When Rapha branched out into mountain biking a couple of years ago, it was tempting to think a brand whose image revolved around stylised monochrome images of noble suffering on…
Hydration Packs
Canyon Hip Bag review
Money belts might have fallen out of fashion with the advent of wireless payment technology, but a little bit of their ‘style’ and function lives on in the Canyon Hip…
Scott Six Days hip-belt bag review
If you’re opting for a mountain bike waist bag or hip pack rather than a rucksack, you’ll want something that’s secure, allows you to keep all your essentials to hand,…
Fox Hip Pack review
After ditching bulky backpacks a decade ago, I’ve tried MTB bum bags (more commonly labelled hip packs these days) from all the leading brands. This Fox Racing version has two…
USWE Zulo 6 Plus Hip Pack review
This Zulo 6 is a new hydration hip pack from Swedish brand USWE. Banana-shaped, it comes pre-curved to better fit the human form with a slightly lower front waist belt…
SKS Anywhere Bottle Cage Adapter
It’s simple and effective, but only on bikes with conventional size tubes and front triangles, which are those likely to have bottle cage mounts anyway.
Fidlock Twist Uni-Base review
The whole system isn’t cheap and you do need dedicated water bottles, which aren’t cross-compatible, but I think the Fidlock Twist system is fantastic.
Scott Trail Hipbelt FR 5 review
While the beige version of the Scott Trail Hipbelt here is not the most UK-friendly, there’s also a black and grey colourway that would be my first choice.
Camelbak Women’s Magic Pack hydration pack review
Alice Burwell reviews the Camelbak Women's Magic Pack: a 7L pack with a 3L Crux reservoir that has built-in handle to make filling it much easier.
Thule Rail 12L Pro hydration pack review
The Rail is Thule’s enduro/ aggressive trail backpack. It comes in lots of different sizes and they all use a 2.5-litre reservoir, but only the Pro model (tested) comes with…
Scott Perform Evo HY’16 hydration pack review
There are three models of Perform Evo in the Scott line and they all use the same two-litre reservoir. As the size increases, so does the price. The difference between…
Leatt DBX Cargo hydration pack review
Leatt is constantly expanding its accessory line and the latest addition is this 10-litre DBX Cargo trail pack. It’s at the top end when it comes to price, but it…
Fox Utility Hydration Small review
We asked Fox to send the medium-sized Utility Hydration for this test – it has the same size reservoir but 12L of storage – but it was out of stock.…
EVOC FR Day Protector hydration pack review
We contacted Evoc to get one of its Protector backpacks, because they have these removable back protectors that are great for an uplift or downhill session. For some reason the…
Ergon BE2 Enduro hydration pack review
The Ergon BE2 Enduro is unusual in that it comes in two sizes, large and small, and within each size there is a large range of adjustment.
Deuter Compact Explorer 14 hydration pack review
At £90 this looks like excellent value for a 14-litre trail pack, but the Compact Explorer 14 is one of the only packs on test that doesn’t come with a…
Camelbak Skyline LR 10 hydration pack review
Camelbak Skyline LR 10 has a 3L bladder and 7L of storage capacity and is the perfect size for trail riders who don’t need to carry everything with them.
Osprey Raptor 10 hydration pack review
With only a 2.5-litre reservoir and 10 litres of storage, on paper the Osprey Raptor 10 doesn’t seem capatious, but it features a large central pocket, which holds two side-mounted…
Decathlon Rockrider 6L MTB ST900 hydration pack review
The name is a little confusing – it’s called Decathlon Rockrider 6L but it actually comes with a two-litre reservoir and has 12 litres of internal storage.
Fidlock Twist Bottle and Bike Base review
Fidlock is a bottle and cage with a mechanical and magnetic attachment, that's available in 450, 590 and 600ml – the smallest fits into a tiny space.