In the Southeastern US, we’re already seeing hints of Spring.
But the trails are still too wet to ride.
So today we’ll take to the garage and examine another 10 products, for mountain bikers and
outdoor enthusiasts.
Let’s get started.
The Bomber Strap is a mini tailgate pad that holds a single mountain bike, and that makes
it a pretty unique product.
But it’s not for everyone.
For one, the bomber strap costs as much as a normal tailgate pad which can hold many
bikes.
It also leaves your tailgate exposed to contact with the front tire which can cause scuffs.
To mitigate that they include an additional strap which holds your bars turned, keeping
the tire free and clear of your paint job.
That’s an extra step every time you load your bike.
If you think these shortcomings make it hard to justify over a tailgate pad, you’re right.
But the Bomber strap does have its strengths.
First of all, it’s built amazingly well with metal buckles, ballistic nylon construction,
and plenty of straps to hold your bike in place.
It also looks REALLY good, with rugged tactical styling and a very nicely designed logo.
It also doesn’t block your backup camera.
But even with these strengths, you’d still struggle to justify it over the capability
and value of a normal tailgate pad.
That is, unless you travel as much as I do.
A few weeks ago I flew to Austin Texas with my bike and rented this pickup truck to get
around.
I should have brought my bomber strap.
We were forced to use pool noodles from my bag to keep the bikes from sliding around
the tailgate, and it was kind of sketchy.
The bomber straps can fit in my flight bike quite easily, and install on any rental truck.
The ability to store a Bomber strap is definitely its biggest selling point, and for me, that
makes it an indispensable travel accessory.
I wish I could say the same for this shoe drier.
I bought this by commenter request after doing this newspaper hack in another video.
If your shoes get wet from a creek crossing, you put these little electric heaters in them,
and wake up the following morning to dry shoes.
These took about 10 hours to dry my very wet shoes, and I guess that’s fine.
But the more I examined this shoe drier, the more sketched out I was by it.
It is, after all, a mini space heater that you leave unattended inside of wet shoes.
My curiosity got the best of me, so I took it apart.
I was horrified to find uninsulated connectors, no fuse, no breaker, or anything other than
a resistor to keep the LED from blowing.
I’m going to find an alternative product and not link to this in the description, because
I’d be super bummed if one of you had an incident with one of these.
From the makers of the fork cork, come two products today.
First, we have the Everclear Frame Protector roll which is available in glossy or matte
finishes.
On a brand new bike, you can basically make this stuff look invisible with a heat gun
and some patience.
It even manages to conform to some pretty challenging spots.
But like any clear film, it won’t look good over an already damaged surface.
It will instead, entomb the battle scars under the laminate.
Each roll is 2” x 60” which is more than enough to cover all the important parts of
your bike.
If you’re looking for stealth frame protection, this is tough to beat for $14, as the quality
is very similar the much higher priced precut alternatives.
Also from Miles Wide Industries, are Sticky Fingers brake lever grips.
They promise a better grip, insulation from the cold, protection from scratches, and a
unique feel.
They seem easiest to install with a bit of alcohol which will dry up after a few minutes.
I’m not sure why perfectly good brake levers would need grips, although they do fit really
nicely.
Now for the test.
They feel amazing?
I might need some time to acclimate to this new reality, where I like grips on my brake
levers.
I don’t quite understand why they feel so good, and I am a bit worried the other kids
will make fun of me, but damn.
Don’t knock it ‘till you try it.
I guess if you like to troll hard, purposely misalign your tire logos, and install weird
sht on your bike, these will be perfect for you.
I will personally refrain from installing these on my other trail bike, because I’m
afraid I’ll like them too much and leave them on.
This is the Camelbak Mule LR 15, hydration backpack.
Truth be told on my own recreational rides I avoid packs altogether, but sometimes I
need one to lug around camera gear.
The LR15 has tons of space, and opens really wide so you can get a good view of everything.
It also has lots of bonus compartments for tools, or lesser used supplies.
For quick access, it has both a mesh pocket and a zip up compartment on the front.
It also comes with a built in rain fly, which is now getting pretty common.
The reservoir is contained to the bottom third, keeping all the weight low down on your back.
It disconnect with a little button.
This reservoir is deceiving large, as it actually holds three liters.
My one criticism about this pack is the mess of straps on the belt, which I get needs to
accommodate different sized people, but just seems overly complex.
Otherwise, the Mule LR 15 is my new favorite backpack, if I can’t avoid wearing one.
Let’s look at some pumps.
I’ve been sitting on this Crankbrothers Klic digital floor pump for quite some time
now.
In its $225 configuration it comes with a detachable burst tank, which is of course
used to seat tubeless tires.
You can either fill it with the pump, or with the included shraeder valve.
Like you would expect from Crankbrothers the Klic floor pump looks, feels, and works really
good, which it had better for 225.
It has a surprising amount of solid metal parts on it, including the base which helps
keep this monster from toppling over.
For bikes up high on a work stand, they even include an extension hose.
To top it all off they even went through the trouble of putting a battery level indicator
on the digital gauge.
The only thing I dislike about the Klic floor pump is the screw on connector.
Although it is the best screw on connector I’ve used, it’s still a screw on connector.
At $225 it’s impossible to justify the value of this pump, so I don’t recommend it to
the average mountain biker.
On the other hand if you geek out over really well made things and don’t mind spending
some extra money, this will not disappoint.
As for this Rockshox Boxxer pump, it’s pretty disappointing.
I was hoping to keep this in my travel bag since it works with both shocks and tires.
While it does make a pretty good shock pump, it’s nearly useless on tires.
After installing the included converter on to your presta valve, you need to turn this
lock to convert the pump into high volume mode.
With enough strength, persistence, and luck, you will eventually get it to cooperate.
Maybe mine is defective or maybe I’m an idiot.
After you get it to turn the pump then telescopes out further to achieve high volume.
It is then excruciatingly difficult to inflate a tire with, even compared to other hand pumps.
There’s also no way to secure the hose, which even this free pump that came with my
bike can do.
Overall it’s just disappointing, so I’ll continue to carry two separate pumps for travel.
I film mountain bike stuff for a living so I’m always on the lookout for a really compact
video camera.
The Dji OSMO pocket fits somewhere between a point and shoot camera and a GoPro.
It has a built in gimbal for stabilization, a ridiculously tiny touchscreen, and loads
of shooting modes.
It’s also $350, which is less than a Hero7, and a third the cost of the best point and
shoot cameras.
Included is a little connector to hook it directly to your smartphone, which is a lot
more reliable that competitors wifi solutions.
It also shoots up to 4k60, and unlike the hero7, has full stabilization at every setting.
The video quality is impressive, much better than a cell phone.
It’s not quite up to par with my Sony point and shoot, but it boots up quicker and easily
slides in and out of my pocket, making it really effective at getting shots quickly.
For that reason the OSMO now stays on my hip at all times.
The OSMO has great battery life, some cool features like panning timelapses, and ongoing
updates which seem to improve it every month.
It also has a Cine D color profile which the video nerds in this audience will appreciate.
While the OSMO does make a really good pocket camera, I will tell you right now that can’t
replace a GoPro.
Many have wondered what this would look like chest mounted, and the answer is, hot garbage.
The field of view is way too narrow for first person video, and the gimbal tends to wander
as soon as you lean forward.
There’s also a learning curve.
If you hand the OSMO to a friend to get a shot, they will struggle to keep you in frame,
as the gimbal behaves unpredictably if you just point it at stuff haphazardly.
Once you get the hang of it though, you can get some really cinematic shots.
With all this capability in a reasonably priced camera the size of a cliff bar, it’s hard
not to recommend the Osmo pocket.
This is the Zero Gravity Rack, a bike storage solution which might be useful for some people.
I have the space to hold my bikes this way, but some people need the overhead space, making
this rack one of the only solutions of its kind.
You install it on your wall using the included hardware, put your bike on it, and then lift
it into the horizontal position which is made easy by the gas cylinder.
It does do what it says.
I have a few criticisms about this product starting with the packaging.
I had to scavenge my parts bin to replace these two bolts which were not long enough
to make it through the tubing.
Also, the strap which holds the rack in the down position was adjusted wrong out of the
box, which required additional disassembly to correct.
This rack, is also incredibly ugly.
That’s fine for a garage or dungeon as shown here, but probably not for an apartment, especially
if you’re trying to get your significant other on board with storing bikes inside.
I’m also concerned with the orientation given that suspension oil will settle on one
side of the seals, although one could argue that this is no worse than orienting bikes
how I have them.
These shortcomings could be forgiven, but not for $180.
On one good note, it works exactly as advertised.
This really can easily lift a heavy bike way up near the ceiling.
So, if you need that, this product might be your only option.
Finally, we have the potty glove which is an emergency bathroom kit for when you don’t
have a bathroom.
In the included plastic bag comes these two nitrile gloves.
The left one has built into it, a dispenser with 5 wet wipes.
After you’re finished you can grab all the wipes, take the gloves off over it, and pack
everything out in the included bag.
Since they make the eco friendly claim, I need to point out that nitrile gloves and
plastic bags are not eco friendly, even if you’re using them to pack out.
If you are doing a lot of camping a roll of toilet paper is a more economical and eco
friendly option, but that’s not what this is for.
The Potty Gloves is to be kept stashed in your pack for years, until that one day where
it saves your life.
I stashed a similar product in my bag a while back, and recently I was really glad to have
it.
That product is called the sh!t kit, and it’s actually cheaper and smaller than the potty
glove.
Still, should your coffee kick in at the exact wrong time, you’ll be equally happy to have
either option on hand.
I hope you enjoyed these product reviews because at the end of the day, they’re for entertainment.
If you do want any of these items, except for the shoe driers, I have included links
to everything below.
So until I accumulate another 10 interesting products, thanks for riding with me today,
and I’ll see you next time.