DB North Vancouver

Store Blog

Your Hydration Pack: Everything & The Kitchen Sink?

Posted: May 26 2010 in Random

How big is your pack? How sore is your back?

Lately we have been on a mission to educate customers about the little things they can do that can make a HUGE difference in their riding experience: seat angle, brake lever reach, grip choice, tire pressure and most commonly packing choices.

Photo: Drew@NV / Concept: Gerard Flostrand

How much water do you need for a one hour ride? A bottle? When you fill your 3-litre bladder to the top you just added ~6.6 pounds to your backpack! A water-bottle's worth of H20 is only ~1 pound!

Do you really need that pipe wrench and those steel tire levers and the 16 Clif bars you have wedged in there?

How many times are you going to do a costume change over the next 2hrs? Enough to warrant three jackets and a wool jersey on top of the three layers you are already wearing?

Smart packing choices not only reduce the pressure on your back and shoulders; they let you react faster, reduce extreme changes in your weight distribution, and generally make you a faster, better rider.

...

When it comes time to select a Hydration Pack, here in North Vancouver our absolute favourite is the Mule NV from Camelbak.

It has room for everything you need (and nothing that you don't), can carry a 3-litre bladder for those long rides, has a rain cover for the average North Shore day, has a great ventilated compression system (NVIS) that keeps your load balanced and your back cooler and compression straps and compartmentalization to keep you gear secured.

http://www.camelbak.com/sports-recreation/hydration-packs/2010-mule-nv.aspx

For more of our thoughts on packing right stop by the shop or fire me an e-mail. We have ideas to lighten your load without leaving you unprepared: from layers to (tire) levers.

-Drew@NV

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