Riding uphill on a mountain bike is a fun and thrilling experience on its own. But you can make it even better if you go with a group of friends. Because everything’s better when you have your friends with you.
To make the journey awesome and memorable, you can take some gear with you. They will ensure that while riding up the mountain, all of you are safe, healthy, and energized. In this article, we will tell you about some of these essential items that can make your difficult journey a bit easier.
Essentials for a Group Mountain Bike Riding
There are a lot of items that you might think are important for you to carry with you to the top. But we will go through the absolutely essential ones.
If you want to carry other items too, then you can do so according to your individual needs and preferences.
1. Tubeless Repair Kit
Most mountain bike riders these days like to ride their bike tubeless. This gives them extra mobility and tire control.
But tires are not indestructible and are prone to puncture. Since you will be driving on a rocky mountain trail, a sharp stone or rock can easily puncture your tire. To fix the issue swiftly, you can carry a small tubeless repair kit. You can easily attach it to the hole with a plug and your bike is ready to go once more.
You can be one of those who like to go against the current and ride a mountain bike with tubed wheels. This is because tubeless tires are much more expensive, and many do not want to spend the extra cash on wheels.
So, if your tubed tires get punctured, you need to change the entire tube itself. Although this can be a bit more time-consuming, it is better than having no spare tubes and putting a stop to your entire journey.
3. Technological Gears
If you want to make your journey much more effective and quicker, then you do not want to miss out on these exclusive gadgets. They will give a lot of vital information that can make your journey easy and less chaotic.
For example, you can use a bike GPS. Advanced bike GPS not only gives you accurate location, but they also come with a built-in heartbeat sensor, the distance you have traveled, and time, and it even can set up a ghost race partner and give you milestones to overcome.
A modern-day e mountain bike will have these attached to the handlebar. However, if your bike does not have one, you can buy them from any bike store and attach it manually.
Another alternative would be using a navigation app on your phone and attaching the phone to your bike using a phone mount.
Since mountains are no easy tracks to ride on, they can often lead to minor accidents where you can lose control over the wheels and fall down. This can lead to injuries and ultimately make your journey gloomy.
To avoid injuries in the knee area since they are the first area of impact as you fall down, you need to have good quality knee caps. They will absorb most of the fall impact and keep your knee safe. Soon enough, you can get back up again and ride your bike to the summit.
Even if the tube does not get damaged, the tires may leak as the screw that holds air may come loose. It becomes really difficult to ride in a tire that has no air. Riding so would ultimately damage the tire, making your bike impossible to ride.
So having a mini tire pump can help save your bike and save your journey. They are relatively cheap as they can be used in almost all cases, not only for your journey. Since riding a mountain is perilous, having a spare pump can be of great help.
Tires are not the only thing that may get damaged during your journey. While riding the mountain trail, you will be faced with numerous bumps and large rocks. Your suspension absorbs all these bumps so that you can remain steady and have full control.
However, the suspension can get damaged too, and get clogged. A clogged suspension cannot absorb the shocks of jumps and this can make your bike harder to handle. That is why you need a shock pump. They will help clear out any debris and tune your suspension accordingly.
Not only do you need to keep your bike in good shape, but you need to keep yourself healthy too. This is why you need to carry some personal belongings as they will bring you comfort during your bike riding.
For example, you can carry sunscreen that will help fight the sun and protect your skin. You can also take small saline and glucose packets as they will help you regenerate lost energy pretty fast.
You can also take some insect repellents if you come to know that the track you will be riding has quite a large number of insects.
There are no stores and shops in the mountains. So you need to bring some essentials along with you. Your backpack will probably be stuffed with clothes, tents, and other necessary items should you go camping at the mountain summit.
Therefore, you need to carry a bike-friendly snack box and water box. These boxes can easily be attached to the bike, so you do not have to put these boxes and carriages on you. This will make it much easier to ride the bike and provide proper food and hydration.
Final Thoughts
Riding a mountain bike up a mountain is no easy task by any means. It can get tiring and often very harsh as the roads get more and more difficult to maneuver. But gathering a bunch of like-minded mountain riders and climbing together can lead to a thrilling ride and a memorable trip like no other!
We hope that this article has helped you gain some knowledge about some essential items that will make your journey easier and more enjoyable. No matter what type of trouble you come across, these items will have you covered.