Drop 01: Wolf Hour/ 50 made/ Email list hears first

Gear / kit / cycling

Ride to cafe kit

Everything on the bike for a two-hour ride that ends at a flat white. Nothing you'd be embarrassed to sit down in.

This is the kit for the ride I do most. Out early, one climb, a cafe at the far end, home by ten. The rule is one kit for both lives: it has to work on the bike and not look stupid at the table.

How to decide

  1. What it costs. You can do this whole kit for under $400 if you skip the jacket. The jacket is where the money goes.
  2. Look and feel. Photos lie about size. If there's a video, watch it. If not, go to a shop and put it on.
  3. Take notes. Write down what annoys you about your current setup before you buy anything. Usually it's one thing.
Photo coming

TUESDAY AND SATURDAY

Brevet Insulated Jacket

Rapha / $200 to 250

The one jacket that does both lives. It goes on the bike at six, it’s on my chair at the cafe at eight, and it’s not embarrassing in either place. Expensive. Worth it if you ride more than you drive.

See itGet one
Photo coming

JUST WORKS

Saddle-Bag Two

Ortlieb / $50 to 70

Tube, tool, snack, phone, done. Waterproof in the way German things are waterproof. I’ve had it through two winters and it looks like it’s had it through two winters, which is fine.

See itGet one
AeroPress Go

POCKET ROCKET

AeroPress Go

AeroPress / $40 to 50

Nobody’s paying me to say this. It’s the one coffee thing that goes on every trip without me thinking about it, and that’s the whole test. Makes a proper cup on a tailgate in about ninety seconds. Bring a second one or make your friend wait.

See itGet one
Photo comingRetired

NICE IDEA

2L Sling

A brand I liked at the time / $60 to 80

Kept it on here because the point of this list is that it’s honest. I carried it for a summer, it swung round on every descent, and then the buckle went. Good looking bag. Wrong bag for a bike.

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