Welcome to Grand Junction Colorado, home of
the Lunch Loops trail system. You’ll find quite a few riders spending
their lunch breaks here, as any one of these loops takes just a few minutes. Because the trailhead is always within reach,
you don’t need a lot of gear to ride the lunch loops. On the other hand, some rides require a lot
of gear, which of course comes at the expense of comfort. But there’s a sweet spot around two hours,
where you only need a bottle of water and a few tools to get by. And that’s what we’ll be talking about
today: products that keep the essentials on your bike so you don’t need to worry about
them or sacrifice any comfort. First, let’s have a look at my two hour
ride setup. Like most setups, mine starts at the water
bottle, but then on the other side is my crankbrothers clic pump. This pump has an inflation hose hidden inside,
which keeps stress off the valve stem when you’re really giving it hell. There’s actually some space inside the handle
of this pump, where I keep a valve core—wrapped in tissue paper to prevent rattling. Here we have an inner tube, strapped to my
frame with self stick hook and loop. A lot of people try to correct me and call
this velcro, but velcro is just one of many brands that make hook and loop. I digress. Up here at the fork is where things get interesting. This is my Industry Nine Matchstix multitool. The Matchstix is a thru axle, which means
installing it is easy. If you’re replacing a Maxle you’ll only
net an extra 25 grams by installing the Matchstix, which is impressive, as the matchstick comes
with a chain tool, a spoke wrench, a valve core wrench, quick link storage, and whatever
selection of hex and torx bits you need. A few videos ago I was kinda hard on this
tool for being pricey, but for its capabilities the matchstix is the lightest lowest impact
integrated tool, period. So there’s definitely a market willing to
pay $145 for this. I wish I could say the same for the all in
multi tool, which fits in hollow bottom brackets and costs $110. At that price, it doesn’t even have a chain
tool, spoke wrenches, or valve core wrenches. This thing is barebones. With that said, it’s still impressive. Although it doesn’t fit all cranksets, it
fits most, and it does so magnetically which makes it surprisingly secure. Once you have the tool in your hand it’s
very easy to change bits, and it even turns sideways to give you leverage—maybe the
most leverage. But while the All in Multitool is stealthy,
secure, high quality, and attractive, it lags behind the competition in terms of capability. Speaking of a tool that’s low on capability,
I’m now installing the Topeak Ninja which is actually designed for road bikes. Why is it called the ninja? Although it’s just a bottle cage with a
micro multi tool in it, the Ninja costs only $33—and as you would expect from topeak,
it’s nice. The bottle cage is very good, the compartment
is slick, and for some riders the Ninja will be an inexpensive way to never leave their
tool behind—this, coming from a guy who would definitely leave his tool at home if
it wasn’t attached to him. Although the Ninja has the same capabilities
as the all in multi tool, it costs less than a third and comes with a good bottle cage. For that, I can give it some latitude. In terms of value, I think this next tool
may be the winner. This is the Synchros Matchbox Tailor Cage,
which costs $80. It’s a bottle cage, which reveals a slide
out tool kit. It features a chain tool, spoke wrenches,
and all the allen keys you need including an 8 mil. It even comes with a tiny pump that telescopes
to give you more air volume. Although the pump doesn’t have a strain
relief hose, I would give it a chance for it’s compact size. You could also swap it out if you really wanted
to. But one of the best things about the Tailor
is how stout the bottle cage is. It’s way overkill, which is perfect for
mountain biking! My only complaint is that the actual tool
feels kinda chintzy, but I think it would still get you back on the trail. While the Synchros Matchbox Tailor Cage won’t
win any marketing awards for its name, it gives you the most bang for your buck, period. And now the crown jewel of this segment, the
One Up Components EDC. This thing is seriously well made, and at
$60 the price seems too good to be true. That’s because the EDC is modular. You either spend $60 on a pump that it fits
inside of, or $60 on a kit that lets you install it in your steerer tube. So it’s more like $120 which puts it up
there with the most premium tools, but premium it is. In its pump configuration you’ll carry this
large, but not ridiculously large pump. It has tons of volume and can even hold a
20g CO2 inside with the tool. Ditch the CO2, and you get this storage compartment
which is probably large enough for a tubeless patch kit or an entire valve stem. If you want to install the EDC in your steerer
tube you’ll need the top cap and tap kit. The tap kit comes with everything you need
to remove your star nut, and actually cut threads into your steerer. Once you’ve threaded your steerer, you can
secure your headset bearings using the top cap and a cassette tool. The EDC then slides in and stays put. With a chain tool, a tire lever, CO2 storage,
and quick link storage, the EDC is well equipped, but it doesn’t end there. The multi tool lets you combine these two
wrenches to make one 8mm, which you’ll probably need to step on if you’re doing pedals. But that little piece serves another purpose:
quick link removal—you might want to watch this instructional video. I’m glad I figured this out in my garage
instead of, I don’t don’t know, the desert? So now that we’ve looked at some tools,
I want to show you a hack to extend your ride time. Filtering water bottles let you re-up from
any water source—even sketchy ones. But after searching my local REI and even
Amazon, I was unable to find one that fits a bike bottle cage. To be clear, I mean that the bottle would
need this indentation which keeps it from popping out. This one looked like it would work, but it’s
too wide and the indentation doesn’t line up. Life straw sells these filtering caps, which
I was sure would work. They didn’t. But ironically, this Life Straw bottle had
just the right top, for $45. Nevertheless, the cap fits a 26oz bike bottle,
and might just extend your ride with a carefully planned route. I’m going to see if I can ride all day with
with this once my wrist heals. So now that I have in front of me all the
major integrated tools, you’re probably wondering if my setup has changed. And it has. On my trail bike, I’m now running the Synchros
Matchbox with my custom lifestraw bottle. I love the compact pump and the robust bottle
cage. I also love how everything disconnects from
the bike into a mini toolkit. You probably thought I’d choose the EDC,
but I’m actually planning to use that on a special bike this summer. I did use the EDC tool strap for my inner
tube. You can really crank down on it. As for my single speed hardtail, aka the Murder
Machine, it’s getting the matchstix. I use it at parks, jumps, and quick loops
where I don’t need to bring anything. Since the matchstix has virtually zero impact
on a bike, it’s the perfect tool that I can never accidentally forget. It makes me think that the Matchstix could
be the perfect companion to a downhill bike, or a dirt jumper. Anyway I hope you guys enjoyed this mashup
of integrated tools. There were some others that I didn’t include,
like the ritchey barkeepers, and a few proprietary tools from specialized that won’t work on
my bikes. Integrated tool storage is an exciting category
that I want to see grow. As a very forgetful person, it’s nice to
know the essentials will always be with me.
