What kit to take on a ride?

Rob Johnson
Rob Johnson Posts: 4
edited October 2008 in Road beginners
I'm new to road riding and although I've been mountain biking with a camelbak for years I'm not sure what to take and how to carry stuff on the road.
At the moment I have a puncture repair kit, inner tube, tyre levers, mobile phone and a allen key set in a saddle pack which is only half full so rattles annoyingly. I carry a mini pump on the frame. Any food / energy bars go in the jersey back pocket.
On the mountain bike I carry all that plus a chain tool, chain links, zip ties, first aid kit and shock pump (obviously not needed on the road). But actually I'm far more likely to be far from home if I get a mechnical on the road bike so I'm interested on hearing what everyone else takes.
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Comments

  • mini pump, two tubes, levers, multi tool, tiny lock (for nipping to loo) and keys + phone /wallet and maybe map/water
  • spasypaddy
    spasypaddy Posts: 5,180
    in my saddle bag currently is:
    one inner tube, a multitool that has everything i will ever need to use to fix the bike, my keys, and a five pound note.
  • Lagavulin
    Lagavulin Posts: 1,688
    Saddle bags: Tube, two tyre levers, mini tool

    Jersey: Mini pump, two tubes, mobile, food
  • I carry: spare inner tube; repair kit and tyre levers; 3, 4, 5 and 6mm allen keys; small flat blade screwdriver (for adjusting stops on gear mechanisms and the like) 10mm spanner and 6" adjustable spanner; mobile phone; 750ml water bottle; pump. The pump goes on the bike, the bottle in the bottle cage, everything else in back pockets. If I need food then there's usually still room for that, too.

    There's quite a big variation in what people carry - from nothing (very foolish), through to someone I once knew who had bottom bracket tools, headset spanners; cone spanners, spoke key and just about everything else you might have at home with him. He seemed to work on the 'if you have it you won't need it' principle.

    I quite recently read Nick and Richard Crane's book 'Journey to the Centre of the Earth' where they cycled to the place farthest from open ocean from the ocean (Bangladesh to a very remote spot in Xinjiang province in China - over the Himalayas and across the Tibetan plateau - in 1986 (so also through quite a lot of places supposedly closed to non-Chinese). They carried a pump; repair kit; one tyre lever; 4" adjustable spanner; one cone spanner; 4 and 6mm allen keys; chain link remover; spoke key. 3,313 miles in 58 days and two p*nctures each!
  • nolf
    nolf Posts: 1,287
    I prefer a minimalist approach, on a 2 hour ride-
    multi tool, spare inner, mini pump, keys, reserve gel, 2 x 500ml bottles on the bike, (1 carrying isotonic energy drink).

    Don't bother with a saddle bag because they ruin the aesthetics of the bike!
    "I hold it true, what'er befall;
    I feel it, when I sorrow most;
    'Tis better to have loved and lost;
    Than never to have loved at all."

    Alfred Tennyson
  • I'm with Nolf on this one. For rides upto 3 hours, thats all you need. I take 750ml bottles (not 500ml) and small rear light (for the shortcuts and 'wonder where that road goes' moments).
    jedster wrote:
    Just off to contemplate my own mortality and inevitable descent into decrepedness.
    FCN 3 or 4 on road depending on clothing
    FCN 8 off road because I'm too old to go racing around.
  • grayo59
    grayo59 Posts: 722
    And a banana for anything over two hours.
    __________________
    ......heading for the box, but not too soon I hope!
  • tonyw43
    tonyw43 Posts: 249
    Inner tube, multi tool, puncture kit, co2 pump, tyre levers and money all in small saddle bag. 2x750 ml bottles on bike, one with psp22, one with water (or go if v.hot), gels and bars in back pockets with mobile. If weather not looking too clever, rain jacket in back as well.
  • chuckcork
    chuckcork Posts: 1,471
    Generally levers, 2 tubes (+2 more if commuting and wearing my backpack), rear light if commuting (just in case of bad weather and I want more visibility), repair kit, pump, multitool with allen keys and screwdrivers, Cycling Ireland ID which is for insurance purposes, cash, mobile.

    1 x 700ml Bottle for commuting
    2 x 750ml Bottles on a standard sunday ride
    4 bottles maybe on a longer distance (I use a Minoura bottle holder fixed to the seat)

    Food in back pockets, maybe a Tri-bag on the bike for food bars for longer rides.

    House keys.
    'Twas Mulga Bill, from Eaglehawk, that caught the cycling craze....
  • Lagavulin
    Lagavulin Posts: 1,688
    chuckcork wrote:
    I use a Minoura bottle holder fixed to the seat...
    Ooh, what's this? Of late I've been running out of fluid before my legs give up on me.
    I'm a bit of a dwarf (5' 7") so my smallish frames are a bit of a squeeze for anything larger than a 500ml bottle on the seat tube cage. WIll take a 700-800 but it's a tight fit, particularly the fully compact geometry Allez.
  • nolf wrote:
    Don't bother with a saddle bag because they ruin the aesthetics of the bike!

    Most of us manage that just by sitting on it, let alone adding anything to it :lol:
  • When I first moved from MTB to road, I stuck with my camelbak for a few months and was reluctant to lose it. Kept my bike bare.

    Eventually saw the light and got a saddle bag and used that for several months. But now even the saddle bag is gone and everything is in my jersey or on the frame. Bike feels and looks better without the saddle bag. For 70-100 mile rides, I carry...

    Jersey:

    Mobile, five pound note
    Jelly beans
    4 x Kellog's Elevenses
    2 x tube
    1 x lightweight multitool
    1 x aluminium tire remover

    Frame:

    Blackburn Carbon pump
    1x Bottle
  • Lagavulin
    Lagavulin Posts: 1,688
    For 70-100 mile rides, I carry...
    ... 1x Bottle
    Do you stop to refill that?

    I only ask as I frequently take 1-1.25 litres with me on a 30-50 mile ride after which my pee is the wrong colour. I'm starting to think I'm not hydrating myself sufficiently pre-ride (christ knows what time I'll have to get up to do that).

    P.S. is that Chris Morris in your sig? I've been watching Brasseye and The Day Today of late. Quality stuff.
  • unclemalc
    unclemalc Posts: 563
    nolf wrote:
    Don't bother with a saddle bag because they ruin the aesthetics of the bike!

    Most of us manage that just by sitting on it, let alone adding anything to it :lol:

    I really dread to think what I actually look like from behind on my bike... :shock:
    Anyway - what to carry? Ask yourself what you should have had with you in order to get you home, when you punctured 30 miles out on either a blisteringly hot or horribly wet day and on your own...
    Since that happened to me (it was hot...) I now probably take too much in terms of tools, but I get the 'fear' if I don't take it with me.
    ... and bananas rock :)
    Spring!
    Singlespeeds in town rule.
  • Ambermile
    Ambermile Posts: 117
    Everything, and I use the kitchen sink to carry it all :roll:

    Actually, saddle bag has puncture kit, two cable locks, allen keys, multitool thingie, two handwarmers gel packs, 40 spf sunscreen, swiss-type penknife, space blanket, couple of chunky cable ties. Hanging under the saddle bag is the first aid kit. On the rack is a small OuterEdge pack with 1 litre bottle, nuun tablets and some (usually) jaffa cakes... in the two side packs are waterproof top/trousers, hi-vis waistcoat (50p local garden centre!), cover for the whole pack, camera, phone, microfibre towel, knife (dunno, but it might be handy one day), small adjustable spanner, rear and front lights. Also there's a 1/2 litre bottle in the rack.

    Thinking about it, I could be carrying a bit too much I suppose... :oops:


    Arthur
    The Beastie


    Sic itur ad astra
  • Lagavulin wrote:
    For 70-100 mile rides, I carry...
    ... 1x Bottle
    Do you stop to refill that?

    I only ask as I frequently take 1-1.25 litres with me on a 30-50 mile ride after which my pee is the wrong colour. I'm starting to think I'm not hydrating myself sufficiently pre-ride (christ knows what time I'll have to get up to do that).

    P.S. is that Chris Morris in your sig? I've been watching Brasseye and The Day Today of late. Quality stuff.

    Yeah, will make a stop at a garage for a refill halfway through the ride. Also drink a few pints of water the night before to get my body hydrated.

    And you're right, that's Mr Morris 8)
  • neeb
    neeb Posts: 4,471
    I stuff everything in the jersey, apart from the bottles.

    Left pocket - spare tube, levers, mini-pump.

    Right pocket - mini-tool, food bar(s), Repair kit on some longer rides. Actually I've never had two punctures on a single day's ride, it's just that the further away from home you are the more it's worth allowing for the unlikely. I worry more about the spare tube being faulty or being damaged in my pocket than I do about getting two punctures. Maybe I've just been lucky, also I'm very careful to try to find the cause of a puncture when I change the tube and never use tyre levers to put the tyre on, only to take it off, so the chances of damaging the fresh tube are minimal.

    Little zip pocket - house keys, single banknote.

    The middle pocket is usually for the shades in case I want to take them off, unless rain or cold is likely in which case an appropriate extra layer goes there. Sometimes also a map.

    The cleat covers go in both left and right pockets, until I've eaten the food when they both go in the right pocket.
  • jon_e00
    jon_e00 Posts: 64
    quick thanks to all the posts here, very handy!
  • nickwill
    nickwill Posts: 2,735
    For 3-5 hour rides:
    Seat pack: micro tool, self adhesive patches, 2 tubes, phone and a fiver.
    Pockets: 2 or 3 gels, energy bar, windproof or gilet or waterproof depending on the weather.
    On the bike:2x 750 bottles with energy drink.
    That's about it.
  • I'm new to road riding and although I've been mountain biking with a camelbak for years I'm not sure what to take and how to carry stuff on the road.
    At the moment I have a puncture repair kit, inner tube, tyre levers, mobile phone and a allen key set in a saddle pack which is only half full so rattles annoyingly. I carry a mini pump on the frame. Any food / energy bars go in the jersey back pocket.
    On the mountain bike I carry all that plus a chain tool, chain links, zip ties, first aid kit and shock pump (obviously not needed on the road). But actually I'm far more likely to be far from home if I get a mechnical on the road bike so I'm interested on hearing what everyone else takes.

    depends on the bike and the ride

    standard training/club ride.
    2x tubes, pump, phone (in plastic bag), i'pod, cash, gillet/warmers) depending on weather conditions. depends on the bike as to where i cary it all

    Commuting/fixed bike
    camleback with 2x spanners inner tube pump phone cash keys

    TT'ing
    rucsack with all above, change of clothes magazine towell (to cry into after being slow) and the kitchen sink
    http://twitter.com/mgalex
    www.ogmorevalleywheelers.co.uk

    10TT 24:36 25TT: 57:59 50TT: 2:08:11, 100TT: 4:30:05 12hr 204.... unfinished business
  • I'm still on the lightweight thing. I take this on rides of 10-100miles, and not had a problem yet.

    1xTube
    2xTyre Levers
    1xRear Light
    1xSpare Rear Light
    1xPump (frame mount)
    2xBottlecages (Currently one as I broke one, but not sure how...)
    2x750ml Bottles (Currently one, as I only have one cage)
    Some money in Saddlebag
    One or two snacks in back pockets
    Keys
    Sometimes a front light too.

    My saddlebag without money, weights 454g. How cool is that?
    jedster wrote:
    Just off to contemplate my own mortality and inevitable descent into decrepedness.
    FCN 3 or 4 on road depending on clothing
    FCN 8 off road because I'm too old to go racing around.
  • jon_e00
    jon_e00 Posts: 64
    I'm still on the lightweight thing. I take this on rides of 10-100miles, and not had a problem yet.

    1xTube
    2xTyre Levers
    1xRear Light
    1xSpare Rear Light
    1xPump (frame mount)
    2xBottlecages (Currently one as I broke one, but not sure how...)
    2x750ml Bottles (Currently one, as I only have one cage)
    Some money in Saddlebag
    One or two snacks in back pockets
    Keys
    Sometimes a front light too.

    My saddlebag without money, weights 454g. How cool is that?

    where do you store all that? have you got a link to the exact bag?
  • damage36
    damage36 Posts: 282
    Ambermile wrote:
    Everything, and I use the kitchen sink to carry it all :roll:

    Actually, saddle bag has puncture kit, two cable locks, allen keys, multitool thingie, two handwarmers gel packs, 40 spf sunscreen, swiss-type penknife, space blanket, couple of chunky cable ties. Hanging under the saddle bag is the first aid kit. On the rack is a small OuterEdge pack with 1 litre bottle, nuun tablets and some (usually) jaffa cakes... in the two side packs are waterproof top/trousers, hi-vis waistcoat (50p local garden centre!), cover for the whole pack, camera, phone, microfibre towel, knife (dunno, but it might be handy one day), small adjustable spanner, rear and front lights. Also there's a 1/2 litre bottle in the rack.

    Thinking about it, I could be carrying a bit too much I suppose... :oops:


    Arthur

    Effing Nora! I hope that includes some sarcasm.

    For me, I use a saddle bag even though its ugly as I don't want to crash and have some keys in my kidneys. I've got a monstrous one atm, but plan on a slimmer racier one for next summer. I carry...

    In the bag:1-2 tubes, depending on the amount of tubes I've used up with punctures on hedgetrimmed roads on thin summer tyres. Mutlitool with 2 tyre levers, phone in plastic bag, ID, £10, puncture repair kit. A couple of geobars. Keys. Front light (looks shit on the bike in the daylight)

    In the jersey: couple of geobars, a shower jacket .

    on frame: minipump , 2x750ml bottles (one water, one PSP) rear light and one hunk of a cyclist.

    DMG
    Legs, lungs and lycra.

    Build a man a fire, and he'll be warm for a day. Set a man on fire, and he'll be warm for the rest of his life.