What do you carry with you?

[Daggett]

I'm trying to decide what size saddle bag I need. What items do you always carry with you? This would be for rides 50 miles or less. Thanks.

[Cindyloo]

I would err on the side of getting one too big than too small! I have a medium sized seat bag on my path bike but got aggravated when I couldn't fit my cell phone, keys, and garage remote in it the other day. It also depends on what type riding you are going to do. If it is strictly going for a ride only then a medium sized bag might do. If you are going to be commuting or running errands around town then a bigger bag might be needed. Definitely bigger is better but check clearance over your back wheel also.

[kelownagirl]

Check out this link for lots of ideas!

http://forums.teamestrogen.com/showthread.php?t=9038

[Daggett]

Thanks for the link. Just what I needed.

[betagirl]

In my saddle bag is a spare tube and Alien tool. I have a frame pump strapped to my frame. Other than that, I don't carry much with me on shorter rides. When I commute, I use a messenger bag. Bike related items in there are locks, cleat covers, and a blinky light.

[Kano]

My saddle bag is kind of little -- it's got room for a tube and one of these multi-tool gizmos, and tire irons. I've needed the multi-tool, but not the rest of it so far, which is good, since I've changed my tire size and now the tube is for DH's bike and not mine! There's room for my garage door opener and possibly my cell phone in there if I don't want to carry anything else with me that day.

There's my Camelbak for water.

Then there's my handlebar bag for the stuff I might just want access to: camera, snack, chapstick, phone, and ID.

DH has been carrying the tire pump, but lately I've been thinking I should get one, cuz what if I'm out without him! Of course, he does not carry his spare tube, so he's up a creek too, without me along! We HAVE to get more organized one of these days!

Karen in Boise

[Kalidurga]

Pump strapped to downtube, everything else in the saddlebag:

1 spare tube
co2 cartridge w/ pumphead I've yet to fully understand how to use
levers
patch kit (need to get a small square of sandpaper)
multi-tool
1-2 handi-wipes (swiped from a bbq restaurant)
travel-size tube of ibuprofen
maps of the bike trails I ride

Since I'm starting to ride longer distances, I'd like to carry a second tube. I tend to waffle back and forth between militant minimalism and carry-the-kitchen-sink paranoia. I'm considering getting a bigger Camelbak to be able to fit the extra tube and more food!

[pooks]

I got the Carradice zipped roll:

http://www.wallbike.com/carradice/zippedroll.html

But I use mine on my handlebars. I like having something I can reach into without pretzeling 180 degrees to reach it, or get off my bike. I eventually want a saddlebag, but will get a larger one that will really hold bunches of stuff. In the meantime since I don't carry a lot with me (I'm just riding in the neighborhood) this is the way the zipped roll looks on the front of the bike:



I could easily stuff a jersey or lightweight jacket or something in it. Or a book or whatever. Right now it carries a couple of basic bike tools, cell phone, iPod, Cliffblox or Lara Bar and on this day, a bank deposit. That pic was made in the drive-through at the bank.

[7rider]

Pooks, you're the BEST!

All the time, I have tire irons, spare tube, and a patch kit in the saddle bag. A frame pump is attached to each bike.

Cleat covers, ID, phone, money, and munchies go in the jersey pockets.

If I'm going out for a longish ride in hot weather (over 40 miles or so), I usually wear a Camelbak and jersey items go in that, plus MORE munchies. I recently started bringing "uncrustables" with me, per some recommendations from this group. I let my DH try it and he said "Wow! And it's on Wonder Bread!"

In the colder weather on the road, I'll usually cram a jacket in my jersey pocket if I warm up enough to take it off. I travel pretty lightly, I guess.

[HipGnosis6]

My bike's out for the count for a while but here's what I carried:

On my bars I have a cyclocomputer, a halogen headlight, and a bell.
In one bottle cage is the battery for my headlight, in the other a water bottle with either plain water or 50/50 water-sports drink mix.
In a very small seat bag - patch kit, bus scrip, tire levers, multitool, housekeys.
Cable lock wrapped around seat post.
Rear light, full wrap fenders.
Cargo net wrapped around rack.

I never carried an extra tube because my seat bag is so tiny, but when I commuted all the stuff from the seat bag got put in the pannier instead as well as an extra tube.

I haven't got a frame pump but would like the Topeak Road Morph eventually. We had a pump at work and I have a floor pump at home, so I didn't worry too much about not having a pump. The one time I needed it, a fellow stopped to help me out and he had one. Plus I haven't traveled anywhere that I couldn't get a bus home from - I'd feel differently if I was at all off the beaten track!

The rack with the cargo net was great - I always had it available so if I bought a pair of shoes or a bag of groceries I could attach it to the rack at any time.

Edited to add this important note:

I NEVER ride without helmet and gloves!

[Bad JuJu]

Like Regina, I always have my little seat bag with spare tube, patch kit, tire irons and multi-tool, plus pump bracketed to the frame (I have just enough room behind my seat tube for the pump).

For other stuff, I got a Madden Piggy Pack from Adventure Cycling. It holds cell phone, snack, keys, and bandanna, plus it has a removable map holder for a cue sheet. I tried a Bento Box, but my top tube is so short that I was bashing into the Bento Box every time I mounted or dismounted. Sold it to my neighbor who's about 6 feet tall--it's perfect for her.

[pooks]

HipGnosis -- Maybe this is the typical way to do it, but until I read your post I didn't think about wrapping the cable lock around the seat post. I haven't even used mine yet -- no place around here has a place to lock a bike.

I always use a camelbak, even for short rides. Once I didn't have to fool with a water bottle, I felt like I'd gained a lot of freedom.

[HipGnosis6]

HipGnosis -- Maybe this is the typical way to do it, but until I read your post I didn't think about wrapping the cable lock around the seat post. I haven't even used mine yet -- no place around here has a place to lock a bike.

This is why I like cable locks - you can lock to a banister or a tree or stuff you could never lock a U-lock to. My lock's actually around my top tube with one loop behind the seat tube to keep it from sliding forward.

[BikeMomma]

I ride with a minimalist theory, I guess, when it comes to baggage.

In the teeny-weeny underseat bag I cram:
1 spare tube (roadie)
1 lightweight multi-tool for on-the-road fixes
3 tire irons, but usually only have to use one, maybe two (the third one's in case one breaks)
photocopy of id & ins.card, scotchtaped over to protect against the elements
car, house, or work key - wherever I base my ride from
$5 cash (to pay for a borrowed tube if I flat twice - it's happened)
extra $$ for those epic rides in the hills
my cell phone if I'm lucky (I have a skinny minnie Moto Razor)

In my jersey pockets:
1 Powerbar (on rides after work or endurance/hill rides on the weekends)
1 Hammer gel (on hard rides when I know I'll need that extra zip at the end)
my inhaler (gawd I hate this Valley air...yick!)
4 or 5 Endurolyte caps (I get cramps sometimes)
an extra tube on long solo rides, or if I know I don't have $$ in the seat bag
changeable lenses for my sunglasses

On the bike, a frame pump, and usually a minimum of two large water bottles, even in the winter, with at least one containing an electrolyte powder supplement (I use Heed). On longer rides where there might not be a possibility of a water refill anywhere, I'll carry an additional bottle in a jersey pocket.

In the car or wherever I end my ride, I keep another bottle of recovery drink, w/whey protein such as Hammer's Recoverite mix, to drink as soon as possible after the ride.

No handlebar bag, no cumbersome seat bag, no camelback. All would drive me crazy on a typical ride. Camelbacks work great hiking, however.

~BikeMomma

[iFKA]

I usually take:
my watter bottle - can't drive without watering myself constantly [ U]some money [/U]- to be able to buy watter when I'm going on a long rides
tissues - cause my nose always need special attention the minute I start riding
my cell phone - so I could call someone if I have flat tires or something like that (I can't help it but I don't like doing stuffs like ... and I had lucky so far and in the last 2 years I used my phone only when I wanted to share my enthusiasm with someone for conquering the hill or going over 60 km/h - can't hold that for my self, do I )
lip balm - I believe no extra explanation is required

I saved for my bike over a year and that is the reason I don't bring locks... well, my philosophy if you don't have any lock than you wouldn't leave it anywhere you can't see it so no one can stole it from you. It's much safer than to lock it and go anywhere for "only" 5 minutes and to found out later that a) any lock can be unlock
b) 5 minute is quite enough for doing so