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So for longer day rides on the road/gravel bike what bike bags do people use? I don’t want to carry loads but can’t get everything in a normal saddle bag. I have two bottles of water on the bike.
I would carry for a longer day ride 2 inner tubes, pump, co2 x 2, multitool, tyre levers. Then I want to be able to carry phone, wallet, some food possibly a bit more water if very hot and a light waterproof and possibly gloves depending on temperature at start vs finish.
I know some will shove it in there jerseys because but I’m not a huge fan. I have a camelbak which I can put stuff in but would prefer it if my body.
Planet X have a bike packing type saddle bag for £25 which looks pretty good value for the money but any other options?
This one which might be too small
https://www.planetx.co.uk/i/q/BAPODSBCS/podsacs-daytripper-lite-waterproof-saddle-bag
Or this one from Planet X which is prob too big!
https://www.planetx.co.uk/i/q/CCPDWSB/podsacs-waterproof-saddle-pack
I use my Alpkit bar bag but that is mostly for commuting. Other option is to plan a stop somewhere like a shop or cafe :).
I use a topeak top tube bag that sits behind the stem.
Can get my phone, cash, house key, a couple of bars and a gel in there.
Tube, levers, patches and tool in tiny saddle bag (as ever). Pump on frame.
Anything else in jersey pockets
I have tools and tubes in a saddlebag under the saddle, food goes in an Alpkit stem cell, phone in a top tube bag, odds and ends in a frame bag.
Because my frame has both bottle cage mounts on the downtube, I can only run one bottle cage if using the frame bag. I put a second in the frame bag; either a standard bike bottle or a collapsable 'bladder'.
I actually recently added a proper bar bag - an old cheap Karrimor one that I bought years ago - and found it really useful.
Usual set-up:
Set-up for a three day tour:
Cockpit, with added bar bag: https://www.instagram.com/p/BmMMna6gwis/
Top tube bag could be a good option actually. Hadn’t thought about that and more accessible for food.
I've used a Topeak MondoPack XL for some longer Audax events this year. I had to fit an EV foam spacer between the seat post and the pack to push it back a bit so it doesn't get in the way when pedaling.
Decathlon do a handy small bar bag for a tenner. Again, I had to mod the attachments a bit to fit it properly.
1. Restrap frame bag. My Large takes all the stuff you say. Space for two bottles under it. Well made.
2. Revelate feed bag on the bars for some food. Best feed bag - it can be opened and closed on the fly with a finger, padded and has accessory mount straps - worth the extra.
Sorry should have said that I have a topeak mondo hydro pack which was great but no longer fit my new bike and it is too close to the wheel!
A small restrap frame bag.... ..
I know some will shove it in there jerseys because but I’m not a huge fan.
Pro saddle bag. It's absolutely superb and the best I've owned by a mile. Couple of reasons for this:
Light, simple
No permanent fixture on the bike
Fits and removes in seconds, but very stable when fitted
Surprisingly cavernous, but looks very unobtrusive on the bike.
I would carry for a longer day ride 2 inner tubes, pump, co2 x 2, multitool, tyre levers. Then I want to be able to carry phone, wallet, some food possibly a bit more water if very hot and a light waterproof and possibly gloves depending on temperature at start vs finish.
2 road tubes, 2 CO2s, one multitool (Topeak mini 20 pro - if you own another tool, you've got the wrong one 🙂 ), lightweight tyre levers, repair kit / chain links / cable ties / other bits and pieces. Cash and a credit card in the side pocket of the saddle bag (leave the rest at home - do you really need your nectar card on a bike ride?), phone, food and the rain cape in the back pocket. Two 1 litre bottles in the frame on a hot day. As for the gloves (and most other clothing), I just pick something at the start and stick with it.
Pack carefully, and pick the absolute smallest bag you can get away with.
Saddlebag (one of the topeak mini drybag style ones) holds CO2 (x2), tube (x2), tool and patches (I don't use tyre levers, I have thumbs and proper technique). Topeak mini pump on the bottle cage.
1x 750ml bottle for most rides, 1l bottle for longer rides in hot weather or stuff a 500ml bottle in a jersey pocket. Bottles can be refilled at cafes or streams, or bottled water is cheap and plentiful in supermarkets, so taking 2kg of water seems superfluous.
Everything else goes in the pockets. Which usually just consists of phone, bank card, door key and a bit of cash. Spring, autumn of changeable weather I'd add a gillet and arm warmers. I hate carrying too much crap so tend to watch the forecast and go prepared for that. The odds of hitting unforecasted rain are pretty slim (the odds of going for a road ride in forecasted rain even slimmer!)
I have thumbs and proper technique
...and are fortunate with tyres! We've all encountered combinations of wheels and tyres that no thumbs on the planet will get on and off, although mostly I would agree that tyre levers aren't needed most of the time.
Bottles can be refilled at cafes or streams, or bottled water is cheap and plentiful in supermarkets, so taking 2kg of water seems superfluous
OK if you don't mind stopping, but you're committing yourself to a stop ever hour or two to top up with water. My typical road rides are 4 hours in a group, riding at speed and at that rate in current temperatures, I'll be rationing my 2 x 1l bottles to get me to the end without having to stop for a fill up and obviously stopping, even for 60s will make life tough for getting back with the group. Every ride is different, of course - on the MTB last night I took 500ml and barely drank half of it in two hours!
Exactly the same as for an hours ride. 2 tubes, multitool, 1 tyre lever, small bag with chain links, bolts and half worn set of pads. . Bottles on bike. Ditto pump. Food in jersey pockets where it belongs. Cash in another and spare layer in 3rd. What else do you need for a days ride? 1.5 litres of liquid is enough for a few hours then find a shop, stream, church yard, house.
I wouldn't use it on a fast group road ride (oh the horror!), but for gravelling and long days out back-lane exploring my Osprey Talon lumbar pack/bumbag is perfect.
Couple of bottles, easily holds a couple of tubes, levers, multitool, lightweight waterproof and a sarnie and/or fruit. I don't mind carrying a few bits in my jersey pockets, but I hate having them stuffed.
Did135km with it on today, and barely noticed it was there.
OK if you don’t mind stopping, but you’re committing yourself to a stop ever hour or two to top up with water. My typical road rides are 4 hours in a group, riding at speed and at that rate in current temperatures, I’ll be rationing my 2 x 1l bottles to get me to the end without having to stop for a fill up and obviously stopping, even for 60s will make life tough for getting back with the group. Every ride is different, of course – on the MTB last night I took 500ml and barely drank half of it in two hours!
Most of my rides are 25mile commutes and I don't usually carry a bottle, just drink a pint before I set off, and one when I get home.
Even on sunday club runs at the moment I can ration a 750ml bottle combined with the 11am cafe stop. What kind of savage cycling club doesn't stop at 11 for cake?
Having said that, 2x 500ml (start and finish), + 2x 750ml (start and refill) is actually more than 2l, I just don't have to carry it all around with me, I'm heavy enough as it is!
When I did my one and only 100-miler to date back in May, I wore a rucksack to carry an extra 2l of water besides 1.5l on the frame; food (lot more than normal); waterproof; repair kit; mobile.
Even wearing my most breathable jersey, I sweated like a son born out of wedlock, because the rucksack blocked my body's main escape route for heat... Had to cut back on power to reduce heat issues, meant my 9000 feet of climbing had me on the road for ~9hrs15mins including two breaks and a puncture repair! 😮
I have no intentions of trying the rucksack option again, whenever I try a similar ride in the future. It helps I now have three bottle mounts on the bike, so I can take 2.7l on the frame, plus I now have https://www.refill.org.uk/get-the-refill-app/ installed on the mobile.
Just need to sort out a slim frame bag for food and repair kit.
Even on sunday club runs at the moment I can ration a 750ml bottle combined with the 11am cafe stop. What kind of savage cycling club doesn’t stop at 11 for cake?
Sick, isn't it? 😉 In fact, this particular group are all busy dads, so we do dawn rides - out with the birds and back before our respective wives even realise we've been gone (nearly, anyway!) I'l admit that there have been days where I'd appreciate a cafe stop, but the fact of the matter is that not many of them are open before 9am on a Sunday!
I've actually grown to enjoy these rides - they're bloody hard, partly because I'm the chubby chap at the back sweating and slogging to not get dropped on every climb, but also partly because there is literally no let up for the whole ride. It's a bizarre feeling to realise that you've not actually unclipped for 3 hours.
Anyway, I think you've hit the nail on the head - we all ride different things for different reasons and probably all require different water consumption levels too. That said, one pocket on these long rides is *always* devoted to Haribo!
So for longer day rides on the road/gravel bike what bike bags do people use? I don’t want to carry loads but can’t get everything in a normal saddle bag. I have two bottles of water on the bike.
I would carry for a longer day ride 2 inner tubes, pump, co2 x 2, multitool, tyre levers. Then I want to be able to carry phone, wallet, some food possibly a bit more water if very hot and a light waterproof and possibly gloves depending on temperature at start vs finish.
I know some will shove it in there jerseys because but I’m not a huge fan. I have a camelbak which I can put stuff in but would prefer it if my body.
How long are you calling "longer"?
I don't carry a bag at all but rarely ride longer than a few hours anymore. But I still didn't back when I regularly did 80-100mile rides. Ialso prefer not to have my back pockets bulging with stuff.
I also have 2 bottle cages, but only use one for a waterbottle (500ml on normal 2-3hrs ish rides, 800ml on long rides or very hot days) and refill it enroute if needs be. In my other bottle cage I have one of these.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Bike-Tool-Capsule-Bag-Box-Waterproof-Water-Bottle-Cage-Holder-Riding-Kit-Quality/163190315703?var=462371078118&hash=item25fee69ab7%3Am%3AmCr4WllXIKLMrjZEogybulw&_sacat=0&_nkw=water+bottle+tool+bag&_from=R40&rt=nc&_trksid=m570.l1313
inside I have 2 tubes, a puncture repair kit, 2x C02 cartridges, a multitool (incl chain tool and C02 adapter), emergency sweets, money, zipties, quick links and there's still room to spare.
I ride all weathers, night and day so also have a small led attached uner my saddle and one on the bars along with a Topeak minirocket iglow pump attached to the rear of the seatpost which doubles as a rear light and an 700lumen XLM LED permanently attached to the front under my garmin out front mount.
I carry my phone in a runners arm band phone case as I don't like it in my jersey pocket.
I'm lucky in that I rarely ever get cold so generally ride most of the year in short sleeve jerseys and 3/4 bibs. I'll add arm/knee warmers and a gillet in colder weather but any more than that and I'm too warm. (I tend not to ride in sub zero conditions anymore). sometimes I might wear gloves, sometimes a hat, sometimes sunglasses. (generally all I carry in my jersey pockets is food, arm/knee warmers once I've warmed up)
…and are fortunate with tyres! We’ve all encountered combinations of wheels and tyres that no thumbs on the planet will get on and off
It's not actually good fortune.
Top tip:
I've honestly only ever encountered a combination like that twice in 30 years and thousands of tyre/rim combos. The first time was a very muddy Michelin DH mud tyre (in the rain) on an old mavic DH rim 20 years and the second was a friends bike in the dark on a muddy winter ride. (So muddy and dark I don't even know which tyre/rim it was).
The real problem with both of those combinations wasn't actually the tyre/rim combo. It was too thick a rim strip being fitted and not allowing enough give in the bead when pushed into the centre of the rim.
Since that incident with the michelin I've always removed any thick rimstrips from my own wheels and replaced with a thinner version and haven't ever owned a tyre/rim combo I couldn't remove the tyre from with just my hands since. Most can be removed using only one hand.
How long are you calling “longer”?
Only about 50-60 miles. I did a 27 mile ride last night with 2400ft of climbing and drank 2 x 750ml bottles on top of 500ml before I left. So I would expect to go through 3-4 bottles on a longer ride. Maybe I just drink too much! It might be extreme because of the weather though this last month or two.
I've just bought a Vaude Cruiser bag from Evans with my 3x Tesco vouchers. Not used yet but fits my HT and Gravel frames nicely and holds spares/tools, gels, and a bar with a bit of room to spare. I have dropper posts so saddle packs don't work so well with them.
I also considered the Deuter Front Triangle bag, which looks a little bigger, but didn't need that much space. Might get one of those anyway in future if I do need a bit more capacity.
Drink at least a pint of water before you leave the house, 2 if it's a super hot day
I bought an Arkel one a year or so back for same purpose, after a recommendation on here. It has a neat holster and dry bag setup and works very well, I’d highly reccomend it.
https://www.arkel-od.com/en/seat-bag.html
Just something cheap off Ebay
much like this:
But older (ignore the ridiculous lumen claim in the ebay ad). Fitted with a diffuser lens and I changed the O-ring bar mount to a Gopro tripod adapter bolted to the gopro adapter on the underside of my Garmin outfront mount.
Same as for shorter rides.; One small saddlebag containing one tube, multitool, a few bits of chain and links maybe a wee aerosol sealant can for the longer rides) ( I run ss / hub gear on most of my bikes) Bottle on the frame, pump on a frame clip ( wrapped in ducttape). A snack in my pockets. if I am out over 5 hours I will stop and have a meal somewhere
As a "touring-lite" or overnight bikepacking one, I've got a Lotus bag. I'd never heard of the brand before seeing it at my LBS.
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6L capacity so enough space for some spare clothing, tools, more food than I'd normally take on a day ride... Also some side pockets for valuables. So far it's been pretty good and it's secure on the mountings. I've had to bodge a light fitting to it though, thankfully my Exposure Flare has a mounting bracket that ties quite nicely onto the elastic straps.
I have a small saddle bag always under my seat with tube, lever, patch kit, mini pump and tool.
Then for longer rides I add an old school frame corner bag for waterproof and food.
Like this:
https://www.tredz.co.uk/.Lotus-Commuter-Frame-Corner-Bag_115952.htm
I hate having loads of stuff in jersey pockets.
For water get some big bottles, you can also add bottle cages with some anywhere mounts:
Extra water bottle:
Old style saddlebag. Pretty hard to beat IMO. (Carradice)
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Really liking the Arkel bag, need a new one on my Salsa Vaya, Cheers for that.