Just Another Geek

I am blogging about Information Security since 2003

Bike gears

My bike

  • Rack
    • The good:
      • Silence
      • No maintenance
      • Tires
    • The bad:
      • Gearbox
      • Broken rack
      • Very difficult to replace rear tube
  • Bell

Rear pannier

Ortlieb Vario Rear pannier

I use an Ortlieb Vario QL3.1 (archive) that I am loving:

  • It is waterproof: I never had any water infiltration despite harsh conditions.
  • The Quick-Lock 3.1 mechanism works unbelievably well: Once clipped in, nothing moves (no clunky noise when you ride) and you are guaranteed it won’t fall. Bonus: You can operate it with a single hand, very practical! I love this bag.
  • There is also the accessory to transform it into a backpack but to be honest, I never used this feature in the last 3 years.
  • Indestructible: It has no mark of tear despite many years of rough usage.
  • Just one note: Do not put anything in the side pockets, they will eventually be ejected from the pocket while riding, I lost a pair of sunglasses that way :(

What’s in my bag?

Content of my bag

No matter the weather conditions, I always carry the following items in my bag:

  1. My Sunglasses, either photochromic sunglasses 0-3 (archive) during winter or large and very tinted ones (archive) when the sun shines.

  2. All my raining clothes go into this fabric bag (protip: do not use plastic bag to hold your stuff, first they will break quickly, and more importantly, your clothes will eventually smell very bad)

  3. Backup Inner tube, correctly packed :)

  4. My field toolbox holding everything to repair my bike. Everything is stored in this nice Camelback Organizer (archive).

  5. Mini-pump, this one was actually replaced by a Silica Gravelero mini-pump (archive). This new one is much more practical thanks to its expanding hose (I kept destroying valves before) and have a bigger volume of air.

Toolbox

Content of my toolbox

  1. Plastic gloves! Because who likes to have grease or dirt on your hand after repairing your bike on the field? It weights nothing, why not be a little bit comfortable?

  2. CO2 inflator and cartridge to very quickly inflate your tire.

  3. Set of pliers: I know you can unseat a tire without those, but why make it the hard way?

  4. My multitool, a Crankbrothers F15 (archive)

  5. It may look weird, but this is a blade of scalpel. I use this toolbox for my commuting ride but also for my mountain bike trips. Who knows what can happens in the middle of nowhere? Anyway, I am sure I will be happy to have a very sharp blade (if you have already seen the “127 hours movie”, you will understand my point).

  6. A quick link (SRAM PowerLocks), in case my chain breaks.

  7. Inner Tube Repairing Kit (patches, scratch, glue) for the desperate situations (as I don’t trust this reparation at all)

  8. My Swiss knife (with all its lames sharpen as hell, see previous point 5️⃣)

  9. Camelback Organizer (archive)

  10. Cable Zip ties enclosed in a plastic bag because they will always find a way to escape from the bag’s mesh otherwise. Zip ties is the absolute tool to fix anything on your bike.

    There is also a small piece of soap to lubricate the tire when changing a tube (protip!).

Raining clothes