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Price: $35 Weight: 110 grams (cage, bag, bolts) Material: stainless steel, ballistic nylon Miles ridden: 35 Obtained: Test sample from company |
A Cool New Way to Carry Your Flat Repair Kit
When Tallac owner Allen Young, who invented the Behold cage and Kargo Bag, brought his clever new product to my attention, it caught me by surprise. I was expecting a pitch about a new way to carry your essentials. Instead, he mentioned my column on finding
and fixing bicycle noises, and said, “Noises from seat bags and the contents in them drive me nuts, so I created the Behold cage and pouch. It provides a quiet/rattle-free ride.”
Allen may not have known it, but he was preaching to the choir. Seat bags have a tendency to shake the heaviest items to the bottom, where they can make a knocking or banging noise against the seatpost (or the hard plastic skeleton of certain bags). Also,
the contents can make a racket against each other if They’re not secured or padded.
Tip: To prevent rattles and noises, wrap items in a rag and secure them with a rubber band. The rag will come in handy for cleaning. It also helps prevent sharp items from puncturing your seat bag or spare tube.
Even if you can keep things quiet, seat bags that wrap around theseatpost and seat rails can slowly wear those things, which is not very pleasing when you see the damage that was hiding beneath the straps. The seat bag itself can wear, too, leading to
losing things that fall out of the hole worn in the bag (I’ve lost some nice mini-tools that way).
No more rattles or bag, seat and post wear and tear
The Behold system addresses all these concerns. It’s composed of the tig-welded stainless-steel Behold cage that is installed with the included stainless bolts beneath one of your bottle cages and then bolted to the frame. And it comes with the ballistic-nylon
zippered Kargo bag that slips into the Behold cage and is secured by built-in straps and buckles.
The Behold cage is made by King Cage in Durango, Colorado. I’ve been using their titanium and stainless cages for years and love them. The Behold shows the same nice craftsmanship and durable construction. It also perfectly complements my King cages.
Tip: The screws provided with the Behold are just right for use with King bottle cages. You may need longer screws for other types. Also, you have to put the cage where it fits depending on your bicycle and bottle arrangement. On
one of my bikes it only worked on the seat tube. When I put it on the down tube it prevented me from fully inserting my second bottle.
Sized just right
The Kargo bag measures 7 x 3.1 x 1.18 inches (180 x 80 x 30mm) and has a heavy duty nylon zipper down the center and adjustable straps with buckles on both ends. To secure the bag the buckles click into matching straps you mount beneath the Behold cage.
There’s enough room inside the bag for a spare tube, tire levers and a CO2 inflator, patch kit, tire boot, cash and a small mini-tool.
If you try to overstuff the bag you may not be able to fit it back into the cage. I tried to insert my larger Crank Brothers mini-tool and that was enough to prevent the bag from fitting.
The other difference between the Behold and a standard seat bag is that you need to remove the bag in order to unzip it. The cage blocks the zipper so you can’t get at your tube or tools with the bag still on the bike. THere’s a lot to be said, though,
for holding your kit securely, eliminating noises and wear and tear.
Tip: When I saw the Behold it reminded me of an old idea, the bottle “bag.” Back before we knew how important proper hydration was, some of us rode with a single drinking bottle and used the other for stashing our spare tube, levers
and other goodies. All you need is a wide-mouth bottle so you get everything in and out. It’s waterproof, too.
Might even improve the ride
Loaded with your spares and tools, some riders notice the weight of seat bags since They’re held high. When standing to climb you rock the bike, and That’s when you’re probably most likely to feel the contents, especially if you overstuff or simply like
a larger seat bag.
If That’s you, the Behold eliminates that issue nicely (the cage with hardware weighs only 70 grams). Removing a seat bag also makes the seat and post area look cleaner, which you might like if you’d rather show off your fancy components than cover them
up. Or you could move your tire repair kit to the Behold cage and then run a smaller, lighter seat bag for your other stuff.
Tip: don’t forget that you can also carry your tire-repair kit in your jersey pocket if you’re really opposed to adding anything to your bicycle. That’s my approach when racing.
How you carry your gear is among the most personal choices we make. I think the Behold cage and Kargo bag offer a nice new option that will appeal to many riders.
March 2012
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