Mountain Bike Everyday Carry: Andrew’s Summer Loadout

Hip Packs, Ugh.

I have tried to be trendy and cut down on the epic back sweat, but a hip pack – bum/butt bag, fanny pack, belt-bag, portgizmo, whatever you like to call it – simply does not work with my stunning synthesis of dadbod and hip lessness. Either the damn thing is slowly slipping down the whole time I am riding, or I get a tersely communicated complaint from my gastrointestinal system.

Lighter hip pack loads are better. Some designs work better than others. My favourite of the dozen or so I have tried on rides was sewn by Porcelain Rocket but even then, I would never have the audacity to stuff it to capacity. What, add a full water bottle as well? You must be joking.

I have had success with lighter-pack options, like CamelBak’s excellent series of Chase vests, but ditching the hydration bladder for the storage capacity of my ESJ (emotional support jacket) and a couple of extra pairs of gloves. But for the last few years, it has been a faff-less choice to just rock all backpacks all the time. I have a repaired/rebuilt Acre Hauser my wife bought me over a decade ago and a larger lilac EVOC pack with a back protector.

Enter, the ‘Jim Bag’

My kid’s been carrying more of her stuff – snacks, extra gloves, lightweight jacket – and we are not packing winter layers or lights this time of year. My pack was running at maybe 1/3 capacity and feeling like massive overkill as I enviously watched friends pack their stuff around with much smaller surface areas.

Meanwhile, my friend and co-wrench Brixton-Jim keeps showing up for rides sporting his smart-looking mini-messenger bag that holds everything I need and even swells up big enough to throw in a few tall cans or a pound of coffee if there are errands that need doing on the way back from a ride. Yeah, okay, I could be into that. A cross-body strap with a smaller stabilizing strap to keep things from sliding around.

I was not able to find the right equivalent for me. Jim’s satchel was shaped by Archie’s Grobags in London around ’09 or so and the company is long gone. I do not know Archie, but I would confidently guess that like many small custom makers he quickly grew tired of folks telling him his bags were “too expensive” while at the same time barely covering his costs.

Anywho, I asked Jim if I could borrow his bag to take photos and measurements to commission something similar, and instead, he showed up with a big smile and a nearly identical Grobag that just needed a strap set. You are a prince, Jim. Thank you!

The Loadout

First off, I could write a different piece about what I am packing every time I go riding. I sweat, a lot, and fresh gloves are my little luxury. Today there are some holey old 100% gloves – I think they are the iTrack model – but usually, there would be a pair or two of stretched-out Chromag Habit gloves. I buy the medium size and wear them in. I also realized in writing this that my med-kit and my tool kit both have tick-pullers. A great tool to have, but dual wielding is probably (hopefully) overkill.

I also always carry an Emotional Support Jacket (ESJ) and my 109-gram Pearl Izumi Summit Shell, now replaced with the Summit Barrier , is the best one I have come across. Now, you might be thinking “Andrew, it’s just another 100% polyester micro-shell that stuffs into an integrated pouch, big whoopie ding!” But hear me out. The true beauty of the P.I. Summit, in addition to magically holding up to four years of floating around a pack and mountain biking, is that it has a hood. The hood even stretches over a helmet. And when I am at the stage of misery that requires me to dig this out, a hood is beautiful.

Now, in all honesty, as with a few things in my kit, my friends, combined, have used my ESJ more times this year than I have but either way, it has been a ride-saver multiple times a year for multiple years and that makes it rad.

I will not go into any great detail about my med-kit, it is an Adventure Medical Kit-.5 which has a bunch of fix-a-person sh*t in a waterproof bag for US$23. It will not come as a surprise that it has more f-a-p sh*t than the AMK-.3 and less f-a-p sh*t than the AMK-.7. So yeah, the AMK-.5 suits my potential needs. In a perfect world, I will not ever need to unzip the bag, but I am happy to have it in my pack. Some flesh wounds need a bit more care than just toughing it out.

I do add a space blanket, which happily zips into the bag with the rest of the first aid stuff hopefully to never be used. Anyone who has used a space blanket will tell you they suck and seem to barely do anything, but in cold immobilized moments, they are also a significant improvement over nothing.

In my full-size backpacks, multi-tool duties are managed by a Wolf Tooth Components 8-Bit Pack Plier setup. This includes a wide range of high-quality tool bits, a knife, a chainbreaker, quick-link pliers, a tubeless valve reamer, and dental floss. Okay, fine, there is everything except dental floss. I complement this with the WTC 85cc EnCase mini-pump with a tire plug kit in the handle. I even carry a pair of tire levers!

In my ‘Jim Bag’ I am using the impressively small for its output, or impressively capable for its size, WTC 40cc EnCase mini-pump with a chainbreaker stashed in the handle, and multi-tool duties are handled by a long discontinued SKS-Germany Toolbox. I love the ‘Race’ version of the Toolbox for the material quality of the tools. Someone at SKS must have figured that riders would want the same quality of tool interface from their folder as from their full-size Hex & Torx keys at home. Go figure. The tire levers are good in a pinch too.

I did not capture it in my photos here, but usually in my bag, I would also have my EDC. A Leatherman Skeletool. As with my keys and wallet, which live in my little weatherproof dry bag, the Skeletool goes from my pocket to the bag when it is ride time. I have been considering carrying a lighter-weight knife and small valve tool, and ditching the pliers, in the name of min-maxing my ‘small’ setup but there is a good chance I would forget the Opinel was in there and end up carrying my Leatherman as well.

Dual-wielding tick-pullers and pocketknives. This is the life of the everything-and-the-kitchen-sink mountain biking mechanic. I also have double tire plugging options – bacon in my WTC Encase pump and an Eagle-logoed Dynaplug tool that was given to me (thank you, SRAM). Oh, I have a little bag of quick links too.

In the wetter fall & winter months, in my pack, I carry a bit of fire-starting gear – dry tinder and a lighter – which I have never actually needed on a ride. Along with extra-extra winter gloves for my daughter and me that we never pull out of a bag at the bottom. I derive a psychological warmth from these items that goes unneeded at this time of year. I also carry a lot more snacks. Snacks, yum. Amongst other things, I will generally have between ½ and a full bag of grocery store Stroopwaffle and I have been known to share.

It makes me more than a bit sad that all I had in the ‘Jim Bag’ when I took these photos was one Kirkland-Kind bar. Apparently, we do not have the budget to drop in a bunch of deliciousness in post, so I am just going to have to beg you to believe me that I genuinely, generally, have my (stealing) trail snacks (from my friend Penny) game dialed. I mean, I am no Lily Ritter , but I try.

I also never leave home on a ride without a few zip/zap ties/straps. Over the years I have sorted out many mechanical vexations with those wonderful little plastic bands of magic. On bikes with Shimano cranks, I fold the zip ties over and stuff them inside the 24mm steel spindle. On bikes using 30mm, or DUB, aluminum spindles I keep zip ties stashed, slightly less conveniently, in my handlebar, attached to my bar plugs.

I truly tried to pair down this kit compared to my pack. In addition to the above examples, I do not carry a shock pump or a replacement tubeless valve, although I do plan to add a valve core this afternoon. All the bikes in my house have fresh-enough tubeless sealant all the time, so unlike Ariel Kazunas I am not riding around with an extra liter or Stan’s sealant in my hip pack.

I do want to highlight two more items in my carry. This quote from Ariel’s pack-piece made me think of them: “ I have also been the hero to someone else’s ride.” Saving a friend’s ride can be a brilliant exercise in hilarity that you can then hold over them mirthfully, and mercilessly, for years to come. This is the reason that whilst I do not have an AXS-equipped bike, and often am riding a single-speed, I always carry a fully charged battery for my friend’s wireless drivetrains. Is it hard to keep your rear derailleur battery charged? No. Do I have a single AXS-equipped friend who has never run out of shifting juice on a ride? Also, no. I have loaned out this battery at least half a dozen times and the joy I get from the experience is always worth carrying it.

I also like to be the hero on my ride. I have a few friends, and they know who they are, who have proven incapable of mastering the fine art of lubing their chains occasionally. They are oblivious to the squeaking, the grinding, and the intense cries of anguish as they mash their poor, neglected, drivetrains into powder. But that sound, those bone-dry chain rollers screaming for help from the SPCB (Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Bicycles), I just cannot take it. So, I always carry this little ½ oz bottle of WT-1. It is not to fix my bike; it is to patch my sanity. And I just noticed, it is almost empty. You are welcome, friends.