CamelBak snobbery

[Guest Agteros]

I have a hydration pack - it is not working for me

 

I have a bottle cage on my bike - it makes the water taste 'dusty' ...

 

I have a tool bag underneath my saddle with tools, puncture kit, spare tube - it works for me, so no need to carry all my stuff on my back like a donkey

 

I have a small pump clipped and velcro'd to the frame - haven't needed it yet

 

The first time I rode with the hydration pack it killed my shoulders - better now.

 

The only reason I'm still using it is because the bottle on the cage picks up too much muck, otherwise for rides up to two or three hours it would have been complete overkill.

 

Oh yeah, I'm not sponsored, and I do not belong to a club

 

I see hydration packs (irrespective of make / model etc) as something in the category 'Goods Things To Have' - consisting mostly of unnecessary stuff.

 

 

[LazyTrailRider]

Nancy, I'm with you, I fit the same gear into my Bak. And yes, having stuff fall out is just stupid.

 

As for race snakes, it's a myth that elite XC riders don't drink a lot of water - they do, even more so (I was one back in the day, and intend to be one again, albeit an uncool one with a peak and a funny hump on my back)

[Sean Badenhorst]

 

Nancy' date=' I'm with you, I fit the same gear into my Bak. And yes, having stuff fall out is just stupid.

 

As for race snakes, it's a myth that elite XC riders don't drink a lot of water - they do, even more so (I was one back in the day, and intend to be one again, albeit an uncool one with a peak and a funny hump on my back)

[/quote']

 

Actually, they don't. The most dehydrated riders at the end of a race are the top finishers. Google the Sport Science Institute research on it if you want.

 

 

 

 

[rad006]

1 I have a Hydration Pack

2 I dont die from heat as it has a special design where a net is on my back with big holes and pushes the actualy bag off my back so I dont die of heat

3 I have a helmet with a peak...I love it...Why???Well if protects your guys when you hit a branch...Think about it...it protrudes an extra 2cm away from your helmet thus giving your face added protection...As far as helping with sun thats rubbish I dont notice the difference

4 Im semi sponsored by WHASP and my shirt looks so good everybody knows who they are so If I cover the back with a hump its not a biggy

5 I ride with baggy shorts the MTB way finished and KLA!!!!

 

HEEE HEEE bring on the comments!!!!

[rad006]

6 I carry all my spares in my backpack.

7 Bottles just pick up dust and taste rubbish!!!

8 I to have a Dual Suspension Bike

9 At 1st my shoulders got sore but then I rode more, did some pullups and now my body looks awesome and I got no pain, so stop being a wuss!!!

[Hog_]

I've got 2 different backpacks. 1 HUGE Karrimor backpack, 1 small Fox

backpack. Both take a 2L bladder. Both have different uses.

 

The Karrimor has lots of space,

so I use that for my commute to carry tools, clothes, food and

a few other bits & bobs. No water though, I use a bottle when

commuting.

 

 

 

On longer outings where you don't really know if there will be backup,

for example the Minedump ride, I use the Karrimor. Lots of tools and

stuff, plus 2L water, and maybe a Powerade in the water bottle.

 

 

 

When I'm going somewhere I know the car isn't too far, like Logwood or

NF, I use the Fox. 2L water, a tube, 2 bombs, levers and a small

multitool.

 

Races? Don't really do them, but when I do it's normally the Fox.

 

The main thing that irritates me about water bottles on the MTB is the dirt. If I wanted sand in my teeth I would go dow nevermind, PG13 forum. Let's just say it involves a cunning linguist and a beach.

 

 

 

[turtlek]

i used a camelback yesterday at the crater cruise for the first time in my life i started with the race snakes (some people classify me as one aswell apparently) i hated every minute of it not only is it uncomfortable but a mission to drink out of no matter how hard i sucked on that bite valve after squesing it with my teeth i could only get a little tricle of liquid out everytime so by 50km i decided my bottle was my best friend and started using that again

 

 

 

fair enough it prevents loss of bottles and pumps and tubes and other things........ BUT in a race situation when you get a puncture who wants to stop then take off a back pack then fish around in the pockets for your tyre levers then start taking off the tyre and then go back and look for a tube all while your race hopes and target times get further and further away

 

 

 

For me it's logical to tape my tube and bomb kit too my bike and logical to try find a way to put another bottle onto my bike and even more logical to carry my spartes in my pocket amongst the supa goo's and energy bars because not only were the pockets put there for a reason they are functional aswell if the shirt is the right size for you because if your shirt fits snuggly on your back your pump will not become dislodged from a little bump your bottle wont fall out of your pocket and you wont lose your tyre levers from a rocky desent

 

 

 

and yes even though we are going faster than you guys most times doesnt mean we dont drink and dont stop at water points we do especially on a day like yesterday

 

 

 

but in all honesty i will never wear a camelback again just because i dont like it and if anyone else does like it i have nothing against you at all because at least you know why you wearing it because i sure know why i am not wearing one!!!! (and as i have said before each to thier own)

[jabbathemutt007]

 

What's up with the Elite MTB bunch scoffing at CamelBaks?

I've heard a couple of theories' date=' from weight, to aerodynamics, to "it tires your shoulders on a 4 hour ride...." Yes, really.

[/quote']

 

Certainly not aerodynamics. The UCI rule against Camelbaks in road races (as opposed to time trials) was supposed to be that it improves aerodynamics since the air flow over the helmet then flows over the camelbak instead of forming vortexes. More likely its just that the UCI are a bunch of old farts who'd like to ban anything new.

 

 

[LazyTrailRider]

For me it's logical to tape my tube and bomb kit too my bike and logical to try find a way to put another bottle onto my bike and even more logical to carry my spartes in my pocket

 

Hmmm... I'm not sure that it takes any longer to unzip the top pouch of a CamelBak to grab a tube and levers than it does it rip a tube off a taped mount on a seatpost. Either way, you have to do something with the punctured tube anyway (you can't tape it back on in the place of the new one, can you?), and stuffing it into a shirt pocket isn't my idea of fun... Neither is having 500g of water in there.

 

All being said though, I really don't have anything against bottles, as long as they make sense!

[LazyTrailRider]

Nancy' date=' I'm with you, I fit the same gear into my Bak. And yes, having stuff fall out is just stupid.

 

As for race snakes, it's a myth that elite XC riders don't drink a lot of water - they do, even more so (I was one back in the day, and intend to be one again, albeit an uncool one with a peak and a funny hump on my back)

[/quote']

Actually, they don't. The most dehydrated riders at the end of a race are the top finishers. Google the Sport Science Institute research on it if you want.

 

Interesting Sean, I'll do some reading up...

[TheLegend]

Camelbacks cost a few bucks. But they are also a good protection from bucks.

[Piernas Flacas]

Drinking off dirty bottles has given me tummy bugs, so I stopped using them   It is also a lot of work (for me because I'm lazy) to have to wash bike, bottles and saddle-bag after a messy ride. So yes to Camelpack.

[Mudsimus]

But they are also a good protection from bucks.

 

But do you have bucks in germanland?

[TheLegend]

 

 

But they are also a good protection from bucks.

 

But do you have bucks in germanland?

 

ya, the government guaranteed the safety of all private financial assets. oh, wrong thread...

 

na, no buck here, just deers, trees and retired people that like hunt you in the forest and take you DOWN!      seriously though!

TheLegend2008-10-12 04:45:22

[calabash]

Any good camel pack cleaning tips? The bicarb is not really working for me

[Thug]

I have a Camelbak Mule which I bought before last years Swazi Experience. I used it for the 1st day but seeing that the refreshment tables were so frequent, I decided that for days 2, 3 & 4 it would stay in the tent. Which it did. For Sani 2 C, notwithstanding the refreshment tables, I used the Mule on all 3 days.

 

As an Adventure Racer, I'm used to carrying a heavy backpack and at times during this years Bull of Africa I was cycling with close to 12k's in my backpack.

 

Generally however, for normal jaunts up & down the Spruit I don't use the Camelbak and neither do I whilst racing.