What do you carry on rides and how...

Frank Wilson

Generally I carry an oil on canvas portrait of Bobby Crush.

ai_1

arran77 wrote:

Ai_1 wrote:

CHRISNOIR wrote:

My set-up never changes.

Left jersey pocket – flapjack, gel, keys.
Middle jersey pocket – multi-tool, mini-pump.
Right jersey pocket – Phone, wallet.

A spare tube and levers fit neatly into a Continental saddle bag which is then cunningly wrapped in a pack-a-mac waterproof which is then all rolled up and put in the bottle cage on the seat tube.

Keys and gel in the same pocket has the potential to be messy, especially if you put empties back in the same pocket.
Do I understand correctly that you have a saddle bag but you wrap it up and wedge it into a bottle cage? :shock:
Mind me asking why on earth you'd do that instead of putting it on the saddle?

Saddle bags look gay, end of :P

Unlike lycra shorts and brightly coloured skin tight jerseys!
Road cyclists are in dangerous territory criticising anything for looking "gay"!

Saddle bags are much more aesthetically pleasing than pockets stuffed to capacity and while I like things to look good, I'm a form follows function man first and foremost. Anything else is art (and artists say a useful thing can't be art) or fashion (which I have little time for).
To give up a bottle mount to store tools, tubes or other items that can easily and conveniently be accommodated elsewhere strikes me as absurd unless you never do a ride of much more than an hour.

P.S.
Just on a more serious point for a moment. Using "gayness" as an unqualified criticism implies you think there's something wrong with being gay. I've been guilty of this myself in the past but have stopped since realising how some people will be understandably offended by this.

CHRISNOIR

Ai_1 wrote:

CHRISNOIR wrote:

My set-up never changes.

Left jersey pocket – flapjack, gel, keys.
Middle jersey pocket – multi-tool, mini-pump.
Right jersey pocket – Phone, wallet.

A spare tube and levers fit neatly into a Continental saddle bag which is then cunningly wrapped in a pack-a-mac waterproof which is then all rolled up and put in the bottle cage on the seat tube.

Keys and gel in the same pocket has the potential to be messy, especially if you put empties back in the same pocket.
Do I understand correctly that you have a saddle bag but you wrap it up and wedge it into a bottle cage? :shock:
Mind me asking why on earth you'd do that instead of putting it on the saddle?

It's kind of what arran77 says - I might not use the same terminology as him, but, yeah, along those lines. I'll call it a 'matter of aesthetics'*.

*and also a vague distrust of the velcro fasteners as a result of an incident as a five year old involving a football, an attempted kick and a shoe ending up in a tree.

bcjames

I'm not a fan of carrying too much stuff in my jersey pockets. I keep my food and personal bits in there, and a jacket or gilet if needed.

I have a tiny Arundel Uno that tucks up under the seat and is very unobtrusive. I've got the next size up too if I want to carry two tubes.

I comfortably fit a tube, patches, missing link, spoke key, park allen keys, chain tool, tyre levers and a fiver in to it. My tiny Specialized Air Tool mounts on to the frame and is hidden by a bidon.


Arundel Uno saddle bag by coachjamesbull, on Flickr

arran77

Ai_1 wrote:

P.S.
Just on a more serious point for a moment. Using "gayness" as an unqualified criticism implies you think there's something wrong with being gay. I've been guilty of this myself in the past but have stopped since realising how some people will be understandably offended by this.

The :P at the end of my post suggests I'm not serious in what I said!!!

xscreamsuk

tube stuffed under saddle, can't tell it's there. CO2 cannister and 2 levers. Anything under 2 hours it's phone and a house key which go in pocket on back of bib shorts. Any longer and I'll have a bar and a couple of gels and some cash for a cafe stop on club rides. Not many of my training rides are longer than 2 hours though.

When racing a TT I have nothing,

iron-clover

On normal club/ training rides I take the 'be prepared' motto:

Topeak Mini saddlebag:
-Multitool
-Tyre Levers and self adhesive patches
-Miniature bike lock and key (Aldi special- and a godsend for club run cafe stops!)
-Chain tool and quick link- never used by myself and never hope to but I've seen a lot of chain breaks from others.

Pockets:
Spare Tube,
Clasic Nokia Phone,
Pump,
Card, small money and BC card (for ICE)
Food if any,
Pocket First Aid kit if room (useful when leading rides)

On Bike:
1-2 water bottles.

When racing I take as little as possible if anything at all.

jasonbrim

For most rides I have everything in my pockets, as per rule 31.
Right pocket: phone, keys
Left pocket: gels (if needed), bars
Middle pocket: caddy sack bag containing pump, tube (sometimes two), levers, multitool, money, lens wipe, energy tab
I also then have appropriate additional clothing in whichever pocket is most suitable, usually the right or middle pocket.

For longer more touring-based rides or unpredictable sportives (where the weather is very changeable), particularly when abroad, I take a saddle bag. I have two saddle bags, one huge one that could fit the kitchen sink, and one more standard-sized one that fits the contents of my caddy sack. This means I can then have more clothing or food in my pockets, which I will need to hand more often than the other things.
For these types of rides I sometimes use a frame bag as well, which will contain all my food and gels (sometimes a camera), so that there is more space for additional clothing in my pockets.

Matthewfalle

Once when I bought some Neurofen for the kiddies it came in a quilted 6 inch high by, ooooh, 3 inch wide zip up bag.

This fits perfectly into the centre pocket and carries:


Multitool (park tools)
Leather man
Cable ties (various sizes)
Insulting tape
Bus money
Mobile
Small flat Multi spanner
Latex gloves
Wife's business card (in case I lose it)
Tyre lever (but not sure why as I use tubs)
Co2 canister plus spare
Presta to Schrader adaptor
And a couple of other small things.

Small, compact, tidy, bright orange, free. What more can I want?

Pre taped tub and tub tape go in another pocket

House key on para cord around neck.

Job jobbed

Joeblack

Sub 80 miles rides everything goes in a bottle in the rear cage

Above that its in the back pockets,

As previously noted saddle bags are gay and have no place on a bike

And I look good in my lycra.

k-dog

Leather man?

or Leatherman?

Spacing is important.

rpherts

Mini pump and CO2 cartridges, as I remember trying to inflate a repaired inner tube with a mini pump whose seal had gone.

If saddlebags are against "The Rules" then I'm buying myself a bigger saddlebag. Wonder if I can fit two on...

Matthewfalle

k-dog wrote:

Leather man?

or Leatherman?

Spacing is important.

Leatherman. Apols for stoooopid iPad thing that changes what you type into something else.

andrewjoseph

Love the 'insulting tape' :-)

meagain

All well prepared then! I hope folk have not mentioned carrying easily accessible ID only because it goes without saying? If phone not password protected and contains an ICE number fine. If not, at least a tel no on a bit of paper. A rider who died out on the road was unidentified for nearly a week a few years ago.

As for topic, even tho' I'm never more than 10 miles from home any longer, tube and levers and patches a must. I have no one I can call for a rescue, so always a couple of tenners to blag a lift.

solosuperia

When I go out at night in my striped jumper, I have a facemask and a big bag marked SWAG.
Oh yes I make a point of not carrying any ID!

Frank Wilson

lesfirth wrote:

The best tip I got of this forum was to carry a pair of latex or similar gloves. Sorting a chain problem can be very messy.

Yes and if someone got oil on their clothes they would have to start another "best clothes washing practises" thread on here.

Matthewfalle

andrewjoseph wrote:

Love the 'insulting tape' :-)

Always carry insulting tape - an almost unlimited number of uses. That and cable ties. Hold the world together.

k-dog

Whoosh!

darkhairedlord

This autumn i will Swap out one water bottle for a stove top espresso and gas stove.

johnny25

The bare minimum. I like living on the edge.

1 spare inner tube
Co2 pump and canister
Plastic tyre levers
Mobile phone
£10 note
Cycle Club ID Card
2x gels + banana
Water in bottle

As a rule I thoroughly check my bike over before I leave on a ride. So the probability that I'll need items such as alan keys, spanners, wrenches, spare tyres, chain tools et al is fairly remote to the point of nil.

However when on the mtb it's all a little bit different.

Saddle bags are girlie. I use the pockets in the back of my cycle jersey.

cougie

If you're truly going to the bare minimum - you could probably lose the ID card ? Whats that for anyway ?

chris_bass

cougie wrote:

If you're truly going to the bare minimum - you could probably lose the ID card ? Whats that for anyway ?

stick it to your down tube and then count each time your crank hits it as you pedal for a cheap cadence sensor.

ai_1

Chris Bass wrote:

cougie wrote:

If you're truly going to the bare minimum - you could probably lose the ID card ? Whats that for anyway ?

stick it to your down tube and then count each time your crank hits it as you pedal for a cheap cadence sensor.

Or stick it to the chainstay so it catches the spokes. Judge your speed by the frequency.

redshoes

I carry
Tiny pump , [works great though]
Mini hex key set
I loose hex key.
plastic tyre levers
Continental supersonic spare tube 50grms [folds up very small]
that's it.
fits in a small bag that I put in my back pocket or if I'm wearing MTB shorts , in the side pocket.

johnny25

Chris Bass wrote:

cougie wrote:

If you're truly going to the bare minimum - you could probably lose the ID card ? Whats that for anyway ?

stick it to your down tube and then count each time your crank hits it as you pedal for a cheap cadence sensor.

Silly me!

Thanks for pointing out my mistake. It should read my ICE card.

I like the cheap cadence sensor idea!