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Wolf Tooth B-RAD Medium Strap and Accessory Mount

8
£34.00

VERDICT:

8
10
Very secure storage strap which, unlike others, has to be bolted to your frame
Wide and grippy strap
Secure
Won't damage paint
Limited to being bolted to something
Bit pricey
Weight: 
49g

At road.cc every product is thoroughly tested for as long as it takes to get a proper insight into how well it works. Our reviewers are experienced cyclists that we trust to be objective. While we strive to ensure that opinions expressed are backed up by facts, reviews are by their nature an informed opinion, not a definitive verdict. We don't intentionally try to break anything (except locks) but we do try to look for weak points in any design. The overall score is not just an average of the other scores: it reflects both a product's function and value – with value determined by how a product compares with items of similar spec, quality, and price.

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The Wolf Tooth B-RAD Medium Strap and Accessory Mount is a very good and secure means of attaching riding gear to your bike. While it's a lot like many straps that serve the same purpose, it's also very different in that it comes with its own metal base plate that bolts directly to the frame for extra security. It costs quite a bit more too, but you get peace of mind.

The B-RAD Medium Strap and Accessory Mount is a two-part system – there's the strap bit and the base plate bit. The strap is much like other strap-things-to-bikes straps but is usefully wide at 2in and just over 12in long – the extra acreage of Velcro makes it a lot more unshakeably reassuring to strap things into.

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A thick foam pad at the loop end of the strap protects your gubbins from the metal plate and really allows you to squish your stuff down into it. There's a small reflective tab at the end of the strap, too.

This strap threads through a metal base plate that's designed to mount directly to the bottle braze-ons on your frame using the included spacers and bolts, although Wolf Tooth recommends using a B-RAD Base to bolt it to.

2021 Wolf Tooth B-RAD Medium Strap and Accessory Mount.jpg

As a strap system to carry some extra stuff on your frame it works very well; you can fit an inner tube or two in there (depending on size) and a multi-tool, and maybe even a thin mini-pump if you're crafty. Or just cinch a lightweight jacket in there and pedal on – it all depends on your specific needs, really.

There are smaller and larger versions if you need to carry less or more.

As a strap it's very secure. The side of the strap that's holding onto your cargo is made out of Toughtek Grip Fabric which has hundreds of tiny rubberised dots so it really wants to hold onto things, and you can really haul on the strap to tighten it against that metal plate. All of this combined with the strap width means nothing's going to slowly slip out over the course of a ride, no matter how bumpy.

> 15 easy ways to carry stuff on your bike 

Being able to bolt the strap to a bike's bottle bosses via the base plate adds an extra level of security to the Wolf Tooth strap system, because it's not going to shuffle about or be knocked sideways as other straps that just loop round a frame are prone to do.

> Emergency essentials: 10 things you should take with you on every ride

Being securely attached to a bottle boss or the Wolf Tooth Base also means there's no chance of the strap or contained bits scratching or rubbing the paint on your precious bike. The downside is that it lacks the adaptability of a loose strap that can be attached where you want on the bike.

Value and conclusion

At twice the price of some frame straps, the B-RAD Medium Strap and Accessory Mount does seem quite a lot of money, especially when all you're getting extra is a plate of metal. The Effetto Mariposa Espresso Strap Lungo is currently around £12 (15 CHF) and the Lezyne Sendit Caddy is £21. But the B-RAD strap is a lot wider and grippier than most, and that metal plate does a great job of being very solid and immovable, and doesn't scuff your frame's paint, so that extra dent in your credit card might make it worthwhile. You do lose the adaptability of slapping the strap anywhere on the bike, though.

If you use the Strap and Mount in conjunction with the B-RAD Mounting Base this does open up your mounting options, but you'll have to put your hand deeper into your wallet.

Verdict

Very secure storage strap which, unlike others, has to be bolted to your frame

road.cc test report

Make and model: Wolf Tooth B-RAD Medium Strap and Accessory Mount

Size tested: One

Tell us what the product is for and who it's aimed at. What do the manufacturers say about it? How does that compare to your own feelings about it?

Wolf Tooth says, 'Medium Strap and Accessory Mount allows you to carry accessories on your bike frame instead of in jersey pockets or backpack. Securely strap 2-3.25" diameter items like CO2 cartridges, tubes, jackets, bags, and more. Lightweight, durable, rust-proof materials Includes the mounting plate, strap and associated ED-coated hardware. Extremely grippy and flexible strap with reflective tab and foam pad.'

As a system for strapping bits to your bike it works really well and is incredibly secure.

Tell us some more about the technical aspects of the product?

Wolf Tooth lists:

Mounts directly to the braze-ons on your frame using the included spacers.

A B-RAD base is recommended if you want to adjust the mount's position along the frame tube or mount a bottle inline above it.

Compatible with any frame that uses standard 64mm spacing bottle cage braze-ons (basically every modern frame) Securely straps items 50-80mm in diameter

Hardware included is T25 Torx head

Weight: 42g (plate and strap)

Material: Bracket - 6061-T6 aluminum, 50mm x 80mm. Hardware – stainless steel. Strap – Toughtek® Grip Fabric, Hook and Loop, 3M® SALAS reflective tab, EVA foam pad.

50mm wide, 330mm long

Holds 50-80mm diameter (2-3.25 inches)

Tools Needed: T25 Torx

Rate the product for quality of construction:
 
9/10

It's a well made and rugged accessory.

Rate the product for performance:
 
9/10

It really does hold onto your ride gubbins incredibly well.

Rate the product for durability:
 
9/10

It's all quality components and construction; it's going to last a while.

Rate the product for weight (if applicable)
 
4/10

It's heavier than a standard frame strap thanks to its width and metal base plate; you might feel it's worth it.

Rate the product for value:
 
5/10

It's more expensive than a standard frame strap but you do get the extra security of a metal plate.

Tell us how the product performed overall when used for its designed purpose

The Wolf Tooth Strap and Accessory Mount holds a small selection of your ride spares to your bike incredibly securely thanks to its wide grippy strap and mounting plate.

Tell us what you particularly liked about the product

Secure strap and solid base plate.

Tell us what you particularly disliked about the product

It needs to be bolted to a bike somehow so lacks the adaptability of a normal put-anywhere frame strap.

How does the price compare to that of similar products in the market, including ones recently tested on road.cc?

The B-RAD Strap and Accessory Mount is a bit on its own. The Effetto Mariposa Espresso Strap Lungo is a similarly wide strap at a fraction of the price (£14) that isn't limited to a bottle boss mount but could scuff your paintwork. The Lezyne Sendit Caddy looks a tidy option too, with its little tool pouch keeping things tidily away from grime, and costs £21.

Did you enjoy using the product? Yes

Would you consider buying the product? Yes

Would you recommend the product to a friend? Yes, as a more secure, more permanent alternative to a standard frame strap.

Use this box to explain your overall score

Overall, I'd say it's very good. As an alternative to a normal frame strap it's more solid and secure – but only if you have have some bottle bosses spare or want to buy into the Wolf Tooth B-RAD system.

Overall rating: 8/10

About the tester

Age: 50  Height: 180cm  Weight: 73kg

I usually ride: It varies as to the season.  My best bike is: The one I\'m on at the time

I've been riding for: Over 20 years  I ride: Most days  I would class myself as: Experienced

I regularly do the following types of riding: road racing, cyclo cross, general fitness riding, fixed/singlespeed, mtb, Fun

Jo Burt has spent the majority of his life riding bikes, drawing bikes and writing about bikes. When he's not scribbling pictures for the whole gamut of cycling media he writes words about them for road.cc and when he's not doing either of those he's pedaling. Then in whatever spare minutes there are in between he's agonizing over getting his socks, cycling cap and bar-tape to coordinate just so. And is quietly disappointed that yours don't He rides and races road bikes a bit, cyclo-cross bikes a lot and mountainbikes a fair bit too. Would rather be up a mountain.

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3 comments

Avatar
wycombewheeler | 2 years ago
0 likes

Is the tool cover heated like the jackets on formula one tyres? keeping your tools at optimum temperature ready for when you need them? or just insulated like a duvet?

Avatar
yupiteru | 2 years ago
2 likes

I think this is quite a good idea but traditionaly people used a bottle cage and an old toe strap or two to achieve a similar thing.

In the olden days everyone had spare toe straps but I suppose it is only old farts like me that have any these days.

Avatar
fenix replied to yupiteru | 2 years ago
0 likes

It's probably my lack of imagination but £34 or just shove the things you wanted to carry into an old water bottle or utility bottle ?  That would be more secure too ? 

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