- I hate being under prepared for a ride.
Sometimes you show up to the spot,
get your bike out of the van,
and realize you need to do something to it.
Just a bit of a tweak you forgot to last time,
or maybe you're out in the wilderness
and something goes wrong.
So here's a few tips on how to
carry the stuff you need for a ride.
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So we'll start by going down
the minimalist end of the scale
and taking not a lot of stuff,
to the other end of the scale where,
for me it's all about you going on bigger rides
and going further away from my vehicle,
into the wilderness, further away from help.
I need to be more self sufficient.
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So when it comes to more aggressive rides, or longer rides,
it's time to think about taking some spares.
And really for that, let's think about
the most common things that can go wrong.
Maybe a snapped chain, definitely punctures.
So it's time to take tube and a multi-tool,
and actually a bum bag is great.
I've been using this quite a lot recently.
I used that on that E-Mountain Bike challenge
I did recently in Lake Garda.
We were out five hours.
You've got a bladder that goes in here,
I think it's a liter and a half worth of water.
You can get a refill of course, and then I've got a spare.
So a spare tube, got my multi-tool, and a mini-pump.
So you have loads of stashed pockets on this bag.
You've got some around your hips
you can get to real easy when you're riding.
You've got a nice safety clip
to put something on like your car key,
and also a tool roll in there.
So you can carry loads of stuff in this bum bag,
and the best thing about this is
you just don't get a sweaty back
and they're surprisingly stable.
I don't know if you've ridden with one for mountain biking,
and I've gone with the old 80's bum bags.
This is actually really comfortable.
You can get them really secure around your hips
and they don't move at all.
So actually, I really like using that.
It's official, I like bum bags.
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So when it comes to those bigger rides,
of course you've gotta be much more self-sufficient.
You really don't wanna be getting stuck
in the middle of nowhere relying on your phones,
trying to ring people to help you out.
So definitely need to be carrying more stuff.
So it might be a case of carrying a couple of tubes,
more water, so the bladder in this is much bigger.
I've got space for a water bottle again if I need that,
and bigger tool kits, so I've now got a ratchet set in here
so just gotta fix more problems if I get them.
Tire levers in there, you can fit a bigger pump,
I've still got the same pump in here.
Also spare clothes.
Maybe gloves, maybe a base layer and a thin jacket.
Or if you get too hot, you can take them off
and stash them in here.
I also quite often take a spare gear cable.
It just don't weigh anything and why not?
If your gear cable snaps, it's surprisingly bad.
You know, getting up in your highest gear
and find it really hard to get out of where you're at.
Also, I find if I'm taking more stuff,
I want all those retention systems that backpacks offer,
so I've got a waist strap around here.
Actually takes a surprising amount
of the weight of the backpack.
So it's not all high up.
Then I've got a couple of chest straps,
and an added advantage of many of these
modern mountain bike packs is that
they have a back protector build into them.
So you know you're safe as well.
Another feature of these backpacks
that many enduro riders like is the fact
that you've got a bit of a stash on the outside.
So if you wanna take your full face helmet off,
on the days where it's too hot,
you're peddling up a big hill,
often you can just strap them to the outside of these packs
and ride up without it on.
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Something that's also getting really popular
is people trying to mount things to their bike.
So this is another one, it's coming from Enduro.
People do tend to strap their tubes to their bikes
rather than carrying a backpack
or sticking them in those stash pockets.
Actually just using a bit of electrical tape
to wrap it around your frame,
or even now you can buy these dedicated straps to do that.
Also, the pump and maybe a basic tool to your bike,
and also taking advantage of these bottle cages
that a lot of trailing and enduro bikes now offer.
Actually, people are going old school
running those water bottles again.
We're also seeing tool manufacturers
trying to integrate them into the bike.
So here we've got a multi-tool on the bottle cage
and a chain tool up in the steering tube.
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The other alternative, of course,
is to actually not take your stuff with you
and leave it in your car at the car park
or at the trail head, it's probably just something I do
probably 50 percent of the time.
If I'm doing an enduro ride,
or I'm navigating too far away from the car I'll do that.
But I'll also keep a stash of bigger, heavier stuff
that I wouldn't wanna take on a ride anyway.
So my essentials I keep in the car pretty much all the time
is a can of lube, some tubular sealant.
You might need that in an emergency.
A bigger pump, I normally actually keep a track pump,
but this is sort of a medium sized pump.
One you can carry with you,
but maybe it's a little bigger that I'd like.
Big stash of tubes, always keep them in the car.
A shock pump, it's something you shouldn't
really need on a trail.
It should set your suspension,
and then while you might wanna tweak it a little bit,
but again, if I really need to do that
I'll ride back to the car to do it.
And some spares, so spare gear cables,
some spare break pads.
A bigger tool kit for more heavy duty fixes and repairs,
and a first aid kit that stays in my car at all times.
So this is a few tips on how to carry your stuff with you
on the bike for those different types of rides.
If you wanna see a video talking about
the essentials that you need to take,
click over there for that one.
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