Tested: 5 Ways to Hold a Tube on Your Frame

Black electrical tape, wrapped tightly around frame tubes to stow a spare inner-tube, a couple of tire levers, and maybe a CO2 and a plug kit, became the hallmark of a committed enduro racer as the EWS came of age. Like all things cycling, it wouldn't be long before our product-hungry accessory industry would follow up on the trend with better (and pricier) alternatives. We gathered up five of them for this review - some as simple as an elastic band with a buckle on one end, and a few up-scale options with pockets and fancy colorways. If you don't see anything that catches your fancy, or their asking prices are a bit rich for you, don't stress. A three-dollar roll of tape is still a viable option.

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Race Face Stash Tool Wrap

Race Face's Stash Tool Wrap is a more intelligent way to lash tools, a CO2 kit or a spare tube to your frame than embalming them with tape. Its wide, elastic band is about a foot long (300mm), so it can handily secure a full-size inner tube to any frame member or under the saddle. The strap is liberally covered with hook-and-loop and the inside is banded with thick silicone rubber strips that grip the frame like frightened baby monkeys. Central to the Race Face design is its folding pouch. It has two pockets on one side and a single pocket on the other. There are no zippers or flaps. Tools and spares are secured in the pockets simply by folding the pouch in half. Stash Tool Wraps only come in black and cost around $20 USD. Race Face


Features & Performance

Two features define this handy product: The Stash's folding pocket and the band's silicone gripper strips. Tacky gripper strips allow the Race Face Wrap to remain securely in place almost anywhere on the frame without stretching the elastic band much. It should last a long time. The hook-and-loop band ensures the wrap can be removed or replaced in seconds. The double pockets fit tire-plug tools and CO2 cartridges perfectly and they are at the ready the moment the wrap is in hand. If you switch bikes often, the Stash Wrap will make it simple to transfer your essentials from one to another.

Pinkbike's Take:

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Features & Performance

A big step above a toe strap and far more versatile than tape, OneUp's stretchy belts do limit the kind of gear you can strap onto your bike to things that won't gouge your frame. That said, they are pro quality and there's plenty of length to fix items bulkier than an inner tube to any frame member short of an e-bike's down tube.

Pinkbike's Take:

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Dakine Hot Laps Gripper

Fancy and versatile, Dakine's Hot Laps Gripper is a webbing strap that is secured by hook-and-loop and incorporates a tube-sized pouch sewn from ballistic nylon. The pouch is flanked by a pair of open-ended side pockets to secure tools, and it is topped with elastic loops designed for CO2 cartridges. Cargo stashed in the elastic loops is further secured by the pouch's fold-over top flap. MSRP is $22 USD in blue with green accents. Dakine


Features & Performance

Dakine's cargo strap system is more like an under-saddle pouch that can also be fixed to frame tubes. The pouch is roomier than it looks, so it will fit heavy duty inner-tubes. Vanity, perhaps, but concealing the inner-tube sharpens up the bike's profile, while ensuring that it is protected from UV radiation and crash damage. Less useful than they appear to be, the Hot Laps' side-pockets are open ended, so it's not a stretch to assume you could lose an expensive multi-tool either en-route, or during a hurried trailside repair. As long as you pack carefully, Dakine's variety of pockets and stretchy loops makes this one of the more versatile and attractive options.

Pinkbike's Take:

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Backcountry Research Mutherload Strap

If color choice and simplicity motivate your purchases, Backcountry Research offers its Mutherload strap in 50 colorways. Primarily intended to stash an inner-tube onto your frame, this simple length of one-inch webbing loops through a nylon D-ring, which doubles its tension, and is fixed with hook-and-loop. An elastic shock cord bundles the tube (and any tools that you may have tucked in between) to the strap, so everything stays in one place while you fix or remove your Mutherload from the bike. Choose your colorway (you may have to wait a week for crazy colors), pony up $21 USD and Backcountry Research will send you one.


Features & Performance

"Minimalist" is the keyword here. Test riders who liked the Mutherload most preferred to carry as little as possible. There is more to this little gizmo than meets the eye. First of all, once you tuck a tube into the shock-cord loops, you can add a couple of tire tools to the bundle by slipping them between the tube and strap. Rubber tubing on the elastic shock cords grips the frame to secure your spares, and the strap tension is exceptional. Without pockets, Mutherload is best limited to items, long and slender enough to be secured by a single strap - like a pair of tire levers, or a single item like a multi tool, a plug kit, or a CO2 and filler snugly screwed together.

Pinkbike's Take:

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Features & Performance

Hard to glorify a 21-dollar, 13.5-inch stretchy belt, but it gets the job done and the latching buckle design makes it handy to use. Unlike webbing and especially hook-and-loop retention systems, the TPE plastic belt won't trap moisture, dirt, or grit, so your spare tube and tire levers will always be smartly displayed on your frame.
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Pinkbike's Take

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