Topeak Escape Pod+ with Tube Cube

The Topeak Escape Pod+ with Tube Cube is a great way to carry your tools and spare tubes on your bike. It allows you to keep those items more organised than would be the case with a single-compartment storage unit. The inner liner stops it rattling and overall it works well, though there are cheaper alternatives out there.

Topeak’s Escape Pod+ with Tube Cube is an evolution of the Escape Pod that Mike reviewed a few years ago. Topeak’s tool bottles are made from an engineering-grade polymer that should stand the test of time, in contrast to my adapted cheap cycling water bottle that cracked.

It has two compartments, with the lower one getting a removable foam lining designed to reduce rattling; the top compartment has to make do without a lining.

The ‘Tube Cube’ name for that top compartment hints at what it’s designed for. There’s also a tiny compartment inside the lid for a coin battery or repair patch. But it requires a coin or similar to unscrew it for access, and I don’t see the point if I can’t open it just using my fingers.

You don’t need to use the Tube Cube as the lid will also screw straight onto the bottom compartment, which you can buy as the Escape Pod+, which weighs 60g, has a 520cc capacity and costs £12.99.

I’ve been using the old style Elite Byasi tool bottle for years, which is very similar to the Bontrager Tool Bottle. If you can spare one of your bottle cages, I think it’s one of the best ways to carry tools.

It’s easy to remove for security, easy to swap between bikes and probably easier for tool access than a saddle bag. It also leaves the seatpost and under-saddle area free for mounting a rear light, camera or radar.

If you like to keep your tools organised, then the Topeak is worth a look, though it won’t work with every tool out there. The Wolf Tooth 8-Bit Kit doesn’t fit in the bottom compartment, and if you run deep-section rims, you might find an inner tube’s long stem won’t fit in the Tube Cube. So I’d certainly check what you want to carry before buying.

My setup

After a bit of tweaking, I settled on carrying a couple of long-stemmed lightweight TPU tubes in the bottom, wrapped in a plastic bag to avoid deterioration, along with a couple of Pedros tyre levers and a Lezyne multi tool.

In the Tube Cube I carried a rechargeable Cycplus Mini Pump alongside a Peaty’s Tubeless Repair Kit and another small plastic bag containing a set of disc pads, a small folding knife for tubeless worm trimming and other small items.

This might be more than you carry, but is is my up-to-200km-ride kit that I don’t have to think about.

Everything is stored easily with the items I’m most likely to need – for example to repair a tubeless puncture – all together in the top compartment, with nothing rattling at all.

It’s a bit bigger and a little heavier than my Elite bottle, but organisationally it’s an improvement. And I think that given the material Topeak has used for its construction that it’s likely to last for years too.

Value

At £16.99 the Topeak isn’t the cheapest way to carry tools on your bike. Stuffing them in your jersey pocket is free of course, but not everybody likes to carry tools on them.

The B’twin Tool Bottle cost just £1.99 when we tested it 10 years ago, and while not available in that guise any more, Decathlon does sell the similar Polisport 600ml Tool Box Bottle for a still bargain priced £4.99.

The Bontrager Storage Bottle mentioned above is still available, the well-made, two-section bottle’s £9.99 price splitting the difference between the Topeak and Decathlon options.

You can spend more for alternative tool-carrying solutions, with one of my favourites being Topeak’s Aero Wedge Medium, which will set you back £22.99.

Conclusion

Yes, you can buy cheaper storage bottles, but I’ve been impressed by Topeak’s Escape Pod+ with Tube Cube. It has the right capacity to carry the tools and spares I want to carry without rattling, and with two compartments I can use the top section for the tools I need the easiest and speediest access to. The tough material used for its construction suggests that it should last you for a fair few years too.

Verdict

Well-organised solution for carrying tools that feels like it should last for years, though it’s not that cheap

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