The Guys at 76 Projects sent me two of their Anti Strap System widgets (A.S.S.) Namely the Ass Slider and Ass Clip.
Ass Clip, The top tube bag, feed bag, Tri bag or whatever you want to refer to it as is a very versatile piece of bike luggage. It can go from a very low profile aerodynamic pouch that will fit a few gels in to a much larger bag capable of carrying a wallet, phone camera, jelly babies and all manner of stuff that you might need to access when on the move. It’s versatility is also it’s downfall though as the larger the bag gets and the more items get stuffed into it the more unstable it gets. Afterall the support it relies on is limited to the width of your bike’s top tube and even the widest of aluminium or carbon frames is not huge and a lovely springy steel frame is generally made of very narrow pipes indeed
This instability becomes really annoying when the bag leans to one side or another and needs constant adjustment. Stop at a junction and then go to ride away and you find you’ve knocked the bag and it’s now catching your knee, ride a lumpy bit of trail and out the corner of your eye see the bag bouncing around. This is floppy bag syndrome and no matter how you strap the bag to the stem or frame the top heavy nature of it makes it lean and generally become very annoying!
But don’t worry, 76 projects have a cure! and the cure even works on skinny frames that still rely on straps to secure the bottom. The Ass clip consists of a ring that takes the place of one of your headset spacers and an “L” shape bracket, flat at one end with grooves to attach it to your bag and the other a half open loop that neatly and securely fits around the ring on your steerer tune. When attached it allows free movement of the stem and bars but crucially anchors the bag securely with no Floppy Bag Syndrome!
The clip weighs next to nothing and has stopped the flop on my steel frame, I’d stopped using a top tube bag because of floppy bag syndrome and this little clip has cured it and opened up lots of carrying options. Pair this with the A.S.S. Slider for the ultimate combination.
The A.S.S. Slider is two short strips of plastic, one that fits to your frame via the top tube bag mounts and the other to the bottom of your bag. This allows the bag to slide on and slide off easily but when pushed on is very secure.
combine this with the ASS Clip and it makes the bag completely strap free! It can be slid back and off as the clip on the steerer just slides off too. So, want to swap one bag between two bikes? easy with a mount on each. want to take your valuables with you when leaving your bike? just unclip the bag and go. Return and slide the bag back on in seconds and away you go.
But what, I hear you cry, do i do if my frame doesn’t have bag mounts to bolt the slider on to? Well fear not, 76 Projects include a 3M sticky patch that very effectively sticks the mount to your frame allowing any frame at all to run the system.
The A.S.S. Slider and Clip together form an unbeatable combination of security and anti floppy bag. Both Together give you all the options to remove or replace the bag quickly and is the way to go if you can. However if you only run one or the other they work very well too in isolation. If you don’t want to glue the mount on and don’t mind straps around the frame the Clip does an amazing job of stopping floppy bag syndrome on it’s own.
I’ve done a little video to show the Clip in action here on the UKGRAVELCO Youtube Channel
you can find more info at the 76 Projects website here
As with all my tests, this is an impartial and real world review. I’m not sponsored and I’m just an average rider like most of the cyclists out there. I do inform anyone who sends me things to test that It will be an honest review good or bad.
UK GRAVEL COLLECTIVE 