Of all the North St. bike packing fleet that I have reviewed–the Tool Roll, the Micro Pannier, the Pioneer 9 Hip Pack–the Fuel Pouch is my favorite

What I Liked

Fill ‘er up

When jersey pockets don’t offer enough room, or an item that can’t be trusted to jersey pockets because it would be easily tossed out of a pocket or fall out during a crash (read: keys or a cell phone), the North St. Fuel Pouch provides a great option to store those valuables. Riding with the pouch on my top tube made it convenient when I needed something quickly like gels or my phone to snap a picture. 

Tough Love

Like all North St. bags, the Fuel Pouch is weatherproof and made with tough Cordura nylon and reinforced variant X-Pac sailcloth. This helps the bags to retain their strength and make them resistant to tears and scuffs.

The Amazingness of North St. Bags

Curtis Williams, North St.’s founder and owner, is the sole designer of all the bags. Since he’s also an avid cyclist, it’s safe to assume he knows that cyclists need high-quality bike bags that are functional and durable. He also prides himself on offering his entire workforce—four stitchers, one cutter, one fulfillment and hardware assembler (who also does all North St.’s customer service and retail support), and one sales and marketing coordinator—a livable wage.

Keep in mind this all takes place in Portland, OR, not exactly known for being a cheap place to live. This team of eight Portlanders average around thirty bags and fifteen upgrades (pockets, straps, etc) per day that they sell direct and through specialty outdoor gear and bicycle shops.

USA-made and Lifetime Guarantee

The North St. Fuel Pouch is slapped with a “Made in USA” tag proudly sewn on the outside of the bag. All North St. Bags are built tough for long wearability and come with a lifetime guarantee.

What I didn’t Like

Velcro

I have a thing about velcro. It can easily become a lint receptacle, with the fuzz ruining the close-ability factor. As much as I tried, I couldn’t get the pouch 100 percent snug against the top tube and stem, which lead to some flopping of the bag throughout the ride.

The post North St. Fuel Pouch Review appeared first on gritandgearonline.com.

What I Liked

So Many Possibilities

Uses for this bag are endless – it’s a fanny pack, coffee stop purse, and stash and stow bag. I’ve stuffed the bag with a variety of accompaniments such as a multi tool, small first aid kit, mobile phone, spare water bottle, rain jacket, wallet, and food.

Capability

Inside the main compartment are two pockets which I’ve used to securely hold money and ID. I also store the adjustable “purse strap” in the zipper compartment when not in use. The front pocket can hold a bike tube or a *gasp* foldable paper map (yes, paper maps are still a thing). I also liked that the bag is made with North St. Bag’s durable waterproof X-Pac sailcloth.

North St. is just an Amazing Brand

Curtis Williams, North St.’s founder and owner, is the sole designer of all the bags. Since he’s also an avid cyclist, it’s safe to assume he knows that cyclists need high-quality bike bags that are functional and durable. He also prides himself on offering his entire workforce—four stitchers, one cutter, one fulfillment and hardware assembler (who also does all North St.’s customer service and retail support), and one sales and marketing coordinator—a livable wage.

Keep in mind this all takes place in Portland, OR, not exactly known for being a cheap place to live. This team of eight Portlanders average around thirty bags and fifteen upgrades (pockets, straps, etc) per day that they sell direct and through specialty outdoor gear and bicycle shops. And the month of October just happens to be their tenth birthday month!

Lifetime Guarantee

All North St. bags are built tough for long wearability and come with a lifetime guarantee. Click the link for a run down of all the durable fabrics North St. employs in its bags. 

What I didn’t Like

Velcro smelcro. Again with the velcro mechanism that secures the bag to the bike. The velcro straps that wrap around the handlebars are short, which lead to much pulling around bike cables so that it would fit on the handlebars, which I didn’t like at all.

Final Thoughts

When your bike packing excursion presents the opportunity to pedal off the road and into single track, the North St. Pioneer 9 Hip Pack is a vital cog in the bike packing gear set-up.

The post North St Bags Pioneer 9 Hip Pack Review appeared first on gritandgearonline.com.