Last winter we saw Apidura introduce their combination water bottle or random snack hauling pack in the stem and/or bar mounted Food Pouch. Now the bag that we have grown to love (and fight over) adds new & useful features, plus a bigger option as the new Backcountry Food Pouch Plus.
Apidura Backcountry Food Pouch Plus stem bags
Apidura teased us saying the Backcountry Food Pouch Plus is the first of many updates we should expect in 2018. We already saw a few updates back at Eurobike with expanded fully waterproof offerings & more. Now the little stem/bar mounted bottle bag gets more functionality and a pair of sizes.
It might seem like a basic bag not to get overly excited about. But after the last year doing a lot of loaded mixed-surface bikepacking, these ‘Food Pouches’ have been fought over at our Bikerumor EU office. With a framebag sometimes blocking regular bottle braze-ons, or even just making access to standard cages a bit tough, we keep reaching for the Food Pouch to hold a small bottle where it is easy to reach and secure behind the bar. It also has become a go-to for quick access to a compact system camera for riding photos.
Of course having one for a camera on one side of the stem, and a second on the other to stuff full of all manner of snacks and in colder weather a pair of gloves or Buff is great. Although I rarely manage to head out on trips without one getting borrowed for someone else’s bike.
Anyway, the new Food Pouch Plus simply adds a three stretchy mesh pockets to the outside of the little bag. That makes it easy to carry a small snack like a candy bar, gel, or pack of energy chews. Plus it also gives you a place to stash trash like those bar wrappers. The Plus pouches also adds a small drain hole at the bottom. And it makes the lower leash webbing strap removable for those who don’t need the extra security. (We like that strap for added stability for any off-road riding, especially loaded with a camera.)
Two sizes available
Now Apidura offers the new Food Pouch Plus in two sizes. There’s the standard £38 Food Pouch Plus 0.8L+ which at about 16cm tall fully covers a 500ml bottle. And now the larger £42 Food Pouch Plus 1.2L+ that is 19cm tall covering a 750ml bottle. Each tacking on about 20g more than the same sized original. The standard Food Pouch is still available without the external pockets or updates for £35 for the smaller & £39 for the larger sizes. All feature the same removable/adjustable velcro straps to fit any bar setup and the one-handed bungee design that cinches the top closed.
