Wolf Tooth recently added another star to their B-RAD on-bike storage constellation, a TekLite bag that’s designed to fit virtually any bike, in any position. I’ve been riding with one for a couple weeks now, and here’s what I’ve found.
The B-RAD TekLite Roll-Top Bag ($49.95 with the mounting plate, available at Wolf Tooth and Amazon) is offered in 0.6L and 1L sizes (1L tested) and can be purchased with or without the B-RAD mounting plate. Without the mounting plate, the bag can be attached to saddle rails or pretty much anywhere on a bike frame using the included hook-and-loop strap. As a saddle bag, the TekLite Roll-Top Bag works well, even with a dropper post as shown above.
My hardtail has just a single bottle cage mount, located inside the down tube, so I tried mounting the bag on the seat tube using just the strap as shown in the top photo. With round tubes there isn’t a lot of contact surface for the silicon grippers and I found the bag quickly worked its way down toward the bottom bracket. Much to my surprise it didn’t get in the way of pedaling, though it does looks odd and isn’t ideal. In this scenario, the bag likely works much better mounted to squarish tubes like those found on many carbon mountain bike frames.
B-RAD is an acronym that stands for bottle relocation and accessory device, and it’s a system Wolf Tooth has designed to make mounting various accessories to a bike frame easier and more flexible. A B-RAD base can be attached using a bike’s bottle cage mounts, and a B-RAD mount — like the one included in the bundle I tested — attaches to the base. Finally, the TekLite Roll-Top Bag attaches to the mount using the included strap.
To keep my bag from sliding along the frame, I decided to improvise a bit and attached the B-RAD mount directly to my bottle cage mounts, skipping the base plate, with the cage on top of that. Fortunately the bolts in my cage mount were plenty long and it worked. Reading through the instructions and marketing materials, this likely is not what Wolf Tooth intended with their design, but the customer is always right, right? Really it’s a testament to the versatility of the whole system and there are likely countless other ways folks will find to mount B-RAD accessories that are essentially off-label.
The bag and strap
I’ve covered mounting for the TekLite Roll-Top Bag, so now it’s time to talk features. TekLite is a material that is designed to be both waterproof and durable, and the bag is clearly well constructed. The roll-top makes it easy to access items quickly, and the bag can be folded down to fit exactly what’s inside. This type of closure is standard for dry bags, and Wolf Tooth suggests the bag could even be used for carrying a smartphone, though I’m not 100% confident in its ability to protect sensitive electronics.
A far better use for the TekLite Roll-Top Bag, in my opinion, is to store flat repair items. The 1L size offers plenty of room for a 29er tube, a small pump, a 2oz. bottle of sealant, tire plugs, and a tire lever. I also like to carry a tube patch kit in case things get really desperate, and a CO2 inflator wouldn’t be a bad idea either. All of this fits just fine. Alternatively the bag could fit an extra layer or a whole day’s worth of snacks.
In addition to the silicon grippers, the included strap features a reflective tab for added visibility on the road. The strap itself is wide and thick, plenty strong to hold a heavyish load over bumpy trails for miles on end.
Overall I really like the Wolf Tooth TekLite Roll-Top Bag. It offers just the right amount of storage and it’s adaptable enough that I can move it from bike to bike so I always have my flat repair kit on hand.
⭐️ Find the Wolf Tooth TekLite Roll-Top Bag at Wolf Tooth and Amazon.
