What gear to carry on a mountain bike rides is dependent on the type of ride you are in for. There are certainly some common items to carry among all rides, however some rides require less equipment while others require more. I would like to share the types of rides I typically go on and what equipment I carry with me. These are broken down as follows:
- Short rides (< 10 miles)
- Average rides (10-20 miles)
- Longer rides (>20 Miles)
In addition to what I carry on rides how I carry them varies as well. For me this falls into three methods:
- Full size backpack
- Hip Pack
- Only what fits on the bike and in your pockets
Before we get into the different scenarios let me point out items that are always with me as they are mounted to my bike. This is about all that falls into the “what fits on the bike” category.
I have tried to fit more on the bike and found that it is more of a hassle than its worth to try and fit everything on your bike. For example, I used one of those gear straps which worked great for holding gear on. However I used this to carry a spare tube and after time I found that the dirt that worked its way into the tube caused a puncture and ruined a new tube. Worse yet was that I found out when I finally needed it. Anyways here is all that is mounted to my bike at all times….not much.
- Single water bottle mounted to the frame. This water bottle is typically filled with some type of electrolyte and comes on every ride. As I will discuss below sometimes this is the only water I take. Personally I like the CamelBak podium bottle dirt series. Mainly because it has a nice dust cap to keep dirt out of the mount piece.
- Spare master link. Why this you ask? Well I used electrical tape and taped one to my brake cable as shown below therefore it is always with me. I found this helps keep the master link accessible versus being buried in the bottom of a bag or forgotten altogether.
IN addition to on the bike there are items that are almost always in my pockets, To carry items in your pocket I recommend riding shorts with some zippered pockets. These riding shorts are relatively cheap, comfortable and hold everything i need to carry in them with extra pockets to spare:
- Cellphone
- Car Keys
- Light Snack
Ok now lets break down each of these rides, the must have items to carry with you on the trails and ways to carry those items.
Minimize Gear on Short Rides
The definition of a short ride will certainly be different for everyone. For me this is a ride that’s less than 10 miles long. These rides are typically when I have limited time such as an evening after work or early morning on a weekend before we (the family) get into anything else. I can typically complete these rides in an hour and a half or less.
For these rides I pack as light as possible but does vary some.
All on the bike or in pockets
These are typically on trails that I am familiar with. With that said being a short ride and knowing the trails I pack as light as I can. This means what’s on my mountain bike and in my pockets as noted above. That’s it. Keep it simple and enjoy the ride. There is definitely added comfort on the bike when you are carry little to no extra gear.
Since these rides are rather short I dot differentiate whether I am riding solo or with a group as I may on longer rides.
Gear to Carry on Average Rides
As mentioned above, for me these are rides in the 10 to 20 mile range. For these rides I take everything in i would on a solo ride and carry all my additional gear in an Osprey Savu Hip pack:
This hip packs has plenty of space for everything on these rides and room for 2 extra water bottles. Here is what is in my Osprey Savu on these rides:
- Tube
- Crank brothers M19 tool
- One Up EDC pump – which has many tools within it
- 20g C02 cartridge’s – 2 of them
- C02 Drive inflator
- Zip ties
- Tire Plugs
- Derailleur hanger
- Two water bottles – I really like the Gatorade squeeze bottles as they are easy to grab and drink from on the go
- Snacks
- Piece of rope for removing master links) – I know the ONE Up EDC has the tool but this was in my bag before I had that tool
All of this fits in the hip pack and there is room for more. This is enough gear to fix just about anything you can trail side and provides plenty of water and snacks to get through these rides.
Gear for Longer Rides
Finally these longer rides or at least considered long to me. Often the biggest mountain bike rides I do are in the 30-35 mile range. For these i carry everything above however I use a full size backpack. This allows me to carry extra water, snacks and maybe one more tube. For these I could provably survive with my hip pack but id rather have extra gear just in case.
Riding New Trails
One other item I want to point out when deciding what gear to carry on your mountain bike ride. Any time you are riding new trails I recommend packing for a longer ride than you expect. I have found that often riding places for the first time regardless of distance its easy to get lost some and turn a less than 10 mile ride into a 15 to 20 mile ride so better to be prepared.
While every rider certainly defines the length of rides differently and what they carry hopefully this helps you select some must have items. I think the tools and gear is rather consistent but the water and snacks is dependent on the rider. These can easily be scaled up or down for your ride. Suggest making a basic pack and overtime you will learn what you do and don’t need with you as well as how much water/snacks you consume.
For those scenarios where you cant fix your bike on the trails check out some must have mountain bike tools for off trail repairs. Happy trails.
