What is it with these massive rucksack/camelbak things ?

i snapped a frame in half and fixed with a shoelace a piece of electrical tape and one of my 2 spare tubes.

carried on riding for a few days (i was in the alps), and used the other spare tube.

I couldn’t have done that with only 1 tube, no string, and only a few scraps of electrical tape…

TJ – you still haven’t answered mine. What happens if you’re on your own, crash, can’t walk. Need to keep warm and hydrated while you wait for someone to come and get you – assuming you are in a phone signal area.

I don’t really get what people carry in their bags either, but then I don’t really do long rides and am more of a fair weather rider so no need to have jackets stc. If it rains halfway through my ride I’ll just get on with it though rather than having to have a waterproof! I fit all my stuff in my £10 tescos hydration pack, I would like a bit more room for a proper camera in the future though.

tbh I hate wearing a bag when riding as it feels restrictive and sweaty, but the alternative is horrible looking frame/saddle bags and bottle cages, which just don’t look very gnar now do they?!

TJ – you still haven’t answered mine. What happens if you’re on your own, crash

He aims for the ground with his head!

Well people should bear in mind a couple of things:
not everyone rides around a muddy field or in swinley. First rule of going out in a mountain is that you ALWAYS carry a waterproof and a fleece as it can go from blazing sun to freaking cold in 5 minutes (you do remember the first time we met TJ don’t you).
Second, flame job bag is about as spot on as possible. Maybe the shock pump is OTT, but the rest is good.
My local trai lis a 13 km rocky descent. TO get to the top of it it’s about 70 min climb. So I don’t want to push down the road because I got a pinch flat or a bent rear drop out in the first 5 minutes.

Same what about you’re miles away from the car, and after 3-4 hours of climbs you brake something or have a mechanical. Or all of the sudden it’s start to rain?

Didn’t see it captain. Sorry

I don’t have a phone either but its very rare that I would be on my own in an area where there would be no passers by. edit when the weather is poor enough that exposure would be an issue

Hydrated is no issue – you will not suffer from dehydration in a short time and I carry water. 3 days I think is the time you can go without water.

if its cold and wet I carry a waterproof – and I might get cold but not to the point of dying. Someone would know where I was and when I was due back.

If I am somewhere remoter I am with others. In winter when exposure is an issue I would have a fleece with me.

so – I would be cold wet and miserable – more so than you but not to the point of danger I would have thought. Very very unlikely scenario but possible. An extra jumper would mitigate but not eliminate teh risk

Juan – and on that trip ( high on the mountains in poor weather) I had a rucksac with full survival kit for me and others. I could have survived an overnight up there

3 days of doing nothing until you die, yes. Working hard on a bike, you’ll start to feel the effects of dehydration much, much sooner.

andituk – in the context of

CaptainMainwaring – Member

………. What happens if you’re on your own, crash, can’t walk. Need to keep warm and hydrated while you wait for someone to come and get you ……….

Hydrated is not an issue then – warmth is tho I accept

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

I cringed for you when i read that…

I guess all the guys puncturing on the fort bill DH runs all year just didn’t pick the right line then. And before you start I know they dont carry a bag or a repair kit but you seem to be suggesting that you can ride or fettle your way out of any mishaps on the trail.

another strange stw thread

i’m going to clarify my last statement actually.

You seem to be suggesting that you can use fettling and riding skills to avoid any mishaps on the trail. I agree that bike prep and line choice is going to reduce the risk, but not eliminate it.

Its all about the risk, how likely are you to need lube/tools/water etc in any given situation. Personally I’d rather overpack and not need it, even if that does make me look like an MBUK fanboi.

Juan, the first rule of MTBing is telling someone your route and the ETA back. Make sure the person you tell has half a brain, if your 3 hours late they should call International Rescue.

TandemJeremy is right, 3 days without water, survial is a lot to do with “wanting” to survive, and commonsense, it dont get that cold over here, even in the hills, i seldom go out without the right kit and survive, just press on the pedals a bit harder to keep warm 😆

Its all about the risk, how likely are you to need lube/tools/water etc in any given situation. Personally I’d rather overpack and not need it, even if that does make me look like an MBUK fanboi.

You’re all jehboys! I go to the other extreme. The other week I made the 3 hour drive to Wales without even taking a front wheel. Spares… pfft!

The single speed slant on it.
Simple little light weight bike,well maintained with very little to go wrong. Just enough kit to get you out of the shit and anyway we don’t exactly ride the wilderness in this country now do we gentlemen. But if folks want to carry loads of kit then let them, at least they are out cycling and having fun Yahoooooo Weeeeeeeee Wayhayyyyyyy

What’s all this about how long you can go without water or before hypothermia sets in? I’m not worried about my ultimate survival, but I’ve been cold, wet, hungry and thirsty plenty of times before and don’t really feel like I need to set myself up for it just so I can avoid carrying a Camelbak. There’s no prizes for being more uncomfortable than you need to be and I can’t really say a Camelbak has much impact on the ride.

it dont get that cold over here, even in the hills

I used to think that, went out on my “local” spin across the moors near the Cat n Fiddle. It started off drizzling and within 30 minutes I can barely hold onto the handlebars. Wasn’t prepared, see. I knew I could do the ride in 1 1/4 hours so didn’t worry about big gloves, hat, waterproof etc. Yes I did get home in one piece, but had to shower with my clothes on until I was warm enough that I could actually get undressed.

TJ, I admire your survivalist spirit, but when the weather turns in or I have to hang around mending a mechanical, I want to be warm and comfortable and not “surviving”. If that means I carry a rucsac with a jumper and waterproof in, rather than having them zip tied to my frame or stuck down my shorts, then that’s no bother with me.

There’s no prizes for being more uncomfortable than you need to be

Very true, unless you view attention on a forum as some sort of prize 🙂

@thesouthernYeti

Wheelie round the trail?

This thread is very close to going full retard.

Some of you guys are completely biscuits.

Death and survival at trail centres, amazing. This forum is sometimes truly awful.

Tis funny isn’t it!

To reiterate. people keep telling me the rucsac and all the kit is essential. I maintain a minimalist kit is all that is essential.

I have never wanted for more than the minimalist stuff I carry. Never been cold and wet and wishing for more clothes, never been stuck for the equipment to repair my bike because I carry everything that is needed. I look at the weather forecast and the sky and kit up accordingly.

If you want to carry a rucsac and a huge pile of tools and spares then it is up to you – but please don’t tell me that its essential.

You are not participating in some extreme sport where survival is the key – you are going for a cycle ride. Yes sometimes more kit is needed – winter, remote areas, that sort of thing. However for the local riding moist of us do most of the time???

davidrussell – Member

@thesouthernYeti

Wheelie round the trail?

Exactly. I borrowed someone’s camelbak and loaded up with rocks to aid balance.

Death and survival at trail centres, amazing.

I think most of us weren’t even talking about trail centres, or did I just filter out those posts? But in the interests of picking an argument – which after all is what this OP was originally trolling for – why is a broken leg on a man-made trail at the top of a cold, wet and windy hill any different from a broken leg on a bridleway on top of a cold, wet, windy hill. A trail is a trail. Not all trail centres – mid-week, crap weather – have cyclists coming past every few minutes. I bet there are many trail centres considerably quieter than the Derwent Valley for example. Also, most cyclists are more likely to push themselves at a trail centre due to that perception of safety, leading to accidents. My mate has not seriously hurt himself biking anywhere – except Innerleithen.

To reiterate. people keep telling me the rucsac and all the kit is essential. I maintain a minimalist kit is all that is essential.

Actually, I think if many of the posts were read again you’d find many of us carry no more than you TJ, we just find it a lot more comfortable and convenient to carry it in a rucsac. I DO need 3 litres of fluid on a hot sunny day that is more than a couple of hours riding tho’

Stilltortoise fair enough. Have you tried riding without a rucsac tho – it really is more comfy not to have one on I would say. Minimalist is fine tho no matter how you carry it. Its the people with 10 kgs of stuff that make me laugh.

I find that refilling water is almost always possible – either in the pub if out all day or if there is no pub then I am remote enough that the water that is just running past is fine.

I went OTB the other week and broke my collar bone. Sat down to wait for the ambulance (I know, I know, I’m soft) and although I’d been toasty warm all day within 20 mins hypothermia had started to set in. I hadn’t carried anything extra with me because, well, it wasn’t a big ride, 25 mile or so and I wasn’t doing anything too scary.

Bloody glad I fell off near houses, a nice old chap brought me a blanket while I sat shivering. Just taken delivery of a camelbak from the STW classifieds and damned right I’m gonna pack a few extra things with me now, even if it’s just for a 5 miler.

davidrussell – Member

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

I cringed for you when i read that…

I guess all the guys puncturing on the fort bill DH runs all year just didn’t pick the right line then.

Dont cringe for me honey bunny it gives you crows feet, all the top ten placed riders at “fort bill LOL” this year took the right line as they did not puncture, see what I did there ?

“Bri” Lopes did not puncture, end of discussion.

Have you tried riding without a rucsac tho

Many times and I much prefer it. But it does not outweigh the convenience of a rucsac (see one of my earlier posts if you can be bothered).

Fair enough still tortoise – I did note your earlier posts

😀

This has been a textbook troll. Even knowing it to be a troll it is still fun to partake, but for the troll-hunter it is equally enjoyable to watch from afar. Well done.

of course frame bags are the real solution here

leaving the over-kitted types in my dust on a minimalist rigid SS or weight weeny XC bike is one of my favourite pass-times, wouldnt want that pleasure taken away from me…

JB, I wonder if they care at all if you pass them? I suspect not 🙂

see what I did there ?

Not really, that post was barely understandable.

I was going to try and reason that you cannot eliminate mechanicals with riding skills and bike prep, but I think its already clear you are a troll we are not going to agree on this.

kingkongsdong

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.

Yeh but you also neeed the Skills to pay the bills, to cope with the Boom that comes from behind :).

JB, I wonder if they care at all if you pass them? I suspect not

They will if it means being stuck behind a beared one him on the next descent!

i seldom go out without the right kit and survive, just press on the pedals a bit harder to keep warm

That only works when you’re not too tired…

That only works when you’re not too tired…

Do you see those guns? Do you think those guns get tired?

Because I just can’t ride as fast on technical DH without body armour (and a full face). True, one can do it smoothly and silently in a mellow fashion but when you want to go a bit more flat out, that’s when body armour is really worth it.

Having started off always wearing it (as a DHer), I then went for years riding without it, even hardcore in the Alps, until I noticed I was holding back on some corners I knew I could do faster – or even walking sections – because I didn’t want to risk the consequences of a wipeout. So on went the body armour and off went the brakes!

I would still wear no body armour on XC/all mountain rides but when the purpose of your day is DH a bit of arm and leg stuff, and a full face with goggles is good. Even on a trail like yoghurt pots (Holmbury), you can get really (really) big air at some points, some big hip jumps, not that I can make the most of them – I wouldn’t even consider riding in this fashion without it although I’m sure some can still rip unprotected.

Also, this might be BS, I don’t know, but I’ve always felt a nicely stuffed backpack has been pretty good back armour…!

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