What You Need For Your First Mountain Bike Ride | Kit Guide

Welcome back you beautiful people and welcome to the great outdoors out here in Spain. Now you spend so much time researching and buying the correct bike for you, but now you want to go on a big ride. What do you take? Well today it's all about what to take on your first big ride. Right, now you've got your bike, you set up, you want to go for a ride, make sure that you've got a helmet and all the protective gear that you need to be safe out there on the trail. Now if you haven't got any of these, then we've got a plethora of videos on how to choose a helmet and the correct protective gear for going out onto the trail. Now the first tip before you ever go out there, I know you use cycling as a means to disconnect from social media, the means to not be sucked into online activities, but taking your mobile phone with you is always a good option, it's very safe. Why? Because you can use it to your advantage, especially if you get lost out there in the wilderness that you don't know where you are, you can use some maps. And also it's a great tool to have in your pocket or in your bag to make sure that if you're in trouble, you can call someone quickly to help you get out of a sticky situation. Hello handsome, I need help. Nothing, I'm just getting a piece for camera. I love you. All right mate, enjoy. Okay bye. Love you. Oh, he didn't say he loved me, anyway. Another great thing about your mobile phone is it comes with a number of different apps to find trails that you didn't even know existed in your local area, and also you can have like a live tracking so you don't actually need to get it out of your bag to let people know where you are, especially your loved ones. Right, with that said, you've got your mobile phone, yes I know you didn't want to carry it with you. Now you've done your homework, you've bought your bike, now you could have been thinking about on-bike storage, which is perfectly great because you can store multi-tools, a little snack, and a few tiny little spares, but if you want to go for a longer ride, then I would opt out for some backpacks or a hip bag. Now this is a great option for that quick ride, so a two to three hour ride, wouldn't say that's quick, but it's a great way to carry some spares, some extra snacks, some water. Now with this, the Camelbak Mule 5, it comes with a 1.5 liter bladder built inside it. It's got multiple little pockets in here and some sleeves to keep those tools intact so they don't rattle around, but you can opt for taking out that bladder and adding two water bottles in these neoprene sleeves right here so you can get extra space within your hip bag. Now it's got some bits right here, so quick access for your mobile phone or for multi-tools or whatever, snacks or like an energy bar. Now if you were to go for a longer ride, then I would opt out for a backpack. Now these come in multiple sizes depending on how far you want to go afield, especially if you're going for a big, long bike packing trip, then you would get for a bigger one, but for a slightly longer one, like a four to five hour one, you could opt out for a small bag like this one. This is the Camelbak Mule Evo. It's a slightly bigger one for those bigger rides. Now I would say four to maybe six hour journey out there. It has a two liter water bladder inside, a big compartment to store multiple things like a jacket or extra food, a small pocket here to keep your phone. Outside, you've got an external package here so you can put in like a wet gear or whatever you want to put there. It has this nifty little thing here, so if you do get caught in the dark, you can put a light and this is reflective, but these are for bigger rides. Like I said, there's big backpacks out there for bigger, bigger rides. Now, what would you store in this? Because you do need to take snacks and stuff and tools. So let's go over there. Right, enough about the bags, let's talk about hydration because it's super important to stay hydrated when you're out riding on your mountain bike. Now, the bike that you've probably bought definitely probably would come with a bottle cage mount on it, so it's perfect to just buy a bottle cage and a bottle, install it to the bike, but you can actually put two bottles depending on what kind of bike you've gone for. So you can have quite a lot of literage of water on your bike. Now, if you want more water, then the other option is to get a bladder. Now, the bike bag that you've bought, your backpack or your hip pack, probably be, would probably come with one, but if not and you don't have the funds to buy the bag, then you can just buy a bladder separately, install it to the bag that you have to hand and have water on the go built into that backpack that you would be carrying around to work or whatever. But this comes in multiple sizes from 1.5 all the way up to whatever the manufacturer would give you. Anyway, let's move on to snacks, my favorite. It's over here. Snacks, now when it comes to going for a big ride, you need energy. So there's different types of energy that you could have and I could go on and on, but I actually don't know the ins and outs of it, but it's always good to carry some snacks when you're out there on the road. So in here, I have nuts, I have a chocolate bar, I have a protein bar, and then if I'm thinking I'm going to go through lunch and I need something a little bit more substantial, I always make myself a nice little sandwich to put in the backpack or on my bike so when I get somewhere, I can have a little picnic. And it just breaks up that ride of yours a little bit. You can sit, you can chill and admire the view that this place has to offer. It's always good to be fueled up because you don't want to lose all your energy and what we like to call is bonk because bonking is the worst thing ever. Now, bonking is a nasty thing. I've been there and it's horrible, but on the bike feel, you've got like protein bars, you've got energy gels, there's a number of different manufacturers that make these sort of things. You can pick them up from your local bike shop, but then if you don't want to do that, and you don't want to spend the money, then bananas is a great thing. You can actually make your own flapjacks, which is a great source of energy, protein bars or protein balls. Even a trail mix, which is a mixture of nuts, Smarties, fruits, raisins, and all that rad jazz. You can stick it in a little zipper bag, put it in your pocket, and it's a great way for getting energy out there on the trail. Now, if you want some more substantial things, like a picnic like I've already said, a good sandwich is a good thing. Right, moving on, over here. Right, now if you're carrying a backpack or a fanny pack, I actually like to carry extra clothing, especially when the weather starts to turn. In a place like the United Kingdom, where the weather can just go like this, from nice temperatures to absolutely freezing and rainy, I carry a nice soft shawl, and I'll be carrying it in my hip pack or in a backpack. It's always good to take some extra clothing with you out there on the trail, just in case the weather turns and it bites you in the bum. You don't want to get cold, do you? Right, one of the most important things is tools. It's over there. Oh my gosh, dude, there's some pants here. Wonder what happened here. Yes, now this one is key, and sometimes I do forget. It's easy to forget, and it's carrying a multi-tool, just a small tool to help you get out of a situation where your bike starts to malfunction. You don't want that to happen. Now, if you're carrying a backpack or a fanny pack or a hip bag, anything, or even on your bike, then some tools, essential tools, are key to carry with you when you're out riding. Now, I have a multi-tool right here. It's got all the little essential sizes that I need to fix my bike. On the other hand, I do carry this Leatherman, which has multiple tools and knives and pliers or anything that, if I were to break something on my bike, I can get myself out of trouble. But this is mainly for a bigger, longer, epic ride. I wouldn't recommend just taking it on a small ride. It's not really necessary. CO2 cartridge with a CO2 adapter to fill in your tires if you were to get a puncture. And if you don't have a CO2 cartridge or an adapter, then just a normal, ordinary pump will help you get out of trouble to inflate those tires if they were ever to get flat on you. I carry a few zip ties. You can actually store these within your bike on your BB, a little tip for you. You can store them on your bike. I carry a quick link right here, so if I were to snap my chain, I know I can fix it. By using the multi-tool, which comes with a chain breaker on it, I can fix my chain on the fly when I'm out there on the trail. Now, I do have tubeless setup on my bike. Now, if I were to ever slice my tire, I do have these thick plastic adhesive tape patches to patch up my tires so my inner tube wouldn't poke out if I were to get a big slice in my tire. I carry two of these, but it's not essential. It just comes with personal preference to what you need to carry on your bike for a long ride. I do carry this tool here, which is a tubeless plug setup. So if I were to get a little spike in my tire, I can use these little grommet things to patch up the hole in my tire to get me out of trouble. Also, I carry some tire levers just in case I need to remove my tire. Wow, the weather has changed from nice morning to a rainy, rainy afternoon. Hopefully this video has helped you out, understand what you can actually take with you on your first big ride out there. It doesn't have to be big, doesn't have to be small. Just a ride. Make sure you stay safe. Make sure you tell your loved ones where you are going. Don't forget to take the essential tools just in case you get into a bit of a sticky situation. Till next time, I'm going to stay dry. I'm going to get back down there to get in the warmth. See ya! I've got to pack up. Can you help me? Can you do it? Thanks.