Originally Posted by
lykbutta
I want to start venturing to longer rides and wondered if y’all wear camelbaks by chance. I have my phone, multitool, spare inner tube (they came tubeless) and a few other things to carry, not to mention I could be carrying 80oz extra of water. My friend who road bikes at work says they are frowned upon since they have jerseys they pack them. For me, I’m 6’3 - 256 and not the slimmest (getting there) but these jerseys don’t fit the best so I don’t have pockets. What is everyone’s thoughts on it IF you run one and which one do you run. I’m looking to get one and thought I’d come to the experts!
Most of the road riding I do is sufficiently within civilization that, if I need more bottles than a bike can carry, I'll plan to refill at some point. I mostly use saddlebags for repair-kit stuff like tubes, tire levers, multitool, etc... it's just bulky and clunky to be carrying all that within jersey pockets, although on some bikes I do carry my mini-pump in a pocket. Frequent-access personal stuff like keys and phone and food I typically carry in my jersey pockets.
That said, I do have a camelbak which I sometimes use for long gravel rides and such, where I might spend excessive time in the foothills away from civilization. Two 26oz bottles plus a 3L bladder makes for about 4 and a half liters of fluid capacity on the gravel bike. The Camelback partially interferes with jersey pockets, so I carry most stuff in the Camelbak when I'm using it. The Camelbak isn't a big annoyance, but I do prefer to go without when it's not really required, as it worsens the ventilation on my back and makes the body feel just a tiny bit less "free."
One thing that's nice about having a hydration bladder is that it's not only useful when combined with a Camelbak. Touring on my Campeur last summer, I had two 26oz bottles in the usual locations, a 22oz bottle in a third cage below the downtube (a 26oz bottle would interfere with the front fender), and my 3L bladder stowed away in my handlebar bag. That's over five liters of hydration, but on one day, I ended up needing all of it.
Anyway, as far it "frowned upon", it's just not most peoples' preference. Most of us think that about the comfiest thing to wear on a hot bike ride is a cycling jersey.