DnvrFox

What I Carry on my Bike - How about You?

In my latest article, I have listed the things I carry on my bike.

https://denver.yourhub.com/Parker/Sto...ry~646770.aspx

So, did I miss anything? What else do you carry that I didn't list? What did I list that you don't carry?

RonH

Good article.
I also carry cash ($20 in bills and coins). You never know when you'll be out and possibly need to stop at a convenience store for food or sports drink. The coins are for a pay phone (whatever that is ) in case my cell phone doesn't work.
I also carry some cheap folding reading glasses (us old folks need them ) so I can see really small stuff on the bike.

DnvrFox

I added the $20.

Thanks!

Barrettscv 

I tend to carry more-than-enough on rides longer than 50 miles. This is my century ride kit;



My bike has a computer, tail-light and cable lock also. I have ample headlights that are used in the fall and winter.

smorris 

Nice article, DnvrFox.

I don't have a boot or the ointment. Next time I get a Tyvek envelope, I'll cut out some pieces and add them. I like the idea of cheap folding reading glasses, Ron. I can't tell you how many times I've had to borrow glasses to read something.

What do I have that you don't? KFC handi-wipes. Good to get grease or dirt off, or clean off whatever before eating something. I also carry one of those little presta to schrader valve adaptors. I've never needed it, but it is there.

Sometimes I carry a soaked washcloth in a zip bag with a freezer bag in with it. Nothing like a cold wet towel on your head to cool you off. " A towel is about the most massively useful thing [a cyclist] can have"

sknhgy 

Insect repellant, if you cycle around mosquitoes and you have to stop and fix a flat.

BillK

All good ideas...particularly the reading glasses. The only "must have" addition I'd make is a tail light (I'm partial to the Planet Bike Superflash units, but there are plenty out there) to aid visibility. In addition, I always throw in a few small zip ties into my wedge, just in case.

eshvanu

I make sure I have emergency allergy meds, just in case the daily isn't enough. I detest hitting a sneazy-fit and puking.

cyclinfool

Nice article - weel done.
You hit most of what I carry plus a few things I don't carry.
I carry a tube with gatoraide powder and one with Nuun tablets - that way all I need to get is cold water.
I also carry a small multi-tool if I need to make an adjustment.
But most importantly - I carry a tune as I am riding along

Digital Gee

I'm envious. I can't carry a tune.

Monoborracho

Survivalist or minimalist? I think I am usually in the first category, but particularly so with the tandem and Mrs. Mono on the back.

Today, on the tandem:


On the bike:
Two planet bike super flash lights on the back, attached to the back rack
Dinotte light in blink mode on the front, plus battery attached to the top tube
Cateye cycling computer.
Sigma heart monitor on the front handlebar
Four water bottles
Topeak Mini-morph pump

In the back rack or seat wedge
Glasses cleaners
First aid kit
Clear glasses (hers)
Cell phone
Mosquito spray
Hand sanitizer
Waterless soap
Bandana
Chamois Butter
Gels & electolyte chews
Wallet w/ money and credit cards
Spare folding tire (that's right, it's a tandem)
Two tubes
Patch kit w/ tire boot
CO2 inflator w/ two cartidges
Tire irons
Multi tool (used it twice today... she's going clipless now, adjusted her right cleat and handlebar)
Parks spoke wrench (been having trouble with the rear wheel, so took it even though the multi-tool has the same function)
Lipstick (hers)
Pepper spray in my jersey for that new dog we've been training out on Hwy 16.

Riverside_Guy

One item I carry that most wouldn't think of... a marlin spike. For the landlubbers, it's usually a very sharp fold out knife and a long, pointed metal instrument designed to allow one to work knots open. For this year, this is the only tool on the bike I've had to pull out (to cut off a sprung bungee that wrapped itself around my rear gearset, the spike to guide a popped off chain, and to free my chain when it got wedged between a gear and the frame).

If you live in NYC, a Metrocard, ya never know when you're 10 miles from home and can't ride back...

BengeBoy 

On my commuter bike I also carry some thin latex gloves in case I have to change a tire on the way to work (so I don't get greasy hands before the day starts).

Some "special" things for longer-distance rides:

- one of those little presta-to-Schrader value converters. If my pump fails, I can always get to a gas station and inflate my tires with a regular air pump if I have one of those converters. They're very inexpensive (less than a buck) and light.

- a chain quick-connect in case I have to repair/break a chain while riding and I need to get it put back together.

- a "spoke fix" or "fiber fix" kit. I forget the name. It's one of those kevlar spoke replacement kits so you can limp home in case of a broken spoke. Very light, easy to carry.

bobthib

Perhaps this would be a better idea: https://www.boomersintheknow.com/bisaglctidrl.html

You probably ride with sunglasses but can you see your speedometer? With these you can. You also don't need an extra set of glasses. Think of saving the extra 50gms, you weight weenie!

DnvrFox

Don't assume we are all farsighted - we are not - I know for sure!!

DnvrFox

Thanks for the suggestions. Gotta keep in mind my target audience, and not get too complex. That's why God made cell phones.

Retro Grouch 

A frequent thread topic. I shake my head every time that I read one of them.

bobthib

On my road bike or in my pocket I carry:

In my pocket:
Treo 680 with single earphone, in a ziplock bag, with Navigator 6 (incase I get lost in unfamiliar areas), Pocket Tunes and an assortment of music and podcasts, set for random. The mix of music and talk simulates a radio very nicely.
House Key
Handkerchief
2 nutrition bars
banana (sometimes)
2 gels
A 3" x 4" zipper pack with a first aid kit (alchol preps, bandages, sun screen) an ID card, Visa card, and gym pass, cash and change.

On the bike:
2 24oz insulated bottles of fortified H2O.
front flashing LED light
Rear flasher
Polar S150 watch mount with speed and HR

Seat wedge:
1 or 2 Co2 cartiges
1 tube'
patch kit
utility tool
tire levers
latex gloves

On my person:
Bifocal Sunglasses
HRM belt
A kit


On the Lambo Tandem:
Front and Rear lights
Up to 6 water bottles (4 on the frame, 2 in a seat post holder)
E3 F8 computer

In the large wedge:
Adjustable wrench
Multi tool
Tube
Patch kit
2 CO2 cartrages
Tire levers
latex gloves

On our persons:
ID
Cash
Other things as my wife can squeeze into her fanny pack. (No comments on her fanny, but I like it!)

Things I'll add based on your invaluable ideas:
Tyvec patches
zip ties
Other brilliant things as this post grows.

bobthib

You and others for sure, but the 2 posters quoted (and many others that read this forum) use reading glasses and that's what these are.

stapfam

My initial thought were that I carry a wedge and nothing else. Thanks for highlighting how wrong I am.

I carry exactly as in your article and I suppose this is down to experience- which your readers will not have. Good article that will put new riders on the right track. Well done.

smorris 

That's why I tow a utility trailer.

cranky old dude

As I recall............that's about all you CAN shake these days.

Sorry Grouch but I could not let that one go unwritten.



Dnver: I don't carry nearly as much as you've listed, though I probably should. I imagine as one's mechanical ability increases the tools and spare parts inventory taken on rides increases also. Chain repair equipment would have come in handy on a ride I took in May as I came acroos a poor fellow whose chain was no longer a loop. He did have his cell phone and the family SAG was on it's way. I was glad to have my multi-tool yesterday to fix my front V-Brake on my way to work.

Road Fan

Here's what I carry, haven't compared it to your list:

Tubular tire, pump, tubes, tire irons, Allens and a 10 mm box for adjusting two kinds of saddle, seatpost and handlebar, flat blade screwdriver and pliers for resetting cable tensions (hmm, haven't really needed these for a while!), kleenex, 6' lock, several Clif bars and /or Pay Days, water, alternate (i.e. finger) gloves, ID, $$, credit card, insurance card, sun block, handkerchief, ibuprophen, band-aids, Neosporin, phone(s) (including Mrs. Road Fan, too), lights if expected, plastic bag to protect Brooks or Selle AnAtomica, tire guage, Presta adapter, spoke wrench, tiny multitool, 6" adjustable open-end wrench (tradition!!!! done this since high school), sheesh, what else? Sometimes a shell jacket, knee warmers, or leg warmers, or needle-nose pliers (high school again), paper, ballpoint pen, route map sometimes.

All in one or two Kirtland wedge seat packs from the late '80s. Thinking of changing to a front bag, or adding one.

Acorn is a $$ solution.

Just saw your list: I also use a speed/cadence computer, HRM, reminder about training zones, and a nice French single ding bell.

Monoborracho

Oh yeah, I keep six zip ties in the bottom of the back rack on the tandem, 2 each of three different sizes.

dguest

One thing that I carry that I have not noticed on any other post is< a small package or roll of tissue. We live and ride in a very rural area where rest stops and stores are not very abundant had have run into the time or 2 that a patch of woods is the only place avaliable for nature calls is needed. From experiance leave do not work.