I have been loving not wearing a pack but the whole way I have been carrying my gear has been not very good. I have had tubes duct taped to my frame, I’ve had cheap little saddle bags that end up shredded from my rear wheel rubbing them and then gear falling out. Once I was using a pouch and an old strap from toe cleats. Now I think I have the ultimate set up, its simple, easy and I forget its there.
Backcountry Research Mutherload strap is pretty simple in design, there is a shock cord attached to the main strap that holds your tube and other bits tight while you wrap the strap around your bike. Nothing falls while trying to wrap a strap around the frame. For a while I had been still loading as much as I could into it. I had a tube and a pouch full of stuff and it worked but I was not really impressed. I was trying to strap EVERYTHING I had in a pack to my frame. Not a smart one. The pouch was slipping around but the more I really looked at what I was carrying and got rid of all that extra not needed crap the strap works awesome. Small bits like a spare hanger and the nozzle for my air cartridge I fold up inside the tube and then the CO2 cartridge sits on the side. I have tried a few different places on my frame and it never slips. Riding full tilt DH runs and the strap never slips around. It’s just there and you forget about it until you actually need something. The strap is sewn with UV and rot resistant bonded polyester thread and the shock cord is attached with super strong BARTACKS. The mutherload is made to be bombproof.
The other pretty rad little thing I have been able to start using my strap with tube for lately has been an awesome DIY tripod. The strap is big enough to wrap around small to medium-sized trees on the side of the trail and when the tube is still in it holds your smart phone or camera prefect to get a cool selfie on the trail. Most of my shots lately have been with the help of my new BCR tripod strap!
Over all opinion is if you are not using a pack you need this strap. No hassle, easy to use and for $29.95 at your local bike shop you can’t go wrong!!!!! Thank you to the awesome guys from Leadout Sports and Sticky Bottle in Manly for organising this for review.
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Words & Photos: Steve Leeder. Check out his Instagram or website.