will OK.

The majority of it is down to prior bad spannermanship.

TJ dont let them get to you. Ask any old school mtb’er and they will have now become SSers and dont buy into this loads of gear required crap. Simple gear with just enough simple kit to sort any trail problems or as we say up north “common sense tha nars”
KKF you where spot with your OP are you from these parts ?

That 1.5 litres is insufficient.

Depends how far you are riding and how much you need to drink, surely!

apparently according to some you must carry a rucsac as you must carry 3l of water and loads of tools and spares – even for a couple of hours in the local trails.

Yes, I’m sure that is an accurate assessment of peoples views in this thread, and not a strawman in any way at all…

Ok

here is the challenge. Remembering its a local ride give me a scenario that I would not be able to cope with with my kit and preparation but that you would be able to with all your extra kit.

I’m off to shops but will look back later

I reckon it’s all down to personality. Some people are disorganised and/or chancers – others like me tend to be over organised or expect the worst.

Amongst my mates I am known for being analy organised, but if I am doing a 3-4 hour ride into the wilds as well as food and camera I would always cater for:
* possibly not being able to get water – hence a 3l bladder
* multiple punctures
* mech hanger failure (has happened twice)
* weather worsening so need extra layer, gloves, hat
* an injury that needs a first aid kit
* an injury that leaves me unable to walk out so warm/waterproof clothing needed

I am more often than not on my own so cannot rely on others to supply what’s missing.

I have a camelbak which I keep as light as possible. What I dont understand is riders spending a fortune on saving 100grams from the bike then loading up 5kg in to their back pack.

Multi tool
Pump
Repair kit (tubeless)
Chain link

here is the challenge. Remembering its a local ride give me a scenario that I would not be able to cope with with my kit and preparation but that you would be able to with all your extra kit.

Meteor strike?

TandemJeremy – Member
Ok

here is the challenge. Remembering its a local ride give me a scenario that I would not be able to cope with with my kit and preparation but that you would be able to with all your extra kit.

I’m off to shops but will look back later

TJ – only saw your post after finishing mine. A local 1.5 hour ride for me could take me a 45 min walk from a public road. So minimum 2l water, and as per previous post I want to cater for potential injury so I can’t walk which means hat and extra layer and nibbles, plus mech hanger failure and chain break

Remembering its a local ride give me a scenario that I would not be able to cope with with my kit and preparation but that you would be able to with all your extra kit.

Do you carry a condom? 😀
Seriously, that’s easy. What if you can’t fit/ don’t want a water bottle on your bike?
The amount of water a person requires is a personal thing, I’ll get through 2-3l on a 2 hour ride depending on temps.

I think the OPs original viewpoint could be down to bad spannermanship tbh.

Scenario …..
You drift of the way marked trail at the trail centre and end up lost out in back country trails. You come to a clearing at the edge of a forest where ten naked women are dancing around a fire. Now don’t you wish you had packed more then one condom in your large rucksack/camel back.
(only applies to single speed gods as women love a single speed man)

just outa interest, where is it better to have the extra weight on the bike or on the body? (back pack/jersey pockets)

I was only nipping to the shops 🙁

Now don’t you wish you had packed more then one condom in your large rucksack/camel back.

Never heard of recycling?

stumpynya12 I live in Lancashire, home of Fred Dibnah, tha’ knows.

TandemJeremy….hes down with it and knows the score.

Trent Steel, you understand now, great.

anotherdeadhero…promise me you will buck up, good choice on tyres and Bonti bottle cages though. Fence needs treating.

😉

If your bikes given TLC and checked over, 99% of the time it will OK

…and the other 1% will be when you’ve left your big rucsac at home with all your tools

what tortoise said – I don’t carry stuff for the 99% rides I carry it for the 1%.

I have more than one bike and they all get ridden. I don’t have multiple sets of tools. I enjoy the convenience of having a rucsac packed with my essential tools/spare clothes that I can sling on my back regardless of which bike I’m going to ride. I used to try and fasten everything onto the bike or stuff it in jersey pockets but it made going for a ride a faff. I used to have a bottle in a bottle cage but I got fed up of the taste of sheep doo dah (and I never had enough to drink). I used to have a little saddle bag but I got fed up trying to squeeze my tube/waterproof and house keys in it, never mind mech hangers, chain tools and the like. I used to wear a bum bag back in the day but realised I looked a bit of a tool. The answer was a rucsac but that bounced all over the place when riding. So, I bought a “proper” hydration pack and love it.

That said, I DO love riding without a rucsac.

If your bikes given TLC and checked over, 99% of the time it will OK

TLC or confidence doesn’t stop punctures and smashed mechs.

anotherdeadhero…promise me you will buck up, good choice on tyres and Bonti bottle cages though. Fence needs treating.

Its not my fence to treat 🙂

You’re slipping up though – you didn’t notice the bar ends and risers, or the weeds in the gravel 🙂

davidrussell – Member

If your bikes given TLC and checked over, 99% of the time it will OK

TLC or confidence doesn’t stop punctures and smashed mechs.

No, what stops that is “skillz dat pay da billz” tubless stan’s and picking the right line, next. 8)

KKF I knew it !!! Freds a legend in our house and almost a Yorkshireman 😉

pastcaring – Member

just outa interest, where is it better to have the extra weight on the bike or on the body? (back pack/jersey pockets)

Depends – long non technical rides its on the bike – more efficient as you are not moving the weight of the rucsack around and the COG is lower

Short techy ride – you can make a case for on your back as the bike becomes lighter and can be moved around under you more easily.

I ain’t buying that as all my kit plus my bike is lighter than my mates bike

No, what stops that is “skillz dat pay da billz” tubless stan’s and picking the right line, next.

😳

wwaswas – Member

what tortoise said – I don’t carry stuff for the 99% rides I carry it for the 1%.

indeed – me two which is why I carry everything I need for trailside repairs that I can forsee.

Smashed mechs – you carry a spare? I can and have SSed my bike with what I carry.

so apart from condoms no one took up my challenge? i was hoping for better – you might even have proved me wrong 😉