Cyclists with a "Running" Problem

[ChrisF]

2 hours ago, peepeekaitjie said:

Ja-nee, i'm sure it's great, but I can't justify it

 

cheers

 

I ended up using my Camelback 1,5 liter ... not ideal, but also cant justify yet another pack for twice a year .....

 

These 3 to 4k prices seems to be the norm from most suppliers, imported or made locally ... 

[PhilipV]

Okay I’ll be that guy. The one with the new Salomon Adv12 pack. It’s my 2nd one. The first one is probably 8-10 years old, it was 2nd hand when I got it 5 years ago.  I now use it for MTB riding. Better than any mtb backpack I’ve tried.

I’m a run-what-you-brung guy, but my wife isn’t. She went on a full on Analysis Paralysis and tried on all the packs. Anoijie, Osprey, UD, Salomon and eventually settled for a Salomon and then spoiled me with one as well. I’m not complaining. 
 

The new one is used a lot, I forget about it  whether I have one soft flask in it, or whether it’s a full pack. Everything has a place that is pretty easy to get to.
 For runs less than an hour I’ll take my waist belt though. 
Did I need it, nope. Is it fantastic? Absolutely. If anyone wants me to part with it, they’ll have to pry it from my cold dead hands. 

[IceCreamMan]

5 hours ago, Shebeen said:

so there we go, I'm sure it's great but R3999 it must be flippen awesome!

@peepeekaitjie Ignore my decathlon advice unless you can go instore - i just placed an order here. go have a looksee as there is a 50% sale - https://www.adventureinc.co.za/product-category/osprey/hydration-packs/

can backup that the ABG is incredible. any issues and they sort it out pronto, or replace. incredible.

What price a decent pair of tekkies these days? ( to put it in perspective) 

I get maybe 60 or 70 hours out of a pair of tekkies. 

[ChrisF]

23 minutes ago, PhilipV said:

....

The new one is used a lot, ...

 

22 minutes ago, IceCreamMan said:

What price a decent pair of tekkies these days? ( to put it in perspective) 

I get maybe 60 or 70 hours out of a pair of tekkies. 

 

I gladly spend money on stuff I use often. 👍

 

For my park runs I barely need a 250ml water container.  We are spoilt with water and food tables.  On a 15km route I will pass the water table 3 times.

 

I only use the Camelback for a half marathon, and when training for the half marathon.

 

Ironically, I need it more for training than for the event, as my training is unsupported.  I just prefer to keep going at the half marathon and not have to stop at the tables ..... too slow so I must keep going 

 

With two halfs a year I cant justify it .... yet ....

[IceCreamMan]

47 minutes ago, ChrisF said:

 

 

I gladly spend money on stuff I use often. 👍

 

For my park runs I barely need a 250ml water container.  We are spoilt with water and food tables.  On a 15km route I will pass the water table 3 times.

 

I only use the Camelback for a half marathon, and when training for the half marathon.

 

Ironically, I need it more for training than for the event, as my training is unsupported.  I just prefer to keep going at the half marathon and not have to stop at the tables ..... too slow so I must keep going 

 

With two halfs a year I cant justify it .... yet ....

Absolutely fair enough. And I guess therein in my initial error in assuming the OG of this train of thought needed a full on hydration vest. 

These vest thingies only really needed for longer runs/rides.

And I take yr point. I have a camelback for MTB , ( think it’s the mule model) which cost me about 80 quid deeply discounted 7 or 8 years ago. Even with discounts I thought hellishly expensive. I must have 500 hours into that thing and it works like the day I bought it. Money well spent. my previous Salomon vest was a smaller affair , again I had hundreds of hours into it before the stitching at one point began to fail. Instead of having it fixed I realised I needed more space so replaced it with the ADV12.  I still have the soft bottles the smaller vest came with and use them for longer runs and ultras. 
 

I intend doing some gnarly (well gnarly for me anyway) events and I want to have complete faith in my kit. ( I am ocd that way) 

[milky4130]

10 hours ago, peepeekaitjie said:

Do you have any running pack recommendations? I've been using the Black Diamond Distance 8 pack for the last 1.5 years, and it suits my needs perfectly, but now, after the third time having to take it in for repairs, I am looking for a backup. 

 

I need to carry a 1 litre lunchbox, a pair of trousers, a midlayer and an outerlayer at most.

curios to know what your intended purpose is for this pack, sounds like a commute run / ride to the office?

I'm also using the Salomon ADV SKIN 12 but admittedly only bought it for the UTCT 100 miler because I needed more space for all the compulsory gear we needed to carry & it's been laying in the garage for the past 9 months. For the shorter weekend trail runs my go to pack is the Salomon Activ Skin 8, been using that for the past +-12months now and I'm still happy with both purchases.

[peepeekaitjie]

5 hours ago, milky4130 said:

curios to know what your intended purpose is for this pack, sounds like a commute run / ride to the office?

That's exactly the intended purpose. Commute run or walk to the factory, and the occasional scramble on the mountain. 

[milky4130]

Seems like my trail running days has not come to an end yet. I'll definitely take the opportunity to participate in a World Championship event albeit as a fun runner.

https://www.capetownetc.com/news/cape-town-to-host-2027-world-mountain-and-trail-running-championships/?fbclid=IwY2xjawMNiRdleHRuA2FlbQIxMABicmlkETEwbUpOQzUwQ0tGaURVTlplAR6xa7E-dTPj9ap2LNIhuSwZGma0Gl-Wpnn_mwX5WQ_OjMngMjUzDL_-CZ2C0A_aem_m26ycZNtEERY_dHFTntfpQ

[b-rad]

On 8/15/2025 at 10:23 AM, Shebeen said:

so there we go, I'm sure it's great but R3999 it must be flippen awesome!

@peepeekaitjie Ignore my decathlon advice unless you can go instore - i just placed an order here. go have a looksee as there is a 50% sale - https://www.adventureinc.co.za/product-category/osprey/hydration-packs/

can backup that the ABG is incredible. any issues and they sort it out pronto, or replace. incredible.

Soar have a trail race pack now. €375 or a mere 7700 plus randelas 😯 

https://www.soarrunning.com/en-nl/products/sa15m-blk-trail-pack-black

[ChrisF]

16 minutes ago, b-rad said:

Soar have a trail race pack now. €375 or a mere 7700 plus randelas 😯 

https://www.soarrunning.com/en-nl/products/sa15m-blk-trail-pack-black

 

Making me wonder what Decathlon in Europe has .... on the affordable end ....

[PhilipV]

On 8/16/2025 at 7:27 PM, milky4130 said:

Seems like my trail running days has not come to an end yet. I'll definitely take the opportunity to participate in a World Championship event albeit as a fun runner.

https://www.capetownetc.com/news/cape-town-to-host-2027-world-mountain-and-trail-running-championships/?fbclid=IwY2xjawMNiRdleHRuA2FlbQIxMABicmlkETEwbUpOQzUwQ0tGaURVTlplAR6xa7E-dTPj9ap2LNIhuSwZGma0Gl-Wpnn_mwX5WQ_OjMngMjUzDL_-CZ2C0A_aem_m26ycZNtEERY_dHFTntfpQ

Hopefully this is the kick in the backside that SANParks needs to clean up the trails and enforce safety on the mountain.

[milky4130]

8 minutes ago, PhilipV said:

Hopefully this is the kick in the backside that SANParks needs to clean up the trails and enforce safety on the mountain.

I doubt it, 2 years ago UTCT participants local & internationals go robbed and attacked and we all thought that was the kick up the @#$ they needed, apparently not, SANPARKS just yawned 🥱. It was up to the private sector & other entities like Take Back The Mounts to take up that fight. They even diverted last years UTCT 100 miler route away from Ocean View and we ended up doing a long stretch of tar road instead of the trails.

[ChrisF]

On 8/16/2025 at 12:45 AM, peepeekaitjie said:

That's exactly the intended purpose. Commute run or walk to the factory, and the occasional scramble on the mountain. 

 

Foldable backpack 10L - Travel - Decathlon

 

Possibly this for the clothing and goodies ?

 

Maybe a belt-pouch if you want to keep some items close at hand ?  (thought these pouches seems to be similarly stupidly expensive)

 

 

And for less money the real thing from the same company .... but not locally (at least not from what I see on their web page) -

Unisex hydration bag + 1L water pouch included - KIPRUN 500 5L Essential - Black KIPRUN | Decathlon

 

Anybody with first hand experience with something like this vest (second link) ??

 

Contemplating asking a friend to bring one with ...

Edited August 18, 2025 by ChrisF

[Gripen_85]

On 8/15/2025 at 8:32 AM, peepeekaitjie said:

Do you have any running pack recommendations? I've been using the Black Diamond Distance 8 pack for the last 1.5 years, and it suits my needs perfectly, but now, after the third time having to take it in for repairs, I am looking for a backup. 

 

I need to carry a 1 litre lunchbox, a pair of trousers, a midlayer and an outerlayer at most.

 

On 8/15/2025 at 9:13 AM, Shebeen said:

budget option- decathlon has a 10l Evadict currently on sale for R1k. mine has been just fine 

I use the 15l Evadict and love it.

Running, cycling, hiking, it suits each task. Plenty of space, and it's comfortable and not nearly as eye-wateringly expensive as Salomon and other major brands.

Salomon is good, there's no denying it: I received an old one from a forum member here. It was very well-used when he paid it forward to me. I think it has been 4 or 5 years now and I still use it on occasion. During the first year of use I discovered a new pocket or pouch almost every time I used it. But, why spend R3k+ when you can get a similar product for under R2k.
 

Edited August 18, 2025 by Gripen_85

[IceCreamMan]

On 8/15/2025 at 9:23 AM, Shebeen said:

so there we go, I'm sure it's great but R3999 it must be flippen awesome!

@peepeekaitjie Ignore my decathlon advice unless you can go instore - i just placed an order here. go have a looksee as there is a 50% sale - https://www.adventureinc.co.za/product-category/osprey/hydration-packs/

can backup that the ABG is incredible. any issues and they sort it out pronto, or replace. incredible.

Salomonsports.co.za has some of the ADV12 vests at 2600. Older colours but the same vest essentially. 

[milky4130]

Also check their Salomon outlet in Access Park, Kenilworth, I picked up some good deals there last year.