What would you take with you to a 30km ride on 36er?

Hi All,

In about a month from now I plan to attend a sport event of 30km road ride.
Since that is my first long ride (I ride 20km each day from home to work and back), I wanted to ask for your opinion on which minimal equipment I should take with me in my backpack.

I currently have the following equipment on a daily basis in my backpack:

1- One liter of water
2- Multi-tool
3- Hand pump
4- First Aid bag

What should I keep or get rid of?
Is there anything else I need to take with me?

Weight is of course a big issue and I’d like to have as little weight as possible.

Thanks,
Shay

5 Identification
6 tire tools/patch kit
7 money
8 a small snack or energy bar
9 mobile phone/camera

What Glen said plus more water.

I would consider using a camel pack or equivalent for your water and a small under-seat pouch for whatever you can fit in it (tools, snacks, etc). The more you can get under your seat the less is on your back.

You could even strap the pump to the frame behind a fork.

EDIT: depending what other tools you have you might be able to leave the multi-tool at home. One or two allen wrenches is sometimes all you need for any trail side repair that you are likely to make.

Maybe I live dangerously, but I do 20 mile rides with only a water bottle and a cell phone.

I’ve got some tools and a pump in the car, but I don’t take that stuff with me on the ride. If you tighten all the bolts before you leave, you won’t have to tighten many on the road.

Pack light!

  1. Spare tube, pump and tyre lever. Patches can be difficult to apply when
    you’re caught in the rain.
  2. Appropriate allen wrenches.
  3. Water cage under seat. Water is quite heavy so it’s better to carry it on the
    frame.
  4. Snack food.
  5. First aid kit.

Just a camelback with 1 liter water, wallet and cell phone.
I don´t need any food for a 2 hour ride.

Most of the time I dont carry tools. There is not much that can go wrong with a uni.
That being said, one time I had to walk back 10 km with a flat tire. :angry:

my packlist for a 36er ride

1l water in bottle cage
flapjack/fruit pastilles/glucose tablets (on a 30 miler just glucose)
phone
4,5,6mm hex keys (6 only if you have a shadow bar)
ipod
bank card+£5 note
id

on a road ride, first aid kits can be found in many cars passing you and the possibility of puncturing a TA (which i assume you ride from your profile pic) is rather small. In the case that something goes wrong, you are unlikely to be that far from a bike shop that can patch you up.

I ask myself which parts are the most likely to break? The problem is I don’t know. :roll_eyes: Also, maybe some wire, zipties and scotch tape as they are all fairly light and could allow you to rig something up good enough to get home in the event of a minor failure.

I have a bag on the back of my 36er that carries all of my tools. I never take it off, so I’ve always got this stuff with me. Inside it’s got:

Small hand pump
Spare 2 oz. bottle of Stans
Some patches
Small band aids
A pedal wrench
Folding allen wrench set
10 mm wrench
Spoke Key
Zip ties
And then usually a baggie with my wallet, cell phone, and keys in it.

I plan to start commuting to work in the next couple of weeks, and will go from my current 2-3 liter hydro pack set up to a water bottle or dual water bottle set up since I’ll only be riding ~8 miles a day.

More than 1 litre of water. Isn’t it hot there? It gets pretty hot here! And a bit of food.

I always ride with a little pump, though there’s no way I’m likely to be able to fix a flat on my 36". It’s reeeely hard to get the tire off the rim, even with decent tire levers! It gets used more for other rides, or other riders along the trail.

I also recommend a camera, if you’re into such things. :slight_smile:

I keep my back pack stocked year round, not much changes except for water level, extra clothes, and extra food. I have a basic first aid kit, E blanket, tools, a few spare parts, sometimes a tube, a camera on and off, an E light.

About the only extra parts I have used are a spare grab handle and a spare seat post clamp/adjustable seat post bolts. I have broken all of the above on rides, it’s hard to ride without a handle, but that’s nothing compared to riding with a seat :astonished:

For sure you need a liter an hour, start with good hydration before the ride and maintain good hydration after the ride. Even with good hydration, there are times when I cannot keep my fluid intake equal to my sweat, so I end up dehydrated and spend the next day hydrating. I’ve lost as much as 5# of fluid over a long hot ride; about 2 liters.

John, this is very interesting, and I think the first time I’ve seen someone say the 36" wheel is basically unrepairable on the trail if it goes flat.

I’m keen on this topic since I’m planning a 240 mile (386 km) unicycle-camping trip. I’ve got a spare 36" tube, but decided it wasn’t worth carrying (space is at a premium). But I am planning to take a pump, patch kit, and tire levers…I’m wondering now if even that is worth it.

Are you doing the Katy trail?

I agree with John. I cannot repair a Nightrider tire with plastic tire irons–I ended up buying special oversized metal ones to allow me to pry the tire off the hub. I do not take these long and heavy tire irons on my rides. If I get a flat I walk home–it has only happened once, and it was a nice 5 mile walk. If I wanted to go half way, I would bring a small pump and some Stans sealant with the appropriate injector. That way I would have some possibility of fixing a tire on the road.

If I were going on a long ride I would put together a credible repair package, but I would probably bring along a support vehicle to carry it.

Scott

Some 36" rim/tire combinations might not be so tight but the ones I’ve had are all pretty hard to mount and unmount. To the point where I’ll pay the bike shop to do tires on my old Coker (with Airfoil rim).

I do own a big metal tire lever, though I haven’t used it yet. I might consider bringing it if I were to do a long, unsupported ride. But at the same time, I am reminded that all the 36" tires on the market are pretty tough, and flats are pretty rare, for me at least. I’ve never had one on a 36". Murphy’s Law suggests otherwise, but so far I’ve been okay without having to change a tire… knock-knock.

Shmolagin - Yep, I’m planning an attempt at it anyway. It’ll be unsupported with tent camping each night along the trail. It’s taken a surprising amount of planning, but I think I’m about ready as long as my knees, back, and equipment hold up.

Scott & John - Thanks for the insight. There are some bike shops along my route and hopefully if I pop a tire it’ll happen near one of them. But there are also long stretches between shops (110 miles is the most). So I’m going to look into buying some Stans–which I’d never heard of before.

I have a Titan with the Nightrider so I’m honestly not expecting any trouble. But with my luck, who knows…

Before you go be sure to check if there are any closures on the trail. I was going to bike it with someone this spring but at the last minute we checked and there were 17 closures with only one of them having a detour.

Yeah this spring was rough for flooding, but the northern half of Missouri has been fairly dry this summer so I don’t think it’ll be a problem. I will double-check though, good point.

If I was only 34 years old and was only going 30km I would take

Lots of jalepenos
2 or 3 good, Dominican cigars
Whiskey…at least 2 liters
War and Peace by Tolstoy
Firecrackers for entertainment

Well,
since you aren’t 34 :stuck_out_tongue: what would you take? More whiskey or another book :smiley:
Do you still smoke? If so you would love it here. Friends finish marathons and go looking for a cigarette! :astonished: (I don’t)

Go hard