Endurfomercial™

Spoiler alert. This post is about straps. Again. Whatever. Also Enduro™ so okay.

Richie Rude won the Enduro™ World Series.  Again.  Want to know what he and I have in common other than probably being called "Dick" in junior high?

No?

Oh well.  Here we go regardless of your opinion.

Both he and I use a strap from Backcountry Research to secure our flat fixing equipment to our racing mountain bike cycles.

I guess you could point out that we're both sponsored by Maxxis (I imagine he gets more than just free coozies when he asks), and we're both rocking the Fox drooper.  So we have all that as well.

Getting back to my point, it wasn't too hard to find some images of world class Enduro™ race setups with janky-ass electrical tape holding tubes and whatnot to frames.

... or Gorilla tape for extra residual mess and PITA.

$10,00 bikes.  Racing all over the world against the best riders in exotic locales... utilizing the highest technology in redneck engineering.

Seriously.  It must stop.

Super fast, super secure, super handy, super duper.

BTW:  The Awesome Straps (a generic term for Backcountry Straps of all sorts) have gone through many iterations.  I've lost my shit s few times with some of the previous designs many years ago.  To be honest, BR has always been trying to improve their product to make sure they're making it the most secure and reliable way to carry tubes and whatnot... but sometimes it's been a two steps forward/three steps back deal.  They've not been afraid to entirely toss everything out and start over again.

Probably the most confusing version and the one that required the most attention when installing and occasional inspections, although every time I see Stan's NoTubes Elite Women's Team endurance race crusher Vicki Barclay still running it (and insist on getting her a newer one), she tells me she's never had an issue with it and sees no reason to change.

*sigh*

But where we are now:

Every thread, all the fabrics and textiles, the bits of hardware, each and every stitch...it's all been considered and thought out to provide you with a secure way to mount your tube (and whatnot) that will last a very long time.

And you will have fast access to your flat repair stuff when you need it, and that's important because...

There's your top twenty finishers at the season finale of the EWS in Ligure, Italy  Separated by less than two minutes end to end.  Although a day of Enduro racing can last for hours, the timed sections, not so much.  Crucial seconds add up to painful minutes. 

So any time saved not unwinding three or four wraps of electrical tape is bueno.  I'm not saying the strap is a game changer, but when you're sweating the small details (and the seconds), yeth.

I know I'm a never-ending strap infomercial, but keep in mind, I was Backcountry Research's first customer EVER through the randomness that is the internet.  I've been a supporter ever since of this Made in the USA (Bozeman to be exact) company, and will continue to sing their praises whenever it's relevant to do so.

I've been running the current version for over a year now, and I haven't dropped a load yet... and honestly can't see how it would ever happen.  It's that secure.

Endurance.  Enduro™.  Same same.  Nobody likes losing their shit.

End commercial.  Cut to credits.