I can't do lightweight cycling

[Ming the Merciless]

How does one carry ones wine, corkscrew, and glasses if travelling light?

 

[Juan Kog]

Simple, ones butler follows on the cargo bike.

How does one carry ones wine, corkscrew, and glasses if travelling light?

 

[Nomadski]

Simple, ones butler follows on the cargo bike.

Even simpler, one gets butler to pedal the tandem while one drinks.

 

[Andy in Germany]

As I rarely have access to motorized backup if things go pear shaped, I do prefer to be primed for all kinds of eventualities.

That's a good point: "Lightweight cycling" works if you have a backup like a partner with a car.

As we've never owned a car, the only thing my Wife could do if I called her from way over yonder is sympathise and tell me to start walking.

Which raises the slightly philosophical question, does "lightweight cycling" exist? A TdF bike may be stripped down the the bare minimum and weigh less than a pair of trainers, but there is a cavalcade of cars following them with replacements and parts on board.

 

[Mike Ayling]

Completely with you, and while I absolutely will ride my road bike with minimal kit on a guaranteed nice day, for every other occasion I'm that guy that goes out on a bike with a rack, a pannier with a waterproof and all the repair bits, and a bar bag for everything I want to hand. Once i ride my bikes that don't have a bar bag I realise just how lovely it is to have one in front of you.

View attachment 539448

About a month ago I started riding my fixed again and I certainly miss the bar bag.
I may have to spend up on a Klikfix bag mount for it.

Mike

 

[ChrisEyles]

Another card carrying "kitchen sinker" here!

Panniers on the road or a back pack on the MTB, with spare food, water, tools, map & coat.

My "best" bike only has a small saddle bag, which will hold pretty much tools & tube only. On this bike I need to wear a cycling jersey to hold snacks, pump, extra water & phone. This works fine, and I'll admit it is nice to travel light & aero, but it does require more planning, and if I just want to jump on the bike and go for a ride, panniers are a blessing.

 

[ChrisEyles]

Ooh and a Thermos of tea, always take one of these on longer rides!!!

 

[si_c]

I carry far less than I used to, but even then it's still the minimum to let me get home should things go wrong. Saddlebag with basic tools and tubes and a pump on the frame. Short of a broken axle or two completely shredded tubes I can get home. Kit in total weighs about 500g so perfectly reasonable.

For longer all day rides (over 125mi) I may carry a frame bag with extra food and clothes.

 

[SkipdiverJohn]

What appalls me is the idea that these "wives" have nothing better to do on a nice sunny day!

I call that "The phonecall of shame".

Absolutely, it's arrogant and highly inconsiderate to consider other halves as emergency rescue services just waiting on standby because a man (if you can call him that) is too vain to carry anything that might spoil the aesthetics of his latest fancy carbon road bike, or too much of a weight weeny pussy to add a pound or so of self-aid tools because he spent a couple of extra grand just to lose a pound off the bike and doesn't want to add it back on again.
Real men sort their own shoot out when something happens, they don't just stand there looking helpless whilst the long suffering OH is summoned away from what they were probably enjoying, just to come out and retrieve some unprepared gormless idiot who never thought he would ever get a flat tyre.

 

[si_c]

Absolutely, it's arrogant and highly inconsiderate to consider other halves as emergency rescue services just waiting on standby because a man (if you can call him that) is too vain to carry anything that might spoil the aesthetics of his latest fancy carbon road bike, or too much of a weight weeny pussy to add a pound or so of self-aid tools because he spent a couple of extra grand just to lose a pound off the bike and doesn't want to add it back on again.
Real men sort their own shoot out when something happens, they don't just stand there looking helpless whilst the long suffering OH is summoned away from what they were probably enjoying, just to come out and retrieve some unprepared gormless idiot who never thought he would ever get a flat tyre.

Sometimes it's impossible to effect a repair on the roadside even with tools, I'm undecided on whether it's shameful or not to ring for assistance or whether walking to the nearest train station is appropriate.

It's happened to me twice, both times a rear QR snapped - the first time I made the call of shame the second a 4 mile walk to the train station.

 

[Vantage]

The other half drives and I have made the call of shame a couple times, but not for mechanicals. Friggin health reasons. Its a horrible kick in the gums (I've no teeth ) to need bailing out.
I have wondered if being prepared for a bicycle apocalypse is an age thing. In my younger days I ventured from home on the bike with little more than a spare tube, pump, multitool and water in the bottle. That was during my mountain biking days and I'd wander off the beaten track into places I felt no one had ever been.
These days I'm rarely more than a couple miles from civilisation and carry enough for the bike to sink into the tarmac if I stay still a few minutes.

 

[gavroche]

I never ride more than 25 miles away from home and most of my rides are up 15 miles each way so my mobile phone would be used in a real emergency and I don't mean a puncture either. I don't see the problem in asking for help if really needed. My wife or kids would willingly come out same as I would if the other way round, and have done in the past.

 

[Reynard]

Sometimes it's impossible to effect a repair on the roadside even with tools, I'm undecided on whether it's shameful or not to ring for assistance or whether walking to the nearest train station is appropriate.

It's happened to me twice, both times a rear QR snapped - the first time I made the call of shame the second a 4 mile walk to the train station.

Or if you've crashed and are too beat up to ride. That time, I phoned a friend who lived a couple of villages along. Otherwise I've walked the bike home if it's something I've not been able to fix / bodge / work my way around.

Generally, being prepared for most eventualities makes cycling a much more stress free experience, regardless of which bike I'm riding.

Plus, investing in good quality tools and spares is worth the extra money. Nothing worse than being caught out with a pump that doesn't work or cheap tools with the structural rigidity of mozzarella.

P.S. I'm single, so no partner to call upon, my cats don't drive, and my darling 91 year old mum has no sense of direction whatsoever.

 

[Ian H]

'Lightweight' doesn't mean pretending you're in a road race & carrying nothing (more prat than pro). P*nct*re repair stuff, multi-tool, and rainwear if required. Should all go in the smallest of saddle-bags or seat-packs.

 

[Juan Kog]

Don’t hold back , tell us what you really think.

Absolutely, it's arrogant and highly inconsiderate to consider other halves as emergency rescue services just waiting on standby because a man (if you can call him that) is too vain to carry anything that might spoil the aesthetics of his latest fancy carbon road bike, or too much of a weight weeny pussy to add a pound or so of self-aid tools because he spent a couple of extra grand just to lose a pound off the bike and doesn't want to add it back on again.
Real men sort their own shoot out when something happens, they don't just stand there looking helpless whilst the long suffering OH is summoned away from what they were probably enjoying, just to come out and retrieve some unprepared gormless idiot who never thought he would ever get a flat tyre.