Syncros Matchbox Tailor HV1.5 Bottle Cage – Review
Syncros can help you move a few items from your back to your bike with this sturdy, glass-reinforced Nylon bottle cage that incorporates a slim, slide-out drawer containing a folding wrench and a chain breaker. Alongside the cage, a high-volume mini-pump is securely attached with a pair of C-clips and an elastic rubber closure. Anticipating the additional 13 millimeters of height that the tool compartment adds may create clearance issues, Syncros designed the cage to allow side-entry for the bottle and made it available in either right or left-hand options. It’s called the MatchBox Tailor HV1.5 and it can be had for around $69 USD.
Matchbox Tailor HV1.5 Details:
• Material: glass fiber reinforced Nylon
• Integrated multi-tool storage drawer
• 14 tools: chain breaker; 2 spoke wrenches; magnetic quick-link holder; T10 and T25 Torx keys; Phillips and flat screwdrivers; and 2, 2.5, 3, 4, 5, and 8mm Allen keys
• Multiple mounting positions, fits most frames
• Side-entry cage: left or right-hand options
• High-volume pump with retractable hose
• Weight: 340 grams
• MSRP: Around $69 USD
• Contact: Syncros
• Material: glass fiber reinforced Nylon
• Integrated multi-tool storage drawer
• 14 tools: chain breaker; 2 spoke wrenches; magnetic quick-link holder; T10 and T25 Torx keys; Phillips and flat screwdrivers; and 2, 2.5, 3, 4, 5, and 8mm Allen keys
• Multiple mounting positions, fits most frames
• Side-entry cage: left or right-hand options
• High-volume pump with retractable hose
• Weight: 340 grams
• MSRP: Around $69 USD
• Contact: Syncros
Features and Function
Bottle cages with adjoining carriers for inflation devices have been around for decades. The addition of an integrated tool box, however, is a more recent development, one that came to fruition after enduro riders abandoned hydration packs and embraced the 1980's retro racing style, swigging from water bottles and binding essential tools and spares to their frame tubes with black electrical tape.
The secret drawer latches in place when stowed.
The contents normally remain on the cassette when not in use.
The MatchBox Tailor HV1.5 replaces much of that electrical tape with a slim, two-compartment sliding drawer below the water bottle cage that also incorporates a high-volume mini-pump. Slide the tray out and all of your essential tools are organized and at the ready. One drawer houses a well-made folding tool with the basic Allens, Torx and screwdriver bits. The other tool is a chain-breaker with two built-in spoke keys (splined and standard), an 8 mm Allen adapter, and a magnetic quick-link holder. When working on the bike, the tools you don't need stay on the tray - not strewn in the dirt or lost in a pack pocket next to a sticky, half-empty gel shot.
The pump has a retractable hose with a lever-type inflation head, and it addresses two nagging problems that plague tubeless tire owners in the field. Unless you are careful, it's easy to break or loosen Presta valve stems where they enter the rim using a pump with a fixed head; and screw-on inflation fittings often unscrew the valve core while the head is being removed. In use, the HV1.5 pump delivers a healthy measure of air with each compression, so you can quickly air up a flat tire without looking like a hopeful, pre-pubescent male.
Two magnets retain a quick link on the chain tool.
With a retractable hose, pumping requires less effort.
A number of mounting holes are provided to help position the cage where its contents will be most accessible, and they are elongated perpendicular to the downtube, so the cage can be offset to the right or left as needed. The offset comes in handy, either to minimize the overhang of the pump or to enhance access to the side-entry bottle cage. As mentioned, MatchBox Tailor bottle cages can be purchased with right or left-hand exits.
Offset holes let users position the cage to optimize access.
The side-entry cage grips the bottle tenaciously.
Concerns
Hanging a mini-pump alongside your water-bottle cage exposes that slim aluminum tube to take a bashing. In practice, however, I have never damaged a cage-mounted pump to the point where it was not serviceable. If it can happen, eventually it will, but Syncros offers the HV1.5 pump a-la-carte for around $30 USD should you need a replacement.
Missing from the otherwise comprehensive tool kit is the six millimeter Allen key, which is often required to remove non-quick-release through axles. Another concern is that some frame designs will not tolerate the additional 13 millimeter (0.5 inches) stack height that the tool cassette imposes on the cage. The side-entry bottle design mitigates this to a large degree, but it wouldn't hurt to measure what's overhead of your existing bottle cage before dropping 70 bucks on the Syncros upgrade.
Missing from the otherwise comprehensive tool kit is the six millimeter Allen key, which is often required to remove non-quick-release through axles. Another concern is that some frame designs will not tolerate the additional 13 millimeter (0.5 inches) stack height that the tool cassette imposes on the cage. The side-entry bottle design mitigates this to a large degree, but it wouldn't hurt to measure what's overhead of your existing bottle cage before dropping 70 bucks on the Syncros upgrade.
An 8 mm hex adapter is included to attend to loose crank bolts and pedals, but Syncros does not include the 6 mm Allen key needed to remove many through axles.
Pinkbike's Take:
 | Like most riders, I already own a mini pump, a folding tool, and a bottle cage, so duplicating those purchases seems extravagant. That noted, the Matchbox Tailor HV1.5 turns out to be a better way to both access and stash those essentials. I appreciated that the entire contents were in one cassette, so I could lay it on the ground and have everything handy in one place and in plain sight. The chain breaker functions at about the same level as other quality multi-tools, and I especially liked the fit and finish of the folding kit. I was already sold on hose-style mini-pumps for tubeless, and prefer the HV1.5's lever-style inflation head. The entire system weighed a respectable, 340 grams and it's built tough. If you have $70 USD to burn and you want to clean up the look and function of your kit, the Matchbox Tailor HV1.5 is worth considering. |
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very hard to spot since it doesn't have a classic cassette tool shape, but got it thx
Has anyone used this and the oneup edc and could give a comparison? This seems much cheaper.
How high PSI can that pump go? Can it do dual duty on my road bike?
I've had the EDC pump kit for about a month, one of my buddies has had this cage kit for a while. The EDC tool seems extremely well-made, and the CO2 functionality (both an inflator and the possibility of stashing a cartridge is really clever. The tools work great, the pump moves a ton of air (I use it on a tubeless gravel bike, so it only has to inflate a 700x40 tire to about 30PSI), however....it's a giant pain in the ass to reassemble. It all has to be lined up perfectly to go back in there. It's a really really tight fit to pull the tools out in the first place, but honestly that seems like more of a positive than a negative to me. All in all I would definitely buy the EDC kit again.
The Syncros tools my buddy has had clip in and out really quickly, and thus far they've held up for him. There's not as many functions, but the stuff that's there works great. The Syncros pump using a hose is definitely a big plus as well.
The HV pump can achieve up to 80psi :
www.syncros.com/fr/fr/products/2505840001222/Porte-bidon-Syncros-MB-Tailor-Cage-droit-Mini-HV1-5
If you need more pressure there's a Road version but you won't carry any chaintool in there :
www.syncros.com/fr/fr/products/2655930001222/Porte-bidon%C2%A0int%C3%A9gr%C3%A9-Syncros-Matchbox-Coupe-2-0HP
I think I may be the only person who kinda likes having a backpack with me when I ride. No stopping for water, can stick a jacket/snacks in there, etc. I also like the feeling of my bike being light. I had a road bike with panniers and hated how it felt.
Products like this are way underrated IMO.
It allowed me to go backpack free and is a quality piece of kit. Has the required hex/allen key to remove the thru axle of my 20mm Fox 36.
How about a bottle with a separate stash compartment built into the base? I looked a a stash bottle the other day and thought I’d never use one since I’d be carring a hydration backpack which would also carry my tools and such.
I will say that I've got a Syncros side-access cage on my bike as well as a normal Syncros cage on there (both the same generation as this Matchbox Tailor Cage), and I can pull the bottle out forward with no problems at all.
- How does it lock into place? Doesn't the tray ever slide out unintentionally?
- Not really aware of where my feet are relative to the frame when leaning the bike etc., do your feet ever hit the pump (and as such, stress the drawer too)?
I'm surprised to read tool boxes integrated in bottle cages is a recent Enduro (which is a race format, not a riding style) thing. I recall they've been around for much longer, more typically for XC. Now having the tool inside the bottom bracket is more recent (headtube was already done too). If anything, body armor with hydration bladders or hydration packs with integrated armor are probably most typically enduro.
Either way, nice review. Good for potential buyers to know what additional stack height they need to be able to fit the product before they buy
On the bike I used it (Scott Spark Plus) the whole thing never even came close to my feet. It's probably not really visible on the pictures but the pump doesnt really stand out on the side, so no worries here, too.
b) It looked stupid then, it looks stupid now
c) Currently being in the "Camelback" Era: Does really anyone still ride with a bottlecage except for the leightweight XC guys?
Every steel part is stainless with a high quality finish, I own one for a while and never had such thing.