Camelback or Water Bottle/Seat Bag/Frame-mounted pump...which is better?

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Permalink Reply by Jon on April 9, 2009 at 11:48am

Personally I'm fine with doing an organized century with two water bottles. SAG stops usually have water or sports drink to fill up, and frankly over that distance I don't want to wear since it gets in the way of my jersey pockets. I usually throw my phone (big ol nokia candybar) in one pocket, a tube, tire wrenches and compressed air in another, and a power gel or two/ziplock with cc/$20 or so/license/health insurance card in the last. A saddlebag also works fine if you have the art of packing gene.

As for ragbrai, I pulled the same, except kept all my cash in singles and stuff, so you can buy pie. Lots and lots of pie. Every stop has free water, and the towns are only spaced like 15 miles apart max.

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Permalink Reply by yellow jello on April 9, 2009 at 11:50am

I've tried using a Camelbak for longer rides (50+) and I no longer use them. Here are my reasons:

1.) on warmer days, my back got really hot and uncomfortable due to the backpack. I don't know if the newer models provide improved ventilation or what not.

2.) beyond a certain distance, carrying everything (even tho its really not that heavy) on my back started to strain my shoulders (further pronounced by fatigue)

No harm in trying it out tho. Maybe you'll figure out something in between that works well.

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Permalink Reply by Ali on April 9, 2009 at 12:31pm

Personally I have 2 bottle cages and 4 bottles, 2x24oz insulated ones that I take on century rides, 2x16 oz ones that I take when I am just going out to ride for shorter rides. I carry a tube, CO2 inflator with and levers in my saddle bag and if it is a century I will toss another tube and a CO2 as well as a multi tool in one of my jersey pockets. Ipod and my cellphone along with a ziploc bag incase it rains in another pocket. And lastly I will carry an ID/CC and about $30 on the last pocket.

I personally feel camelback bags are an overkill for road rides they become really uncomfortable for me after an hour or so. Just my 2 cents...

-Ali

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Permalink Reply by The Nefarious Dinosaur Patrol on April 9, 2009 at 12:38pm

Hey...


I did a few last summer both ways, and the waterbottles / seatbag worked a lot better than a stuffed camelback. For the organized ones [like the MS 150, Northshore, and Apple Cider] you can just refill your bottles every 20-30 miles so you don't need all that extra water, you stay so much cooler without a bag trapping all your sweat and keeping your back from drying out, and you don't really need more than some C02 cartridges, a multitool and a spare tube.

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Permalink Reply by Jon on April 9, 2009 at 12:57pm

"uninsulated will make you not want to drink in the summer"

Woh h3, you telling me you don't enjoy the under-watered gatorade from rest stops warmed in the sun!?! That's unamerican!

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Permalink Reply by Brett Ratner on April 9, 2009 at 2:51pm

I really appreciate all the good feedback...thanks!!!

I have a Camelbak "M.U.L.E." which in my opinion is definitely the way to go for mountain biking. No question about it. Anything you hang on a mountain bike will get shaken and beat to hell, plus you'd definitely notice the extra weight when you're throwing the bike around on a technical trail.

But for organized century rides and such, I've pretty much come to the same conclusion y'all have...which is why so far I've been going the water bottle/seatbag route.

Like you said, there's a water/food stop every 15 miles, and you stay a lot cooler when you're not wearing a backpack. Also, when your cargo is stored in a backpack, it's hard to reach while you're riding.

The main reason I posted the question is that for RAGBRAI, I'm guessing there's a lot of off-the-bike/walking around time. The Camelbak would offer extra space to pack a U-lock...plus when I'm leaving the bike locked somewhere, all the "steal-able" stuff comes with me. Also, on days where there's a pretty big temperature swing or sporadic, heavy rain, The Camelbak would offer room to pack a windproof/waterproof shell.

That said, there must be a reason I don't see many Camelbaks being used on long road rides. Plus it sounds like a lot of you have already gone through this experimentation process and gone back to waterbottles, jersey pockets and seat bags. I'm thinking I should save myself the hassle and stick with what I've got.

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Permalink Reply by Brett Ratner on April 9, 2009 at 3:00pm

The newer Camelbaks have these huge, bubble-shaped pads on the back. In between the pads are wide ventilation channels. There's some groovy trademark screen printed in one of the channels (something awesome like "Air Force") so you know that it's high tech.

Seriously, it works pretty well, but no question you'd stay cooler without something strapped to your back.

yellow jello said:

I've tried using a Camelbak for longer rides (50+) and I no longer use them. Here are my reasons:

1.) on warmer days, my back got really hot and uncomfortable due to the backpack. I don't know if the newer models provide improved ventilation or what not.

2.) beyond a certain distance, carrying everything (even tho its really not that heavy) on my back started to strain my shoulders (further pronounced by fatigue)

No harm in trying it out tho. Maybe you'll figure out something in between that works well.

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Permalink Reply by Jon on April 9, 2009 at 3:56pm

On Ragbrai, I never even locked my bike up once. noone does, except sometimes at night in the campsites, and even then it was 10 bikes with one cable lock!

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