What goes in your saddle bag?

graham1871

Hello... I'm new to Sportives having just completed a couple.
Having not clocked up a massive number of miles I'm lacking the (bad) experience... what do you consider essential kit for your saddle bag and what's just not worth bothering with?

I've seen people pull out after punctures... so obviously a spare tube... but are the lightweights any good? one or two for a 75 miler?
what kind of multitool?
It is ok to rely on CO2 or is a pump essential too?

Cheers.

wastrel

For me: 2 tubes, multitool with chain splitter, spare link/pin for chain, bit of duck tape in case of a split in a tyre - and a bit of stiff wire (don't know why but it might come in handy if something falls off).
I prefer a mini pump as my CO2 thing is rubbish (or i am at using it) and by the time you've got 2/3 refills it weighs the same anyway.
I keep meaning to put a few ziplock ties in too
oh yeah, i forgot, two tyre levers.

Kléber

CO2 chuck, two CO2 cannisters. Two tubes, one pack of patches, two tyre levers, one allen key. It all fits into the smallest bag I can find.

Philip Whiteman

By looking at some other cyclists; very little!

As for myself, and I tend to ride 200km audaxes too, this is what I include:

- two lightweight inner tubes;
- 2 or 3 CO2 cartridges
- tyre levers
- multi-tool including a chain tool
- cashcard + cash
- mobile phone
- small list of local taxi firms for contact in the event of a serious breakdown

http://www.primera-bournemouth.co.uk/Te ... prodID=351

Some people may say this is too much but I am paranoid about being stranded without enough tools or means of getting home.

jonmack

Anyone else care to share? I'm thinking of putting a saddle bag together and would love some more advice.

salsarider79

1. A tube
2. Pump (Attached to the bike)
3. One drink bottle if less than 50miles, two for anything over
4. Banana (Sometimes...)
5. Mobile phone
6. Multi tool
7. 15mm spanner for rear wheel (Its singlespeed so can't have QR )

I like to run light. Have run too light several times.
If your planning a late evening ride, arm/leg warmers and lights are great idea's (though chasing the last of the sunlight to get home in time has led to some amazing rides.)
I like the idea of the triathlon bags which sit just behind the stem so you can stow food, etc...

Aggieboy

I always stuff in some of those disposable free plastic gloves from garage forecourts. Keep hands clean and stop things rattling.

sportbilly1976

In saddle bag: (I have this saddlebag and it fits nicely underneath too)

http://www.evanscycles.com/products/tre ... k-ec005558

2 spare tubes
A multitool with chain bit
A couple of spare chain links (and ususally one of those quick lock links)
Cash card
a £10 or £20 note
Tyre levers
puncture repair kit (altohugh might take this out as would change tube)

In pockets on my top

Mobile phone in protective holder
Mini pump with 2 CO cannisters

Depending on length of ride:
1 energy gel
1 flapjack
2 bottles in their cages on bike - usually just Robinsons fruit & barley!!

hope this helps....

Not Another Hill

70 + mile rides:

Pockets: 1 tube
Gels
Waterproof/gilet depending on weather or season

Seat bag: 3 tyre levers
Patches
Multi tool
Money
Cashcard
Phone
Mini pump

Le Commentateur

Aways the same, so I never have to think about where I've put stuff:

In left rear pocket goes an inner tube, rolled up tight with tyre levers and €20/£10 note, all held together with red rubber bands (thankyou Mr Annoying Postman for your weekly contributions on my doorstep); mini multi-tool and chain breaker; mini-pump. If it's a long ride or rough roads I might take a second inner tube.

In right rear pocket go keys first, on top of which are gels and energy bars (the latter with wrappers cut open).

The middle rear pocket is normally reserved for gillet or rain jacket or arm warmers (depends on the start time, altitude and weather conditions).

I don't use a saddle bag.

dennisn

Nothing. I hate the damn things. If I have to carry more than the rear pockets will COMFORTABLY hold, I use a small Camelback without the water bladder. No problems.
Even feels better than putting stuff in the back pockets.

Dennis Noward

GavH

Phone and Debit card wrapped in a plastic ziplock type bag and lightweight jacket etc if needs be in my middle jersey pocket. Foodstuffs, gels etc left and right of that. Two bottles always

Saddle bag has the following crammed in:

An inner tube
A CO2 thingy and 2 x 16g carts.
Puncture repair kit
3 x tyre levers (I've had one break before)
2 x Missing links for my KMC chain and a chain tool.
A couple of Allen keys which fit most bolts on my bike
Various sized zip/cable ties
Bit of old inner to use as a patch for the tyre if needs be
Some 'black nasty' tape - if something cannot be fixed (at least temporarily) with gaffa tape then its either not worth fixing or it shouldn't have been made in the first place.
A pair of rubber gloves (the medical type - stops my white bar tape turning pure black after having to use this lot!)

LardLover

I'm pleased I'm not the only the one who doesn't like saddle packs on road bikes.

NOTHING SHOULD BE ATTACHED TO ROAD BIKES EXCEPT BOTTLE CAGES


This is, of course, just my personal opinion! :oops:

And DennisN, ditch the camelback dude (again, my personal opinion )


What do you think all those pockets are for? :shock:

kingstongraham

So do you think that a bag (or camelbak) is always less aero than bulging pockets, or you just don't think it looks right?

dennisn

LardLover wrote:

And DennisN, ditch the camelback dude (again, my personal opinion )


What do you think all those pockets are for? :shock:

As far as I'm concerned I find the camelback much more comfortable than having
my rear pockets stuffed full. Not that I jam them full on a daily basis but when the need arises I go Camelback.

Dennis Noward

vorsprung

LardLover wrote:

I'm pleased I'm not the only the one who doesn't like saddle packs on road bikes.

NOTHING SHOULD BE ATTACHED TO ROAD BIKES EXCEPT BOTTLE CAGES

There are two reasons for attaching the stuff to the bike

1) any weight on your body is lifted if you go out of the saddle
2) if you crash even a folded up multitool can give you a nasty bruise or worse

This is, of course, just my personal opinion! :oops:

And DennisN, ditch the camelback dude (again, my personal opinion )

I'm with you on this. Never seen the point in camelbacks on a road bike

Blonde

I always carry 2 inner tubes, plus a pucture repair kit, plus a multi tool with chain breaker. This fits in a very small under-seat pack. I have a frame-fit high pressure pump. C02 cartridges work brilliantly but can only be used once and after that you're stuffed, so you still have to carry a pump anyway. C02 cartridges are really for racing when seconds count. A proper, full size, frame fit pump will give you 100+psi in 2 minutes flat anyway. Mini-pumps are generally not very good for pumping up road tyres though, as they can't give you high enough pressure, due to the size, so you'll spend a long time (and a lot of effort) trying to get the tyre(s) firm enough. I carry my on-bike food and my wallet in my jersey pocket (keys go inside wallet, so they don't risk making holes in my expensive jersey or in my back!). If I use a gilet, or a waterproof jacket on a ride, this will also go into a jersey pocket when not worn. I often tie my arm warmers to my stem, when not wearing them though, as this prevents them from soaking up sweat in my pocket, so that they're actually warm, not wet and cold, when I later put them on.

Brocade

- tyre levers
- co2 inflator (tubes screw into a Minoura attachement by the water bottle)
- one spare inner tube
- patch kit
- 2 antiseptic wipes
- 2 large plasters
- one wound cleaner
- multi tool with chain adjuster
- one energy gel
- two hand warmers
- aspirin

Porgy

a good book so i have something to read if i'm forced to get on a train.

markos1963

In saddle bag(I used to carry this lot in a pocket)
2x inner tubes
multitool
chainbreaker
spare links
zip ties
puncture kit
small pack of wet wipes
elastic bands
latex gloves

On bike
1 or 2 bottles(depending on length of ride)
Mini pump

On me
Small wallet
Club ID
£20 emergency money
Cake money(VITAL!)
Mobile phone
Railway pass(train driver so I can get anywhere if I have to)
Credit card
Food for ride

ride_whenever

Blonde wrote:

I always carry 2 inner tubes, plus a pucture repair kit, plus a multi tool with chain breaker. This fits in a very small under-seat pack. I have a frame-fit high pressure pump. C02 cartridges work brilliantly but can only be used once and after that you're stuffed, so you still have to carry a pump anyway. C02 cartridges are really for racing when seconds count. A proper, full size, frame fit pump will give you 100+psi in 2 minutes flat anyway.

I carry CO2 for when the weather is foul and I don't want to be hanging around dressed minimally getting cold.

Bhima

LardLover wrote:

What do you think all those pockets are for? :shock:

Food. I can get 9 bananas in my 3 pockets but I always feel like I need a 10th if it's a long ride sometimes.

In the saddle bag (wallet + cable tie in my case):

- Keys
- 20x Self-Adhesive Patches - take up no room at all, compared to an innertube.
- 2x Tyre Levers
- Electrical Tape/5x Cable Ties - In case I need to hold together a destroyed tyre for a few miles.
- Chain Tool
- Spare Chain Links
- 4x Allen Keys
- Spoke Key
- Blade Key
- 2x Spare Rim Tape
- Superglue
- 2x Gear Cables
- Lights & Spare Batteries
- £40

rjh299

2 lightweight inner tubes (these pack smaller than regular)
2 CO2 refills and head
Tyre levers
Multi-tool
Cash
Phone
Bars/gels
Should take ID aswell but i don't

All in the jersey pockets though, no saddle bag on my good bike. Just don't like em.

bigcod

LardLover wrote:

I'm pleased I'm not the only the one who doesn't like saddle packs on road bikes.

NOTHING SHOULD BE ATTACHED TO ROAD BIKES EXCEPT BOTTLE CAGES


This is, of course, just my personal opinion! :oops:

And DennisN, ditch the camelback dude (again, my personal opinion )


What do you think all those pockets are for? :shock:

I've been told that in cycling, anything that goes up and down (peddles,shoes,wheels,etc)should be as light as possible to save on energy as they are moved up n down many thousands of time durning a long ride.

So it makes sense to me to put extra weight in the bag on the bike, rather than on your person; as you'll be out of the saddle moving up and down - lifting all that stuff on your back up and down each time your peddles rotate.

Its probably a load off bull , but its what I've been told. :roll: If someone can prove it wrong I'll stick it on my back.

I admit they do look a bit daft But I use em on long rides

ellieb

If I'm doing the Etape Caledonia;

15 inner tubes. Scuba diving size CO2 tank

graham1871

Thanks for all the tips.

I hadn't even considered not using a saddle bag... :oops:
However, I spend far too much time out of the saddle on hills and would prefer myself to be lighter rather than worry about the bike. This might be wrong though...?

I like the disposible gloves idea - do they still have these at petrol stations? I'll be checking next time. Electrical tape is genius too. The wound cleaner worries me... perhaps the electrical tape would come in handy for that too in an emergency...

Anonymous

Willy Voets' car had nothing on what I have in my saddlebag.

freehub

nothing, my saddle bag wont fit my seat

redddraggon

2 tubes
3 or 4 tyre levers
Spare chain link
Spoke Key

Greenbank

bigcod wrote:

I've been told that in cycling, anything that goes up and down (peddles,shoes,wheels,etc)should be as light as possible to save on energy as they are moved up n down many thousands of time durning a long ride.

So it makes sense to me to put extra weight in the bag on the bike, rather than on your person; as you'll be out of the saddle moving up and down - lifting all that stuff on your back up and down each time your peddles rotate.

It's the other way round. Ideally you want your bike to be as light as possible as it is dead weight, this includes stuff bolted to it or in bags attached to it. 10kg in a rucksack will feel like a lot less work than 10kg in a pannier or rackpack. Test this for yourself on a hilly route if you don't believe me. Empty pannier and heavy rucksack. Do ride. Put rucksack in pannier. Repeat. Put rucksack back on. Repeat, etc. You'll find the climbs harder when the weight is on the bike.

The difference is that the extra weight of a rucksack is supported by your legs and the majority of the work they do is pushing down on the pedals, so any extra weight is better on you than it is on the bike where it is dead weight.

However, with this extreme example, 10kg in a rucksack will probably have your back/neck muscles in spasms after a couple of hours riding, they just aren't up to supporting that kind of extra weight for longer. For anything more than an hour, it makes most sense to put the majority of stuff on the bike.

For 1kg of stuff it will make little or no difference where it is. You might be able to get through a 5 hour ride with a 10kg rucksack, or you could suffer after an hour with just 2kg, it depends on your own core strength.

Personally I wouldn't put anything hard/lumpy (tools, spanners, pump, etc) in my jersey pockets (especially not the middle pocket along your spine) as it could cause some pretty nasty injuries if you came off and landed on them. Soft stuff like arm/leg warmers, waterproof jacket, etc, are fine in the jersey. This stuff also tends to be light. Saying this, I occasionally go out with a small pump one of the side pockets of my jersey, but it's a calculated risk. Rucksacks tend to provide some padding around its contents.

Many rides put their (full) bottles in their jersey pockets for long climbs in order to move that weight (1.5kg for two full 750ml bidons) off the bike and onto the rider.

For a ride over an hour I'll always use a seatpack, saddlebag/rackpack or pannier (depending on how much stuff I'm carrying).

Under an hour I'll consider using a rucksack if I've got too much stuff for a seatpack or saddlebag.

For fast blatting round Richmond Park I have a very small seatpack (multi-tool, inner tube, tyre levers, zip ties and random bits and bobs) and a tiny pump (Topeak Micro Rocket) in a tri-bag behind the stem along with my mobile, wallet and some flapjack as bonk rations..

A Load Of Bull

Latex gloves are better than the garage forecourt ones when you need to fiddle with small objects. (oo-errr)

You can buy them off Ebay - a box of 100 for less than a fiver.