Categories: Accessories and GearGeneralReverence

Reverence: Lezyne Rule 31 Sack

Simplicity is its middle name.

Rule #31 was conceived out of necessity, aesthetics and plain good taste. Seeing an oversized saddle bag hanging limply by velcro under a Flite, Arione or Regal just isn’t right. Frame pumps, while they undoubtedly do the finest job of inflating a tube, add nothing but bulk and clutter to the lines of a frame (and aren’t compatible with the majority of curvy, plastic frames prominent today). While a folded tubular held under the seat with a Christophe toe-strap may have been de riguer and kinda cool back in the day, running tubs nowadays is not only uncommon, but an exercise in futility should one ride on any road less smooth and glass-free than a baby’s bum. So you see, Rule #31 was a no-brainer.

But even this most important of Rules has its drawbacks; stuffing the three pockets of your jersey can leave you looking like the Hunchback of Notre Dame, albeit with the hunch on the lower back, and more akin to a series of tumours across the hips and lower spine. Not a pretty sight. My usual pocket-stuffing routine would entail a tube and tyre levers bundled together with a rubber band, stuffed in the middle pocket, with a mini pump accompanying it. The phone would go in the right hip pocket, along with a camera (if there were to be some photo ops along the route, or blatant bike porn shots) and gels and bars in the left. Any extraneous clothing shed en route (arm warmers, cap, gloves) would then be forced in wherever they would fit. If a jacket was required, then all hell would break loose.

But recently I happened by chance upon an item that has made my life, and my riding experience all the easier and clutter-free. Lezyne products were having a season launch of their new, cool gear, and everyone attending received a free gift; in my case, I was handed the Caddy Sack, a simple PVC pouch. Inside was a metal patch kit with glueless patches, and a pair of mini tyre levers. I took it with a degree of dismissal, thinking it would just end up in the pile of superfluous bike crap scattered around my house. But I decided I’d see how much I could load it up, and was surprised to find that it holds a veritable shitload of gear. There’s room aplenty for a tube, levers, patch kit, multi tool, card wallet and phone. But if I want to, I can easily ft in another tube, a bar or two and a couple of gels. And it fits with ease into the middle pocket of all my jerseys, especially the sweet V jersey which is always the go-to garment of choice. This leaves the two outside pockets with more room than ever for whatever the ride requires from the aforementioned list-of-crap-one-may-carry.

Sitting alongside the 31 Sack is always the best mini pump I’ve ever used, the Lezyne Pressure Drive M (for medium). Why is it the best? Just look at it! It’s sexy, yeah, but for such a small unit it packs plenty of air into each stroke, and I can get a geniune 100PSI into my tubes during any roadside repair. But the best feature is the flexible screw-in hose, which eliminates the chance of breaking off the screw-on end of Presta valves, as has happened to the best of us when vigourously hacking away with a fixed-head pump. C’mon, admit it, you’ve done it. No more chance of that with this little beauty. Quite simply, it rules (31 especially).

Brett

Don't blame me

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View Comments

sgt says:

Nov 9 2010 at 2:16 pm

frank:

...the physics is rock solid that it's more efficient to move weight to a more stable object. Whether it's a noticeable difference, well...now we're definitely getting into murky territory, but it's probably measurable if you had a good enough lab.

No empirical data here, but when I abandoned the Fizik bag for the pockets, the bike definitely handled differently... not a huge difference, but noticeable
G'phant says:

Nov 9 2010 at 2:27 pm

@frank
Fair enough. I won't wear it with the V-kit. But I will wear it. Funnily enough, the only thing problematic about it is that if my helmet mirror gets knocked it reflescts the flashing from the sash (which I always have on rapid-flash mode). But I guess that doesn't make you feel any better. May as well confess that I also wear one of these http://www.roadid.com/Common/Catalog.aspx?C=RoadID#5.
Steampunk says:

Nov 9 2010 at 4:04 pm

@G'phant
While this is all eminently sensible"”and I'll be the last to condemn a rider for that, no matter how against the rules it might be"”I find Frank's response somewhat consoling; when I get shelled out the back of the group climb Mt. Velominatus, I know I'll be in good company.
G'phant says:

Nov 9 2010 at 4:12 pm

@Steampunk
Great to have you on the team...
mcsqueak says:

Nov 9 2010 at 4:24 pm

@G'phant

I wear a RoadID as well. I use to just take my drivers license with me on rides, but I kept on forgetting it with my bike crap after a ride. Do you know how annoying it is to get to a bar and realize you can't buy yourself a drink because you left your ID at home with your bike gear, and having to rely on your friends to sneak you drinks like you're a damned 19 year old? After about 5 or 6 times of doing that I said screw it and just ordered a RoadID.

I do a fair bit of solo riding as well (probably 75% of my riding), so I just feel better having it in case I take a header into a ditch or something. The paramedics need a way to know who owns the sweet saddle bag, after all.
Marcus says:

Nov 9 2010 at 4:34 pm

@G'phant
You are definitely Bad G'phant today.

Regarding your Sheep in the Night, did you have to sing Sinatra first or did she just cough it up without much of a fight?
frank says:

Nov 9 2010 at 5:39 pm

Nothing wrong with RoadID, other than the fact the Eggtimer and Bob "Talking Hands" Roll promote them.

@mcsqueak
You need your ID to get into a bar? How old are you? If a bartender asks me for my ID, I puff up my chest and, upon my return to the table, declare loudly that the "hot bartender" appears to fancy a "ride on the Dutch train".

@Marcus

Regarding your Sheep in the Night, did you have to sing Sinatra first or did she just cough it up without much of a fight?

HA! Just...HA!!
mcsqueak says:

Nov 9 2010 at 6:20 pm

@frank

Most of the time yeah, unless it's a place where they know me. I'm a young looking 28 and I don't rock any facial hair.
Oli Brooke-White says:

Nov 9 2010 at 7:33 pm

frank:
@Oli Brooke-White, @G'phant
G'phant, that's exactly right; the bike moves quite a bit more than the body, hopefully - for example if you're standing and swaying the bike back and forth, or if riding over bumps, the bike would move up and down and your body would use your arms and legs to absorb shock and would itself move less than the bike. I'm not saying it's a lot, but it would be a measurable, if insignificant, difference.
As a thought experiment, imagine a really heavy saddlebag that is filled with, say, a kilo of lead. Attach it to your saddle very loosely with a soft bit of Velcro or something so that it does not stay put very well. Then, if you stand and sway the bike back and forth, there would be a noticeable and significant effect caused by the bag moving about.
If you instead put the kilo of lead on your back, you'd definitely feel the strain of the added weight on your back and in your legs, but it would be constant and less prone to the effects of movement and therefor take less energy to transport it.
Now, the lighter the bag and the more firmly it's attached to the frame the less you'll notice, but the effect still exists, even if it's negligible.

I'm sorry, but if we're talking about a spare tube, tyre levers and the odd air canister (like everyone has been) this is utterly ridiculous. How about the weight of the things in your pockets weighing you down as you get out of the saddle? What about the weight being up higher affecting the centre of gravity?

If you're talking about a kilo of lead (does it have to be lead) swinging around loose then maybe I can see your point, until then it just looks like a nutty justification for one of the Rules...
Mr Haven says:

Nov 9 2010 at 7:42 pm

I say settle this like gentleman. Frame Pump Duel at Dawn.