Beginners Guide to the "Basic Must Have Items"

njmark said:
Learned this at Cranks last summer, bring a dollar bill with you along with all of the above mentioned stuff. Came in handy when I ripped a gash in my tire.
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@Robin and I had to do this trick this past summer at mountain bike camp and it worked perfectly. I have always kept a dollar in my camelbak and this was my first chance to put it to the test.
 
How's this for being prepared.

Went to Allaire this morning. After reading this thread I put my wife's seat bag on my bike because it's larger and holds more 'stuff' (George Carlin reference). Also, I have an iPhone 6plus that fits inside.

I packed tube, 2 gas canisters and all other items except the chain breaker and extra link into the bag.

I'm about a quarter of the way into the orange trail after leaving the lot. I'm hearing lots of bouncing and banging around in the seat bag while hitting roots. It's a cheapo Schwinn from Target.

Anyway, I think I hear something hit the dirt. Turn around and see my valve stem/gas adaptor thing on the ground. The bag completely separated along the bottom seam and opened up. Looked like a big catfish staring at me. The zipper stayed closed.

I had to stuff everything in my pockets for the rest of the ride. I had electrical tape with me and tightly taped the bag to my seat.

Just a royal pain in the neck at the start of a ride.
 
seat bag on mountain bike? I never found this to work well. Use camel back or something....and skills to repair the bike if you ride solo.
 
Pick up some sort of hydration pack. this way you have plenty of room for supplies plus water.
I like the one I got some years back from EMS due to the padded waist strap pockets that my Iphone fits in great.
I carry quite a bit of stuff in mine for example 2 tubes,pump,foldup saw,pruners,small first aid kit,cable ties,scab patches,quick links,2 foldup pliers,a mutli tool,a chain tool and a small crescent wrench.
and of coarse granola snacks for the beggar squirrel
 
Robson said:
seat bag on mountain bike? I never found this to work well. Use camel back or something....and skills to repair the bike if you ride solo.
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They work. you just have to find the right bag and make sure its tight enough up under your saddle. When I ride my local trails I use a bottle and saddle bag but when I go some place that I'm not as familiar with I always rock the hydration pack.
 
I use a top tube bag, find it works better then a seatbag, especially with a dropper post. On a quick ride, I carry a small tool kit, car keys, phone and Gu. I carry a big pump on my bike, since fat tires are a pain with little pumps. Longer rides I carry a hydration pack with more food, more tools and more water
 
Juggernaut said:
If you have those little nuts on your valve stems, make sure they are loose enough to get off with just your fingers. If you can't get them off, the spare tube you're carrying ain't gonna help.
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Yea I learned that one the hard way after I burped my tubeless the first time.
 
I have been a big frame bag fan for the past few months, not sure I could go back to the hydration pack, I definitely don't want to.
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So are you guys riding with a backpack to carry stuff, or are you just carrying what you can jam into the seat/frame bag?
 
I always ride with a Camelbak with gear/h2o. Others ride with their gear in frame bags, seat bags, stuffed into shirt pockets or balanced on their heads.
 
I like the old fanny pack I bought 2 at Campmore for $10 each and I have 1 with my hiking stuff, bug spray, whistle, duck tape, sun glasses, paper towel, cell phone, etc. Pack 2 for biking, tire pump, patches, small tools, chain link, tire guage, etc. I can just grab the bag, clip it on and go.
 
Juggernaut said:
I'd suggest taking a couple zip ties along and wrapping some duct tape around your pump.
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Thank you for this. I ended up wrapping duct tape around my tire levers, and sure enough, last week at 6 mile one of my buddies pinch flatted, and in the process of us fixing that via normal patches, a big 2-3" tear in the tube shows up. Took out the duct tape, wrapped the tube up good enough to get back to the Canal lot. Worked like a charm.

Thank you. Thank you.
 
..oh and I also found that putting all this crap in small ziploc bags makes these items much easier to deal with out on the trail. Zip ties, band-aids, presta adapters, and even a spare few dollars fits in the small snack size bag perfectly.
 
The only things I carry in my hydro pack is a pair of small clippers and a folding saw. Everything else goes in the seatpost bag. Or I'll stuff things into a water bottle if I can't fit it all in the bag since the one I have is a smaller one.
 
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