Gear Shortage

July 30th, 2007 by Brad Quartuccio

You can’t let a shortage of the so-called appropriate gear hold you back from riding experiences. Make the best of what you’ve got and continue on.

Case in point, this past weekend I joined in on a little out and back, overnight camp trip. Not having proper touring gear has always held me back in the past, but not this time. Grabbed a messenger bag and bungee’d the sucker to the top of an old rack. 100+ miles, no problems and a full summer weekend of good times.

Not the greatest solution in the world, and I was forced to carry a bag on my back as well for some gear that I couldn’t fit in the bag. But I was able to make it all work, and you can too. There are obviously some practical things you can’t do without in given situations, but if you’re willing to get resourceful you may be surprised just what camp trip, 24hr race or backwoods expedition is possible.

Anyone else have some stories of going without “vital” gear and making it out alive?

9 Responses to “Gear Shortage”

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1 Big Ring on Jul 30th, 2007 at 9:15 am

I was just reading the other day and saw a picture of a chick who used large pails (looked like the big ones that kitty little comes in - meow) as rear paniers for a bike tour. Smart! Totally water proof too!

Cheers.
C.
2 Tim Grahl on Jul 30th, 2007 at 10:12 am

I did the exact same thing as the guy above except I didn’t even have any bungee straps handy so I grabbed a couple old tubes, cut them and then tied down my pack to the rack with those. Held good the whole way!
3 Ghost Rider on Jul 30th, 2007 at 12:40 pm

Big Ring, I think you saw some of the oyster-bucket panniers made by http://www.cobbworks.com/

Homemade versions certainly exist — it ain’t that hard to make something out of two kitty litter buckets, but the Cobbworks ones have great hardware!!!
4 NoHoCA on Jul 31st, 2007 at 1:07 pm

Forgive my pessimism, but what’s the point? Haven’t panniers come back into vogue yet? I know - perhaps never. Having done some pannier tours, both pavement and dirt, I am leery about poorly mounted baggage sagging and getting caught in the spokes and such. You can buy a decent set of commuter panniers for about $35 at a discount store or even nice Jandd ones on ebay. Such a small investment that you can enjoy for years, even if only on occasion.

Panniers carry some of your load low and stable, and they also make a bigger shelf for rack-top carrying of other items (so they’re less likely to fall down into the rear wheel). For instance, a perfect shelf for a big rolled up sleeping bag in a water shedding plastic bag.

Don’t get me wrong - a homegrown project with oyster buckets and $5 hooks from the hardware store sounds like fun and might be a perfect and cheap solution. But the photo of the m’bag bungeed to an oddly tilting rack looks like an upside down pendulum (waiting to fall)…
5 Brad Quartuccio on Jul 31st, 2007 at 1:53 pm

No question, a properly fitted rack and panniers work better than a poorly fitted one and a messenger bag bungee’d to it.

But “the point” is that not everyone has every accessory available to them. It’s about not letting lack of “proper” equipment hold you back. Over the 100+ miles I didn’t have to readjust the load even once, nothing ended up in the spokes, and I didn’t fall over. Granted, I’ve now got panniers on order, but this past weekend I simply didn’t have any and wasn’t going to let that hold me back.
6 NoHoCA on Jul 31st, 2007 at 4:59 pm

OK - gotta admit - I’m impressed. The spirit of adventure shouldn’t be held back by a lack of tailored gear. Guess that was your point. Heck, I shoulda been more supportive about you using a rack at all, since so many cyclists prefer to drape things over their shoulder when they don’t need to.

My feathers get ruffled after so many subtle comments published in so many places that seem to devalue the humble pannier…
7 Ghost Rider on Jul 31st, 2007 at 5:55 pm

+1 for the “humble pannier”…like Brad mentioned, it isn’t the only gear-carrying solution, but it certainly the best! Nothing distributes a load like a pair of panniers and a decent rack.

Brad, good article — I think a lot of cyclists need to be reminded periodically that they don’t necessarily need all this tailored gear or every bell and whistle to go out and enjoy an overnight trip…or haul stuff home from the grocery store!
8 The Moose on Aug 9th, 2007 at 9:25 pm

Reminds me a lot of the comment one of my nieces made last weekend. She had spent her school year in Finland w/her father for the last several years. Her comment was that most Americans tend to *need* special gear/clothes for their various hobbies. This includes cycling. She noted that in Finland (and many places in Europe) one can witness grandmothers, et.c, riding singlespeed-coaster braked bikes for EVERYTHING all year ’round.

No cycling shorts, no helmets (often), no clipless pedals…just a bike with a rack/basket and shopping list.

Good-onya Brad for the resourcefulness to go without specialized gear for a couple of days.
9 storage denton on Apr 25th, 2010 at 11:17 pm

Enjoy reading this, thank you:)

Gear Shortage

9 Responses to “Gear Shortage”

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