Love traveling with your bike, but hate getting it there? Us too. Unfortunately, one of the necessary evils to bicycle tourism (if you want to have your own bike) is figuring out how to get it safely packed so the airlines, shipping companies, or whoever doesn’t destroy it in the process.
There are already a bunch of options out there for bike cases, but Topeak has just introduced another one. Called the Pakgo X, the container is part hard case, part repair stand, and all about keeping your bike safe.
Inside the case, you’ll find a removable work stand that is also hingeable – meaning you can mount it inside the case, and then open both sides like a clamshell. This allows you to package the bike while it’s on the stand, then easily close up the case around it. Or, you can remove the stand to work on the bike outside. Topeak says a support stand is on the way so you won’t have to mount it on the ground or a table. Since the case is only big enough to fit a road, cross, or gravel bike, the stand is thru axle compatible up to 12 x 142mm in the rear and comes with the necessary dummy axles to keep your frame and fork safe.
The case also includes all the foam padding and covers for the drivetrain as well as padded wheel bags to keep everything protected while inside the case.
Equipped with an integrated TSA compliant lock, the hard shell case includes four external wheels for easy maneuvering through the airport, and the full case without a bike is said to weigh about 26lbs. Available this spring, the case should sell for about $850-900 and replacement parts will also be available.
Another item in the bag category, the new Fast Fuel dry bag combines a dimpled plastic hard shell to keep the contents from bulging out and rubbing your knees when standing to climb – but it also makes for a waterproof bag with sealed seams and a waterproof zipper.
Love the moto-style stands but hate how much room they take up? The Flashstand MX takes care of the problem with a removeable support arm that clips to the base when not in use.
Moving along to pumps, the venerable Joe Blow gets a small update with the new Sport 3. The pump features a longer lever for the locking twin head valve as well as a pivoting hose while keeping the price low to remain one of the most popular budget floor pumps.
The Twin Turbo on the other hand is a high end pump that uses a dual chamber design to inflate high volume and high pressure tires faster than ever. On the pull stroke the pump fills the smaller chamber, and on the push stroke it empties both chambers for faster inflation.
Similar technology can be found in the new Mountain TT hand pump that offers 90.9cc per stroke out of a very small form.
Compare that to the dual action series of pumps, which inflate on both strokes. The difference is that the Twin Turbo pumps offer more volume with less effort than their DA counterparts – TT Mountain is 90.9cc, while the DA Mountain is 81.4cc.
Lastly, the Turbo Morph flip out floor pump and the Shuttle gauge, both gain digital readouts for more accurate pressure monitoring. An interesting feature with the Shuttle – you can attach it directly to any pump head, and then connect the gauge to the valve for a digital readout on any pump that has a schrader head.
