How and what do you carry when you go cycling

[Blue Hills]

Won't horrify folk with the pic but a few days I set off on a longish day ride into deepest essex.

Extra large expandable Topeak seat pack for main tools/tubes etc.

Two Ortlieb panniers, total capacity 40 litres I think, pretty fullish.

Containing (not complete list)
gilet
Two full large water bottles (in addition to 2 large ones on the bike)
Lots of home made cycling snack and various other energy drink/powders/snacks
Spare cycling glasses in case
Reading glasses in case
Big tough bag to sit on.
2 cup Bialetti coffee pot
Supply of espresso coffee pre-ground from beans
Gas cartridge
Stove
Multiple stove lighting gubbins.
Tablet (for looking at big picture of map offline and maybe a bit of dodgy reading)
Bits of other crap I can't remember.

Was really looking forward to the coffee - 2 or 4 stiff espressos I find gives me a real and sometimes much needed jolt.

I like to be self sufficient, especially i these times, didn't want to touch anything.

But then once out discovered I'd left the special small steel cup/bowl thing I use for my biking coffees.

It was staring at me from the kitchen worktop when I got back in about 9.

Doh!

The tablet proved useful for figuring out some complicated route stuff through the complications of Chelmsford's fine cycling infrastructure - next time (with cup) there's a bit where I will go on the main road for a bit near the water for simplicity. Garmin Etrex is fine but can be a pig when you are trying to see the bigger picture.

 

[Ridgeway]

In my CycKit under seat clam:
Co2 valve
2 Co2 cartridges
2 pairs nitrile gloves
2 tyre levers
4 cable ties
Maxalami worm kit
PVC tape (wrapped around worm kit tube)
Multi tool

In my jersey rear pockets:
50ml of Stans (in a tattoo ink bottle)
Abus Combiflex lock
Rear light (if it's not on the bike)
Front light (if it's not on the bike)
Ridepac with phone, cash, credit card, 2 tissues, ID card, pencil, valve core tool
Food as required for the ride ahead
Wind stopper gilet or rain jacket depending the weather of the day (some times non...)

On the bike:
2 water bottles
1 Blackburn mini pump


Distance and weather influence the food and outer clothing needs but the rest is pretty much what i take every ride. I do vary the bottle sizes again according to the distance.

Missing here is a small chain tool that i'll add in the coming weeks, smallest one i can find...

 

[SafetyThird]

on the road bike, in a little pouch under the seat:

inner tube
park patches
tyre levers
small cycling multitool
nitrile gloves
CO2 gadget and 2 canisters, one in the gadget.

My phone is on a quad lock mount on the bars. Mini pump in a holder on the bottle cage

I also wear one of those silicon wrist bands that has my details and emergency contact on them.

If I'm going for longer rides I'll take food in a jersey pocket. Need to get some sort of frame bag for waterproofs.

On the mountain bike, which is basically my shopping/touring bike, I generally just leave the bar bag on it and have puncture repair gear in there. If I'm going to the shops it'll have panniers on. Longer stuff I throw spare clothes/leggings/waterproof into a bag or pannier. If touring, there'd be a few spares and a couple of better tools.

 

[mjr]

Yep ... too many experiences of the glue gone solid with puncture repair kits and read to many stories of self adhesive patches giving up ... a tube will do for me ...

Glue doesn't solidify if you squeeze the air out before recapping. Decent self-adhesive patches don't give up. You're about as likely to find a tube defective on first use.

 

[Tail End Charlie]

I looked in the seat pack of my least used bike yesterday and found a fiver. Result. Made me pleased, which is crazy really as I'm none the richer.

 

[Dogtrousers]

Decent self-adhesive patches don't give up.

I'd tend to agree, provided that the surface of the tube is perfectly dry and has been properly roughed up before patching. My only bad experience with self adhesive patches was in a windy rainstorm. It was impossible to keep the stuff that I was working on dry. And the patches just wouldn't hold. It was one of those times when ill-preparedness and bad decision making meets bad luck. I learned a ton of lessons that day.

 

[Landsurfer]

I'd tend to agree, provided that the surface of the tube is perfectly dry and has been properly roughed up before patching. My only bad experience with self adhesive patches was in a windy rainstorm. It was impossible to keep the stuff that I was working on dry. And the patches just wouldn't hold. It was one of those times when ill-preparedness and bad decision making meets bad luck. I learned a ton of lessons that day.

Thats why i stick with a tube .... in 50 years of cycling i've never had one leak out of the box ... i keep puncture repairs for the warm and dry conservatory.

 

[Vantage]

If the weather's OK, I'll sit by the trail/road and take my time patching a tube.
The spares I only use if the weather is crap or the tube is knackered beyond repair.

 

[tommaguzzi]

Minimum requirements are
Spare tube and or puncture repair kit.
2 tyre levers and a pump.
My kit consists of.
All the above plus
Multi tool inc Allen keys
A chain splitter tool
A split link
Disposable neoprene gloves.

Multi day rides I add an extra tube.
This is for my road bike
If I take my BSO off road bike take an old school cycle box spanner to get the wheels off, adjust cables ect since it doesn't have any allen bolts.

All this stuff fits in a regular underseat bag.
Also it is handy to have some basic knowledge how to repair your bike at the side of the road should the worst happen. So practice at home anything you aren't sure about.

 

[MichaelW2]

I carry them on tour but forgot them. On day rides, I don't carry the pliers and small jewellers' screwdrivers needed to free a snapped cable remnant - and in my experience, they usually snap in the lever.

A small leatherman type tool with blade, screwdriver and needle nosed pliers is useful. I have an old Leatherman Mini but the modern ones can be even smaller.

 

[RoubaixCube]

What most people said...

Except that i carry a small first aid kit on every trip because im stupid.

Its just a 57 peice bought from amazon but ive supplemented it with a few items from a much bigger AA Ultimate First Aid kit. Just a few extra dressings, gauzes swabs etc etc (it was cheap....)

Its about the size of a wallet with a few grand shoved in it. In the early days i had history of falling off my bike so i thought it would be good to have one. weighs barely anything and ive never had to use it. (knock on wood)

Its also there for me to help others if i come across people that need it but i havent had to yet so my calling as a bike paramedic hasnt quite come into fruition.

 

[Gunk]

Here is my set up, just the basics but enough to get me home.

 

[Gunk]

I've just been putting together a tool kit for my Vintage Claud Butler. I bought a cheap tool roll and it pops in the bottom of a pannier. The 18' Zefal pump fits the frame.

As nothing is metric I bought a small adjustable spanner as well as some generic flat cycle spanners and an old Imperial bone spanner. tucked away are some tyre patches, reversible flat/phillips screwdriver and disposable gloves, enough for a running repair.

 

[PaulSB]

Here is my set up, just the basics but enough to get me home.

View attachment 528360

View attachment 528361

Where did you get this pouch please?

 

[Mo1959]

Where did you get this pouch please?

Similar but not the same. https://www.tredz.co.uk/.Giant-Tool...lwTnLSfYAuPDs8JjOS-OCFEdu46FmtIaAiSzEALw_wcB#
Also......
https://www.wiggle.co.uk/lifeline-z...8xDQTtVzp8yYUbalStVuH_dHNnpeK69oaAq6bEALw_wcB