The Greatest Mountain Bike Hip Packs of 2024

How We Examined Mountain Bike Hip Packs

We love using bikes, and one of many key parts of pleasant bike rides is being ready. Carrying the required instruments to deal with mid-ride mechanicals, sufficient water in the course of the trip, satisfactory meals to maintain the vitality up, and the suitable layers for the climate are all vital issues that may make or break the expertise. Hip packs are one in every of our favourite methods to hold all of the requirements, and we’ve been using in them for years. Whereas there are actually extra methods than ever to stash gear on our bikes, in cargo bibs or backpacks, we nonetheless gravitate in direction of hip packs for his or her consolation, stability, comfort, and ease of use.

Our Professional Testers

For this purchaser’s information, evaluate authors Paul Clauss and Jeremy Benson personally examined the 12 hip pack fashions chosen for this evaluate. Clauss is an avid path rider, mountain bike coach, and path builder who lives in northern Vermont. He’s been using for a few years and has a terrific appreciation for any gear that helps to reinforce his efficiency and elevate his expertise out on the paths. A mechanical engineer by commerce, Clauss is especially crucial of design and development and he brings a really measured and logical method to product testing. Along with testing hip packs, Paul has examined and reviewed quite a few different classes of drugs, together with dropper posts, bike pumps, flat pedals, and the finest flat pedal footwear.

Benson has been professionally testing and reviewing mountain bikes, elements, attire, and equipment for over eight years. He’s an obsessive rider who spends an inordinate period of time on mountain and gravel bikes, coaching for races, using for enjoyable, and testing new gear. He’s been using in mountain bike hip packs for the previous decade and has seen them evolve from their humble beginnings into their extra superior types. In that point, he’s personally owned 5 totally different hip packs and examined over 20 totally different fashions. As a full-time product tester, he’s continuously scrutinizing every bit of drugs he touches to tease out the efficiency variations that separate the perfect from the remainder, whether or not that’s hip packs, the most recent mountain bike footwear, or a hitch bike rack.

Our Testing Course of

After researching the perfect mountain bike hip packs available on the market, we rounded up 12 fashions to check and evaluate. Every mannequin was weighed earlier than inspecting their design, supplies, and development to evaluate the construct high quality and storage structure. Then, we loaded them up with the entire instruments, gear, water, and meals we may match and hit the paths. Whereas using, we thought-about the match, consolation, stability, and air flow of every mannequin when used with a full load on trails starting from easy and flowy to tough and rowdy. On rides starting from fast laps on the native path facilities to all-day suffer-fests, we used and abused every mannequin similar to anybody else would. We acquired acquainted with every mannequin’s storage capabilities and hydration programs by filling and cleansing bladders and ingesting from hoses and bottles. After months of testing, we in contrast notes and zeroed in on our favorites and people who carried out properly in particular methods in comparison with the remainder.

Shopping for Recommendation: How you can Select the Greatest Mountain Bike Hip Pack

Hip packs, often known as fanny packs, lumbar packs, and waist baggage, have had a resurgence in reputation within the mountain bike world previously decade or so. What was beforehand a reasonably non-technical accent used primarily by vacationers on trip has developed into a comparatively specialised piece of kit that many riders depend on to hold the required instruments, snacks, water, and different gear out on the path. Hip packs characterize a contented center floor between the minimalist on-bike and physique method and a bigger backpack, the latter of which might be sweaty, uncomfortable, and bounce round when using technical terrain.

Carrying the hydration, meals, and instruments it’s worthwhile to preserve using within the occasion of a mechanical and to satisfy your primary human wants in a approach that doesn’t intrude with biking motion is a traditional problem for mountain bikers and one which hip packs goal to beat. In comparison with most backpacks, hip packs are usually extra steady and comparatively small, in order that they cowl much less of your again and are worn across the waist so weight is decrease in your physique. They will additionally normally carry extra water and kit than most individuals are in a position to strap to their bikes or stuff into pockets.

With so many hip packs available on the market as of late with totally different types, designs, cargo capacities, and hydration programs, discovering the proper one to fit your wants is usually a problem. For such a seemingly easy product, there’s so much to contemplate when deciding what’s best for you. We’ll break down the vital elements to contemplate when making a purchase order determination.

Cargo Capability

Mountain bike hip packs differ fairly dramatically of their cargo-carrying capability, with fashions made to go well with nearly each want or desire. The capability is often measured in liters with tremendous slim, minimalist, race-belt model packs beginning round 1 liter and high-volume fashions topping out round 7 liters plus a 1.5 or 2-liter water bladder. We examined 11 totally different hip packs starting from 1.6 to 6-liter capability, with the Bontrager Fast Pack because the smallest and the USWE Zulo 6L as the most important. The appropriate capability for you depends upon what you intend to hold.

When you simply want the necessities – your keys, cellphone, pockets, a tube, multi-tool, water (in a bottle or bladder), and a few CO2 – any of those packs will work with area to spare, with the Bontrager Fast Pack being probably the most streamlined choice at 1.64-liter capability, adopted intently by the two.2 Excessive Above Enterprise. When you’d like a little bit extra flexibility to hold extra meals and a few bulkier objects like a mini-pump or a super-packable layer, fashions within the 3 to 4-liter vary, just like the PNW Rover, Evoc Hip Pack Professional 3, Osprey Seral 4, Thule Rail 4, or Patagonia Dust Roamer are good selections. And, in the event you’re a heavy packer, going for a protracted trip, or heading out in variable climate, packs with 5+ liters of capability will probably be simpler to stuff with packable jackets and bigger meals objects. The most important packs we examined are the Deuter Pulse Professional 5, the USWE Zulo 6, and the Dakine Sizzling Laps 5L.

It’s additionally vital to notice that many of the packs we examined characteristic extremely usable compression straps, permitting the pack to be compressed when not absolutely loaded or to maintain the load compact to forestall the contents from bouncing round inside. Compression straps can successfully lower the quantity of a bigger pack, making it usable for rides while you want numerous gear and people while you don’t.

And, regardless of our excessive reward of hip packs, typically even the most important fashions aren’t fairly sufficiently big for some individuals’s wants. Maybe you’re going out for an enormous journey into the alpine, the place it’s worthwhile to convey a jacket, layers, and additional meals, or possibly an in a single day bikepacking journey? Conditions like these might require considerably extra cargo capability, and backpacks may merely be a greater choice. Bike-specific backpacks are available in an enormous vary of sizes and designs to satisfy varied wants, way more even than hip packs. Deuter, for instance, makes 12 totally different fashions of motorcycle backpacks ranging in cargo capability from 8 as much as 30 liters.

Storage Structure

Practically as vital because the capability, the storage structure of a pack dictates the group of your gear and the way you should utilize the area. Some packs, just like the Osprey Seral 4, take a quite simple method, with a single massive compartment with a zippered pocket inside. Others, just like the Deuter Pulse Professional 5 and Thule Rail 4, are extremely compartmentalized, with separate zippered and open group pockets and bigger open sections. The break up design of the Bontrager Fast Pack and its small capability makes it troublesome to hold bigger objects, whereas the extra open designs of packs just like the Patagonia Dust Roamer or PNW Rover make it simpler to stuff bulkier objects into them. 

If you wish to separate your meals out of your instruments or preserve your cellphone display screen secure from scratches whereas using, a extra compartmentalized design may be just right for you. A few of the extra organization-heavy designs depend on the consumer storing instruments and different objects of their separate pockets to get probably the most out of the area. It might take some getting used to, however when you’ve acquired your system, all the pieces can have its place and be fast and straightforward to seek out while you want it. If you would like a bag to toss the necessities into, zip up, and overlook it, an easier structure like that of the Excessive Above Enterprise might go well with you simply high quality. Like capability, a hip pack’s structure depends upon what it’s worthwhile to carry and the way you like to prepare it.

Pockets on the hip wings of the waist belt are one other issue to contemplate. Many packs have them, and they are often very helpful to maintain smaller objects that you just need to entry on the fly with out having to spin the bag round to the entrance. These differ in measurement, however most are good for smaller objects like keys, gels, chapstick, or bank card/ID, whereas a number of are able to becoming a smartphone. Moreover, a number of fashions, just like the Dakine Sizzling Laps 5L, Deuter Pulse Professional 5, Excessive Above Enterprise, and the Patagonia Dust Roamer, have exterior strap programs that can be utilized to connect bulkier objects like knee pads or a jacket to the surface of the pack for further carrying capability.

Hydration Fashion

Most mountain bike hip packs present the flexibility to hold further water in extra water bottles, water bladders, and typically each. Like the general capability of the pack, the proper water capability depends upon how a lot you drink and the length of your trip. Having extra water than you want is all the time higher than not having sufficient. Of the packs we examined, 4 of them carry water in bottles solely, 7 of them carry water in water bladders, and a couple of of the fashions with bladders can carry an extra bottle or two. What works finest for you is often a matter of non-public desire.

Bottles

The bottle-carry fashions can normally deal with one or two 20 to 25-oz bottles, which can be greater than sufficient on your wants, particularly in the event you’ve already acquired a bottle on the bike. Each the Fox Customary Hip Pack and the Patagonia Dust Roamer can carry two bottles in sleeves on both facet of the storage compartment. The PNW Rover comes with one removable bottle holder, and you’ll add a second if it’s worthwhile to. The Bontrager Fast Pack can solely carry one bottle, however it does so very securely within the middle of the pack between the storage pockets.

In comparison with hydration bladders, bottles are tremendous simple to fill and clear. For these packs that may carry two bottles, you possibly can virtually get the identical quantity of water capability as a pack with a 1.5-liter bladder. For many of those packs, it’s additionally fairly simple to achieve again and pull the bottles out of the pack for ingesting, however not fairly as simple as reaching a hose as much as your mouth whereas using. And, whereas most bottle holders are fairly safe, there may be the possibility they might bounce out over tremendous tough terrain or in a crash.

Bladder

Of the bladder-equipped packs we examined, six of them, the USWE Zulo 6, each Evoc fashions, the Deuter Pulse Professional 5, Thule Rail 4, and the Osprey Seral 4, include a 1.5-liter bladder (50.7 oz). The Dakine Sizzling Laps 5L comes with a 2-liter (70 oz) bladder. Moreover, the Evoc Hip Pack Professional 3 can carry two bottles, and the Deuter Pulse Professional 5 can carry one. Any of those packs ought to carry sufficient water for 2-3 hour lengthy rides, or longer, relying on the temperature and your private price of consumption.

There are some benefits to bladder-style hip packs. Consuming from them is tremendous simple and handy. The hoses and nozzles are positioned on the waist belt, and reaching down and grabbing it to drink is fast and straightforward and might normally be accomplished whereas using on easy sections of path. The bladders are additionally gentle and squishy, in order that they conform to the form of your again and different contents in your pack and might distribute water weight extra evenly, which might improve pack stability. Bladders are carried internally, so they need to by no means fall out on a tough path, and also you’re unlikely to set it down and overlook it on the facet of the path like you would with a bottle. The disadvantages of bladders are that they’re barely extra cumbersome to fill and clear, and micro organism and mould can develop within the bladder/hose/nozzle if uncared for. Some individuals simply don’t like ingesting from a hose, and the hoses can often pop unfastened whereas using, which might be annoying and doubtlessly harmful.

Waist Belts

Whereas all of them carry out the duty of securing a hip pack across the waist, there are two essential types of waist belts on the packs we examined. Most packs include a extra primary, adjustable, static webbing belt with a plastic clasp to safe it. The PNW Rover, Patagonia Dust Roamer, Fox Customary, Bontrager Fast Pack, Evo Hip Pack Professional 3, and Dakine Sizzling Laps 5L, all use this model of waist belt.

Different packs, usually the costlier ones, have huge, overlapping velcro belts that even have a webbing strap and clasp excessive to safe it. This model of waist belt is discovered on packs just like the Deuter Pulse Professional 5, Evoc Hip Pack Professional 3, Thule Rail 4, and USWE Zulo 6. Realistically, each types work fairly properly and provides little to complain about, however the softer, wider, overlapping fashions are typically a little bit extra snug and steady, and so they distribute the load of a loaded pack a little bit extra evenly across the waist. The flip facet is that they’re a bit extra finicky to placed on, as you need to line up the overlapping straps earlier than securing the buckle on prime. Regardless, it isn’t that a lot of a problem, and the added consolation and stability are usually well worth the few further seconds it takes to place them on.

Each types of belts are adjustable to suit a variety of waist sizes and preserve them cosy when in use. The designs differ considerably, after all, however most are fairly simple to regulate and keep safe whereas using. The really useful waist measurement ranges additionally differ among the many fashions we examined, with some fashions just like the Thule Rail 4 and USWE Zulo 6 becoming waists between 31 and 40 inches in comparison with the PNW Rover, which is claimed to work for waists between 24 and 48 inches.

Air flow

In comparison with hydration backpacks, hip packs cowl solely a small portion of your again and are inherently higher for staying cool and managing sweat. That mentioned, they nonetheless make contact along with your decrease again, which might grow to be fairly scorching and sweaty. Virtually each hip pack makes some try at managing moisture the place the pack makes contact along with your physique by way of using breathable mesh supplies or extra superior air flow programs, however they aren’t created equal.

The 2 Evoc packs, the Hip Pack Professional 3 and the Hip Pack 3L have by far the perfect air flow among the many fashions we examined with their Air Circulate Contact System. The again panels characteristic raised, channeled foam blocks which can be coated in an open mesh materials that permits for superior breathability. Moreover, the Venti-Flap system permits the consumer to rapidly loosen the higher a part of the pack and create a spot between your again throughout climbs or different instances you need to enhance airflow, then rapidly cinch it again down for the descents. The remainder of the fashions we examined do a commendable job of selling breathability and are usually a lot cooler and fewer sweaty than sporting a full-on backpack.

Value & Worth

Like the rest in mountain biking, hip packs differ fairly extensively when it comes to value. The extra primary designs and people who carry bottles are likely to value a bit much less. Whenever you add a water bladder or fancier waist belt, the value goes up a bit. Nonetheless, they’re among the many extra inexpensive equipment you should purchase, and most will final for a few years.

Finances

On the decrease finish of the value vary, hip packs are typically a bit less complicated in design, and most carry water bottles, in the event that they carry water in any respect. The Patagonia Dust Roamer ($69) is a good instance. Not solely is it inexpensive, however it’s well-made and it occurs to be our favourite bottle-carry pack, too. Different fashions on the low finish of our value vary are the Bontrager Fast Pack ($68), the Fox Customary Hip Pack ($70), and the PNW Rover ($79), all of which have comparatively small capacities and carry water in easy bottle sleeves.

Mid-Tier

Across the $100 mark, hip packs start to incorporate water bladders. Whereas these packs are nonetheless fairly easy, bladders and hoses alone can value within the neighborhood of $25-ish, so having them included drives the value up a bit from the price range fashions. Fashions just like the Dakine Sizzling Laps 5 ($100) and the Osprey Seral 4 ($90) are each easy and efficient designs that embrace water bladders for straightforward hydration on the fly. They lack the bells and whistles of the premium fashions, however they’re completely practical and nice choices for loads of riders.

Premium

With solely a slight leap in value, we get into premium hip pack territory above round $125. On this value vary, most hip packs include bladders and plenty of boast bigger carrying capability or options that goal to reinforce consolation. Evoc’s Hip Pack Professional 3 ($150) neatly organizes as much as 3 liters of drugs, carries 1.5 liters of water in a bladder, and has an excellent snug overlapping stretch waistband and the perfect again air flow system we’ve seen.

On the less complicated facet, Excessive Above’s Enterprise Pack ($135) is made within the USA from tremendous sturdy supplies. Home manufacturing merely prices greater than doing it abroad, and including cool options like Fidlock buckles — and the choice so as to add a Fidlock bottle — contributes to the upper value. Fortunately, a lifetime assure additionally ensures that you just’ll get your cash’s price after which some.

Ceaselessly Requested Questions