ahhahaha - amen Marcus.

Are you really so sure you don't need those pockets.

15yrs of using hydration packs and I still carry items in pockets around the body. Mobile in chest pocket, energy gel or mars bar in rear pocket. Shandy money in the back pocket of shorts etc. Like most people I carry most tools in my pack, but certain items you want to get at quickly or not loose in the pack.

There's some features which you rarely use but then one day they suddenly make sense. In my woods there's no cars (obviously) so I don't need any reflective bits, surely that's just for road. But two nights ago when it got darker earlier than expected they saved my bacon. Or when you get a cheeky 30mins to nip out for a blast do you really want to take your pack just to carry your pump and tube.

But you're right, changes are happening to MTB specific clothing. The big brands are looking at the specifics needs of riders, putting in side access rear pockets, ventilation which works when you have a pack on etc.

Check out the Alp X range from Gore Bike Wear. It's been designed just for Mountainbiking specifically people using hydration packs. There are even the Alp X Pro shorts which feature all the benefits of the roadies lycras but the look of your baggies and with no flappy crotch to catch on the saddle.

Hi Marcus, as a roadie and only sometime MB I agree with you totaly, I don't understand why road shirts are advertised with "rear pocket for pump" who realy wants to fall on a pump! And why is it not fashionable to wear lycra road shorts when on the trail, they work well as you said nothing to snag, they dry quickly, are comfortable and have no pockets!

Hmmm sweaty back, no thanks, I'll stick to my bottle cage and saddle pack for all my needs with handy to reach pockets for my phone and flap jack. what decade are you in if your mobile phone is large enough to be a problem if you fell on it!

Hydration packs are a pain. They are inefficient, sweaty and unbalancing. How many folk buy them because it's trendy and never put anything much in them [I know about 40!]

Carrying stuff on the bike is much more logical - it lowers your centre of gravity and saves you having to lift the extra weight when you pedal out of the saddle.

OK the mouthpiece on your bottles get dirty but then again I always get crud on the hydration bladder mouthpiece too.

Why NOT have bottle cage bosses and back pockets? They both weigh next to nothing are pretty flat and you don't actually have to put anything in them.

Why use a rucksack when all you need to carry is a bunch of keys and a mobile [my tools always stay attached to the bike in a sawn off watter bottle so I don't forget/lose them. Hmm...]. Why deprive me of things I [and many others] regard as logical and useful forcing folk to use gear they don't like...

Different but not neccesaraly wrong...

the same decade where mountain bikes have water bottle bosses, perhaps, LOL!

i'm paid to write opinion pieces, i'm not the trail police! do as you please...

it is a personal opinion piece based on empirical research - i know only 2 mtbers who ride without a hydration pack...both are racers...the majority of us ride with them...

i carry a load of useful stuff in mine that can't hang off my full sus bike...

food, water, tools, pump, coat, spare top, first aid kit, spare inner tubes, phone, keys...it all depends where you ride...i ride in the middle of nowhere on moorland and up and down technical terrain in a place where the weather changes in a flash...the answer may be a wingnut hydration pack/rucksac...but strangely, i rather like having my dakine nomad on my back as it feels like extra protection if i fall off...

Well said Marcus,

Shorts and jackets are getting better though plenty of MTB specific stuff from Fox, Endura and Race Face.

Interesting point you make about the bottle mounts, I personally don't see the point but magazine reviewers the world over seem to insist on mentioning them!

yeah and what about people that ride road bikes, xc bikes and all mountain bikes and wonder why they have to care about using heaps of different kit when they could just use one. roadies don't force their style on mountain bikers, more often then not they are one and the same people....

keep 'em coming...an interesting debate is emerging...

cheers.

coming from the road I am still using a lot of my road kit and it works well however I was using botles but after one ride in filthy conditions last year and I ended up swallowing about a kilo of mud everytime I had a drink then spent most of the night on the toilet with it coming out of both ends

I bought a backpack and I love it sweaty back or not I still like my two or three back pockets on my jersey as I have my phone in one and food in another as I still eat and use my phone on the go some roadie habits just wo,nt go away

it would be better to carry everything on the bike rather than the person but what goes in a backpack energy drink needs to be in a bladder best placed on your back to avoid above a multi tool gas canisters and a couple of tubes waterproof all in all not a lot and I love my baggie shorts but would not use a pair on a road bike

a recent investigation by a bunch of medical students on a world class mtb x/c course found all sorts of nastys in the mud some of which could make a person really really ill

To follow on... Firstly, what you mean by "the same decade where mountain bikes have water bottle bosses, perhaps, LOL!"? Sorry if I'm a bit thick but I can't see what the line relates to [that's a genuine question].

I live in the Alps 950 M up a 1400 M hill, the next village is 4 Km/400 M lower in the valley and its another 15 Km to the top of the hill [great trails! ;~)]. Why do I need to use a backpack? It's just overkill- on local climbs backpacks cripple me, I sweat even more and my arse and back hurts because of extra pressure on the spine & bum. Normally jacket, phone and grub go in back pockets and water/tools go in the bottle cages [yes it's a pain getting the bottle out most of the time]. When I lived in the UK [born & bred in North Wales MTBing since 85] I definitely didn't need a rucksack as nowhere was that remote.

If I do a big ride and need to carry more I use a camelback but I definitely fall more [just like when boarding/skiing with one] and have to stop more often to dig stuff out of the bag. I can't remember landing on my back [OK OK it will happen...] but backpack straps have caught on a branches a few times.

I agree with tribegrandaddy in the main but I've also been crook from a dirty bladder [you can't chuck them in the dishwasher], considering what lives normally in your mouth/gut a few extra bacteria probably makes you stronger in the long run... ;~)

As you say, it's an interesting debate but I really can't see the point in taking away options.

iu hav elittle interest in a 'my mountain's bigger than yours' debate, purlease...

perhaps bikes could come either with or without, similar to front suspension? i.e. with or without rim brake bosses...

i'll spell it out again, though - this is an o p i n i o n piece...not the trail mafia!

but with my size 12's - the majority of mtbers who aren't xc racers or downhill racers probably ride with a hydration pack on!

it was sarcasm: i.e. (sarcasm) - i have a phone from the same decade as someone originally thought that mtbs needed water bottle bosses!

I use a bottle. I hate having stuff on my back. Faced with a choice of new bikes, one with and one one without bottle cage bosses, I'd choose one with. Manufacturers know this so they equip bikes with bosses. If you don't want to use them, don't!!

in the name of research i went cycling last night with nowt but a water bottle in my back pocket...i have to admit that it was strangely liberating...it has me to thinking about a wingnut pack or a saddle bag..the only worry is where to stick my pump!? sensible answers only please!

cheers, Marcus

fashion victim fat clownhiller none of this applies to me so i lke to use a bottle for short mtb rides as it is easier to clean i look good in lycra no muffin tops to hide. my camel back has no pockets but i can carry and access evry thing from the handy pockets

having no strong opinion either way i think this artical would be better in the mag so i could wipe my ar$e on it,just my opinion tho!!!

good point RedJohn...like i said, a Wingnut pack maybe my personal solution...

cheers.