How do you carry your phone and general stuff on a ride?

Phone in be shorts pocket. Spare tube strapped to frame. Multitool, tubeless repair kit, windproof jacket and snacks in waist pack or in base layer/bibshorts rear pockets.

If MTB then Osprey Raptor or Evoc hip pack. On the road it's all just stuffed in my rear pockets.

Gravel bike I have a lifeline top tube bag and a Vaude triangle frame bag. On mtb it's a combo of either top tube bag + quad lock, or hip pack/back pack/pockets. Also use a granite strap for spare tube. Used to use saddle bags, but thought I'd try other stuff.

Just looking for advice for how to easily take a phone, jacket, snacks,tube and a few tools on a ride in the most efficient manner. Probably 3 litres (or maybe less)?

What kind of ride? Road, gravel of mtb?

Depending on what terrain your riding on depends on the solution.

The ortlieb classic bar bar with k click is great for a road bike, terrible for a mtb ride.

For mtb riding you can't beat a frame bag and a top tube bag (IMO) Sometimes if I need more I have an ortlieb waterproof saddle bag that maybe holds a jacket and first aid kit if I'm lucky.

Then if I need to carry more I use my bum bag. It's an amazing bit of kit that doesn't feel like it has anything in it when loaded. I've tried a few over the years but this is by far the best https://alpkit.com/products/vora-6-waist-pack

MTB it goes in my old Camelbak

Road/gravel, pump on frame, tools and tubes in saddlebag, phone/cards in jersey pocket in a Velopac

MTB it all goes in a Camelbak.

Road/gravel, pump in jersey pocket with phone and gels (phone in a waterproof case), tools and tubes in a small Decathlon saddlebag.

MTB, phone in pocket. That's it.

Wallet in other pocket

Depends on time of year and forecast.

Summer road/gravel group ride, jersey pockets for tools, spare tube, pump and windproof and top tube bag for phone, snacks and keys.

Winter solo MTB loop I may take a seat pack (Alpkit Big Papa cinched down) with waterproofs and a down jacket as well as the above.

Have just acquired a frame bag to replace the seat pack for upcoming longer gravel rides but not yet used it..

Having now got 5 top tube bags between 4 of us.. the best are the cheapest Planet X Podsacs which I think were £15 at the time, bought for the kids. Decent shape and size, secure, waterproof and with a useful internal divider.. the least good is the Brooks bolt on I've just paid too much for as the fabric colour goes with my new bike.......(I know...) We've also 2 Alpkit Fuel pods which are nicely made but a bit floppy and in no way waterproof.

Mate just picked up a Rapha bar bag for £20ish in the sale, which looks to be good value at that price.

Road, I can commute with everything I need in a saddle & top tube bag.

MTB, a bimble on the flat round town my phone in a pocket, and either no tools, or a small dry bag with multitool & tube in an enduro strap, otherwise MTB round here means up actual hills/little mountains where a bag with a little more kit is prudent.

Phone and camera in a leg bag or hip pack. Tools and tube on bike (either Keg, saddle bag or Granite stash stuff depending on bike).

Evoc hip pack with PRR and snacks  with jacket rolled in the loops if I need it, phone in pocket, bottle in cage.

MTB from the door for 1-2hrs: bottle on bike, pump in bike, c02/tube/bacon strips in a 76 projects piggy bag. Phone in shorts pocket. Garmin 530 GPS or Garmin watch.

Enduro laps for a few hours: Evoc hip pack pro, other stuff same as above, more water in the 1.5l bladder in the hip pack, plus sweets/food/car keys etc. Phone in pack or bag. Garmin 530 GPS

Big day (several hours and/or in the mountains):
Evoc Trail Pro 26 Protector bag, up to 3l of water in the bag, tools etc etc etc in the bag. Phone in the side pocket of the bag. Would probably take the piggy and pump off the bike and put them in the bag if a lot of pushing/hikeabike, to save a kg or so on my back. Garmin 530 GPS

Loads of Evoc stuff half price at Merlin. Pick whichever combo suits your needs.

Straight cut bagel bag * shifted from bike to bike. Change spare tube according to bike.

* Other bags are available

I like the Ortlieb bags. I've got a Micro 2 (the 0.8l) and a Saddle bag 2 (4.1l).
The Micro carries my multitool, puncture kit and a tube. It tucks entirely out of the way under the saddle. Great for short local rides.
If I'm going further, the SB2 gets the Micro dropped down the end (I'm no weight weenie!) and is big enough for a spare top or proper waterproof (and I'm XL-XXL) and some grub.
Best thing is, they both use the same clip, so I've got one mount on each bike, and no faffing about beyond making sure I've got the right size of tube with me no matter which bag I want to use on which bike.

Lezyne pumps live on a clip mounted under the bottle cage (HP on the road bike, HV on the MTB)
MTB has a tubeless seal kit in the bar ends.

I've also got pockets on my back as I'm mostly a roadie, and a couple of velcro/elastic strap thingies if needed.

Dakine Hot Laps bum bag, I think mines the 1 litre version, takes a phone, tools, pump / CO2, small lights, snacks & a lightweight jacket like a PakAJak.

Road: Tools on the bike (saddle pack or tool bottle), phone in back pocket. Extra tube in back pocket with a small pump. Off road it all goes in a small rucksack

Phone goes in trousers/shorts/jersey pocket. Pretty much everything else can be swallowed up easily by a stem pouch type bag, which gives the perfect balance of convenience.

Saddle bags are fiddly and can't be accessed on the move. Top tube bags are great for small items but good luck fitting a jacket or pump in there. Handlebar bag is the one thing I've not really tried, but they always look too big and unwieldy.

MTB: either everything in a Dakine Amp 16ltr rucksack that can hold a 3ltr bladder or a 5ltr Dakine Hotlaps waist pack with 1.5ltr bladder. Pump straps to the bike. I’ve recently added a Restrap Cannister bag to the bars for wallet, keys, phone, if I’m using the waist pack.

Road / Gravel: Bottles in two cages, pump strapped to the frame, Restrap 4.5ltr saddle bag for tools and spares, 1st Aid kit, will also fit a jacket or gilet, spare gloves and Buffs. Restrap Cannister bag on the bars for wallet, keys, phone, gels, snacks, cafe lock.

I’m a Boy Scout, prepared for every eventuality. Rarely need any of it except water, flapjack and jelly babies.

I'm a big fan of going without a pack where I can.

OneUp EDC with jabber tool in the steerer.
OneUp pump with CO2, spare valve core, bacon strips and tyre boot inside my pump mounted on a custom 3d printed in line pump holder with integrated spare link storage.
Tube strapped to frame.
Fidlock bottle.

Nukeproof cargo bibs with phone in the back, along with snacks and sometimes an extra soft flask of water. Keeps the phone safer and less flappy than a hip pocket.

Key in trouser pocket.

Sometimes take an evoc hip pack for a jacket and more food.

Big EVOC pack for either end of the spectrum - family days or big long days!

Decathlon 2l water pack. Takes 2l of water and all the essentials, not much more.

Just my personal preference.

Water proof in back pocket. Snack the same. A few tools in small seat pack .
Why the hell take a phone?

A mate uses the ortlieb handlebar bag linked to above, he’s used it for years, on multiple camping trips and regular day trips with his boy.
The removable clip idea is dead handy.

Just looking for advice for how to easily take a phone, jacket, snacks ,tube and a few tools on a ride in the most efficient manner. Probably 3 litres (or maybe less)?

3 litres!!!!!!!!!!

For XC in a roadie jersey
Tools, tube, CO2 in one pocket (anything i can't fix with what's in my tool kit ain't getting fixed without access to parts and a workshop anyway!)
Snacks, rolled up jacket OR arm/leg warmers in another.
More snacks and Phone/wallet in the third.

MTB long ride - Camelback,
Road/gravel/MTB short ride - Tools in a bottle keg, phone, gilet, snacks in jersey pockets. If it’s really wet, waterproof jacket in bolt on top-tube bag.

The keg/TT bag means that everything swaps between bikes in seconds.

Tools are all stashed on the bike, mostly via straps. Can fit a 1L water bottle which does most rides for me, if I really need it I have a stem bag for bottles and make always make more of them. Phone goes in pocket, as does food. If I'm not wearing a big coat then I have a lightweight one which also fits in a pocket.

I really struggle with temperature modulation and it has huge impact on my riding so I try very hard to not use bags.

Phone and cycle wallet go in my cycling (road) jacket rear pockets or if I'm wearing rapha cargo shorts they go in the leg pockets

Dakine bumbag. Got the smallest one which covers everything for a short ride. Ideally I would have bought the next size up to get some sort of jacket in it

Ortlieb under saddle bag = tools and it hops across bikes easily

Fatbike = frame bag and bum bag. Phone in the bum bag.

MTB = full bum bag inc phone or Deuter backpack.

No phone ever on the bars. Ive a gps for that.

Why the hell take a phone?

What do you do if you take a fall?

Why the hell take a phone?

why take a means of contacting emergency assistance, a GPS, a camera, and a means of paying for things if you decide (or need to) stop for a snack?

I will do a short local ride without any tools sometimes, but will never go out without my phone.

Just ditched my frame bag because I was sick of the stuff rattling around in it / packing care needed to avoid same, and loss of varnish and paint from where the bag rubs on the frame, even though I helicopter taped around all the webbing points.

So now I've hung the pump off the frame like I did when I was at school, and I'm going to put everything else in a hip pack, with water in water bottles. I can't use a camelbak because of a bad back. So I'm hoping the hip pack will fix things.

I've gone right off bags on the bike, unless I'm going away for the weekend, it's just all too flippy-flappy.

I have two methods. Each is for a particular duration/scenario rather than a particular type of bike.

1) <2 hours: Tube/Tools/Phone/Snack in my shirt/jacket pockets. Bottle on the bike.

2) >2 hours: I have an Osprey Raptor rucksack. Up to 3 litre reservoir for drinks, 14 litres of space for all of the items in 1) plus extra snacks and some warm clothing 'just-in-case'

Jerseys with rear pockets, water bottle(s) in cage(s) on frame

Right hand pocket: Small tool roll from Beerbabe carries essentials (incl CO2)
Left hand pocket: Spare tube and small emergency pump
Middle pocket: Phone wallet thing (phone, bank card, house key) and a couple of snacks

I live in that there Berkshire and am never very far from help so this is all I need. My bikes are well maintained so little goes wrong. I might switch tube and pump for a gilet or waterproof but generally dress appropriately for the whole ride (2-6 hours). Long day in the mountains would involve a rucksack of some kind with more stuff.

I stopped carrying my phone mounted to the bike (bar mount, saddle pack or in a bottle cage case) after the vibrations degraded the camera.

My frame fits 2 bottle cages so I carry 2x Elite Fly 550ml MTB bottles (with the mud protection caps), if it was going to be a really hot and long ride I could use the 750ml or 950ml bottles.

Mountain biking into the mountains <1hr from the nearest road, pump on frame, tools and spare layer in a saddle pack ( Podsac 1.2l daytripper). Phone in muc-off case in jersey pockets along with spare glasses and snack.

I'll only use my Camelbak Mule in very cold weather (hate a sweaty back), when I need to take extra layers in case of emergency or I'm riding more than an hour from a road.

Tools and spares are on the bike, otherwise they get lost and I'll never have the right brake pads, chain links, tube size on a ride. Depending on the bike they either all cram into a tiny 0.2l saddle bag, or the tube is taped to the frame on the big bikes.
Pump clips to the bottle cage and chain links taped inside the brake levers.

Water in a bottle.

Wallet, phone, keys in jersey pockets. Unless I'm being #enduro in which case, key and card in a shorts pocket, phone left in the car.

Longer days or changeable weather get some variation on either a hip pack that's enough to carry a few layers and a liter of water, or the full size camelback if it's all day with no resupplies.

Depends on the ride though, 2-3 hours somewhere familiar with the aim of riding quickly - not much kit, stashed in inaccessible bags/pockets for emergencies only. Pootling all day on the gravel bike - bar bag me up baby, I want to be eating savoury snacks as I roll and instagramming the filtered daylights out of that ride.

Further bike developments. Bike with in-built phone.

And a rack.

I always thought a small rack with rack pack sort of pannier, would be an ideal offroad companion.

@diggery how are the nukeproof bibs? I'm in the market for a new pair, have the Endura singletrack bibs, they're a bit tired now.

Why the hell take a phone?

Because it's my music, wallet and camera?

Tool kit in small frame bag (multi tool, tube, pump spares etc). Top tube bag or pocket for phone and car keys (depends on type of riding). Barbag for jacket if weather is iffy.... If it's a bikepark/uplift ride, I only take phone and car keys.

Depends on the ride and season.

Local & short: small seatpack with tools, lights, tube and a windproof top. Add a bum bag in winter.
Longer mtb ride: most things in a rucksack.
Longer road ride: bar bag and/or frame bag depending on season.
Group rides: frame bag, seatpack and rucksack.

@relapsed_mandalorian I like them a lot, just bought a second pair. Great for the price.

The pad is OK, good enough for 3-4 hour rides or a full uplift day.
The back pockets are good - I usually stick my phone and some haribo in there but I've also managed to stash my thin gilet or a decathlon soft flask.
Thigh pockets aren't that useful as I'd have to drop my trousers to get to them but they can take an emergency gel or similar.

Thanks for all the replies, really interesting seeing the differing opinions and options.

Dakine Nomad backpack. Just pick it up and it’s all there. Good to be able to carry a waterproof and maybe warm gilet. Also on almost every ride my 330mm or 360mm “Cutting Edge Uk” Trojan saw (or their folding version) - so many branches fallen across trails where I ride. The Trojan breezes through em. Nice to do a bit.
Reduced the pack weight by using a frame mounted bottle. Might add some water in the bladder for a long day out tho.
I tried a frame bag and hip pack but the frame bag abraded the finish and is not as convenient as a pack. Don’t like the tight belt if the hip pack.
A few over the bars flights onto the back have been eased by the padding of that backpack too.

frame bag or seatpack depending what bike and how far.   Bottle on the frame.   I don't carry much.  Just got a handlebar mount for my phone

I just stick everything in various sizes of camel bak's. Proper one for MTB, small decathlon one for bimbling, and an extra small Decathlon back pack for road bike as anything in my pockets will be where I'm missing half a vertebra, so that extra padding is better than landing on my back with stuff in a pocket. One bag per bike so only need to add phone and keys.

Commute its two panniers

I ended up getting a few louri enduro straps and dry bags. Link

Each has a tube, tyre levers and multi tool in strapped under the seat.
Pump on the frame for road, gravel and rigid bike in shorts back pocket for mtb.
Phone either short pockets (mtb) or jersey rear pockets same with snacks.
Bigger peak rides have a backpack for 1st aid kit and pack jacket + another tube.

Tools are on bike. - granite stash Rx/chaintool and bacon strips stabber.

Tube under the saddle

Pump in its bracket inside rear left seatstay

Phone in back pocket

Food in other back pocket.

Packajacket in the middle

Tools, spare tube, phone, multitool, waterproof etc in seat pack for most rides, bottle on frame, frame bags if I need to carry extra. I like riding without a back pack if I can.

All tools in a storage bottle so that they can be easily moved from one bike to next. Each bike has a saddle bag with a spare tube and cafe lock permanently in them, sometimes food is added before ride. Phone wallet goes in jersey back pocket and sometimes also snacks.