The Topeak Fastfuel Platform is an excellent way to carry energy products on your bike – a lightweight plastic rectangle that mounts to your road or gravel bike’s top tube and keeps gels within easy reach.
As denoted by the name, this 14x4x1cm and 46g product is the smaller of the two Fastfuel Platforms in Topeak’s range.
It comes with Velcro straps to attach it to your top tube (as shown above) and two bolts if you have top tube mounts. My gravel bike has top tube mounts, so I used those to hold the Fastfuel Platform in place.
The Small comes with two elastic cords, one short, one medium, to hold your fuel in place, and five clip/cutters for tearing off the top of your gel sachets, whereas the larger option has three cords and six clip/cutters. The longer version can also be bought with a bag – the Fastfuel Tri-Station – for £39.99.
When I loaded the Platform S with three High5 energy gels and set off for a gravel ride, I had visions of them flying off into the bushes beside my bumpy local trails in the Lickey Hills. In fact, they generally stayed in line with each other, so my knees didn’t knock into them, and only came away when I pulled them from under the loops. Larger 74g Nduranz energy gels were just as stable.
Compared with reaching into your back pocket for a gel or opening a top tube bag, this is a far easier way to fuel on the go.
The teeth on the clip/cutters effectively cut off the tab of energy gels when you peel them away, helping you consume the gel even quicker, and the clip also traps the remaining plastic beneath it so you don’t litter.
The only downside is that you have to remove the whole platform from your frame to reload the clips – they’re impossible to pull out once clipped into the slots. The elastic cord loops don’t cut the tops off your energy gels, but you can reload them without having to remove the platform.
It’s well priced at £14.99. Okay, they’re a slightly different beast, but top tube bags can cost a LOT more. Ortlieb’s Fuel-Pack, for example, is £62.50, and Restrap’s Short Race is £60. Even Topeak’s own Fastfuel Bag Essential is £25 – and nearly twice as heavy, probably less aero, and only mountable with straps.
Verdict
Light, aerodynamic and convenient way to carry fuel for on-the-bike consumption
All the deals displayed on our review pages are pulled from a constantly updating database feed of the best affiliate deals available. The criteria for deciding on what are the best deals is who is offering the lowest, delivered price. In most cases we will be showing the very best deal available online, but sometimes you may be able to find an item cheaper. If you can please feel free to post a link in the comments box below. To find out more about affiliate links on road.cc click here.
road.cc test report
Make and model: Topeak Fastfuel Platform – Small
Size tested: Small
Tell us what the product is for and who it’s aimed at. What do the manufacturers say about it?
Topeak says this smallest model in the Fastfuel Platform series is designed for road and gravel riders who want to take on ride fuel as quickly and safely as possible.
Topeak says: “With our Fastfuel platform, the elastic cord can secure gel packs and other fueling supplies, the FastFuel Clip / Cutter make it easy to open gel packets while riding.”
Tell us some more about the technical aspects of the product
It’s made of plastic and has five slots to attach clips and straps which can hold energy products. It’s supplied with nylon Velcro straps or you can screw it onto your top tube bolts if your frame has them. It weighs 46g and measures 14 x 4 x 1cm.
Topeak lists:
MATERIAL: Engineering grade polymer/ TPR / Nylon straps
COMPATIBILITY: Road bike/ Time Trial / Gravel bike
ATTACHMENT: Strap Mount
SIZE: 14.1 x 4 x 1.03 cm
WEIGHT: 46.2 g
FEATURES: Elastic Cord (M)x1 (S)x1
FastFuel Clip / Cutter x5
Quick Mount Strap System
Tell us how the product performed overall when used for its designed purpose
Really well: on the road, gels stay really stable and off-road they only move around a bit more. In any scenario the products are quick to remove.
Tell us what you particularly liked about the product
It fulfils the role of a fuel-only top tube bag at lower cost and weight while being more stable and aerodynamic.
Tell us what you particularly disliked about the product
Only that refilling the clips is inconvenient.
How does the price compare to that of similar products in the market, including ones recently tested on road.cc?
It costs less than small mid-range top tube bags, which do a similar job.
Did you enjoy using the product? Yes
Would you consider buying the product? Yes
Would you recommend the product to a friend? Yes
Use this box to explain your overall score
It’s near-perfect for road and gravel riding; I only wish you could reload the clips without having to remove the platform from your bike.
About the tester
Age: 31 Height: 190cm Weight: 76kg
I usually ride: Fairlight Strael 3.0 My best bike is: Canyon Ultimate CF SLX (2016, rim brake)
I’ve been riding for: 10-20 years I ride: Most days I would class myself as: Experienced
I regularly do the following types of riding: time trialling, cyclo cross, touring, club rides, Gravel
4 thoughts on “Topeak Fastfuel Platform – Small”
I’m completely confused by
I’m completely confused by this product. Why does it have both straps and clips?
The straps seem to do half the job of the clips. Why not just have clips?
Confused. 😵💫
Intrigued by the same
Intrigued by the same question, I found a video.
https://www.topeak.com/global/en/product/1634-FASTFUEL-PLATFORM
It reminds me of the X-Lab hydration kit, in that it seems almost entirely impractical unless you’re doing certain things, those certain things largely being triathlon, where it seems like a reasonable alternative to a bento box or struggling with gels in your number belt loops. Keep your spare gels in the elastics, and the ones you’ll use in the clips, and use the additional storage pocket on the long version (£35 QUID FOR A BIN????) in long races/sportives where a stray gel packet might earn you a DQ. But if you can’t reload the clips without taking the whole thing off the bike, that’s a major design flaw and there’s no way I’d buy one on that basis alone.
I’m also confused. The
I’m also confused. The elastic seems to be easier to refill on the go.
But are the elastic cords in addition to the slots, so you can load a total of 8 gels (one in each of the five slots, plus 3 in the elastic)? Or is it a total of 5 gels, 3 of which are held by elastic, 2 of which are held in the slot?
ETA – from the associated product PDF, it looks like they supply clips for all of the slots (if that’s what you want to do) plus 2 elastic cords you can use instead of the clips – so max capacity is 5 gels and you can choose whether to clip all of them in so they’re easy-open, or keep 1 or 2 under elastic.
Thankfully, I have no need of
Thankfully, I have no need of this product.
“Pan y agua”