Looking for any advice or scrutiny regarding my kit. Not new to cycling, but fairly new to bike packing. Will be on my Cannondale Scalpel SE pictured above. Bike is about 12kg by itself. Here's the gear list:
https://www.packtrakapp.com/share/share-1766142206593-kxjt589y4
I live in Australia and it's summer right now so no need for extra camp layers. I will definitely have a set of camp clothes to change into though because I hate sleeping in bib shorts.
Debating whether to bring my Ultraspire Zygos 14L running vest or my USWE MTB Hydro 3L. With the Ultraspire I have a lot of space for food and storage of phone, Inreach, sunscreen, and whatever else in the shoulder strap pockets. I could also move some stuff from the rear bag into it for better weight distribution. If I bring the USWE I may need to get creative if I need to carry more than a day of food. The USWE doesn't get as sweaty because it has less surface area in contact with my body. Both are pretty comfortable.
I will have the 2L bladder in either hydration pack, 2 bottles on the bike, and the 1L katadyn befree which should be enough carrying capacity.
I won't bring a front light (summer, sunrise is like 5am), but I will have the rear light mounted on the upper portion of the rack.
Top tube bag will most likely just be food.
My bike repair kit is quite heavy mostly due to my multitool. If anyone has recommendations for a multitool that is lightweight but still has all major functions including a chain breaker, please let me know. I've been bitten by the ultralight bug.
At some point in the future I am looking to get a tail fin rear bag because mounting a dry bag on the Ortlieb rack is just a bit annoying and you have to really cinch the straps down. Anyway, scrutinise away!
by Miriel46
4 Comments
Hey! Cool to see you’re using PackTrak — but, you need to create a ‘share’ link (link icon at top of list page) in order to have a publicly shareable url. The one you added will only work for you.
It’ll look like [https://www.packtrakapp.com/share/[share-id]](https://www.packtrakapp.com/share/%5Bshare-id%5D)
Do you intend to use the dropper post somehow or couldn‘t you just be bothered to replace it with something lightweight?
Personally, I’d go for the USWE hydration pack and keep as little weight/bulk on my body as possible. I like having a clean-water hydration pack for longer outings to pair with bottles of drink mix/electrolytes on the bike, but I prefer to not mix water and cargo in that pack (maybe other than a wallet). I use an USWE Outlander Pro, which gives me just enough space for a slim wallet or car keys in addition to a 2L bladder, but never gets bulky enough to be uncomfortable.
I’m a little surprised to see so much cargo at the rear of your bike but nothing on the bars? In your shoes I’d be running a bar bag with some of the sleep/shelter system in it, plus at least one stem bag for any combo of bottle, snacks, sunscreen, bug spray, etc. Given how big the dry bag on the rear rack is, it feels like an opportunity to redistribute some of that weight.
For tools, I haven’t tried to minimize as much as possible but I have moved them into a tool keg that fits in a bottle cage underneath the downtube. Crank Brothers M19, tubeless plugs, Wolf Tooth Pack Pliers, CO2, spare tube, a few other odds and ends. But 90% of the M19 never gets used, so I could pare it down to just a couple of hex keys and a smaller chainbreaker like the Pedro’s Six Pack, which I have floating around somewhere.
Is your suspension locked out to use that rack ?