Over the last year or so, we’ve tested a handful of various devices that are all aimed at keeping from having to wear a hydration pack simply by allowing you to strap some of your bail out necessities to your frame. As we’ve already tested the Backcountry Research “Mutherload” and the Dakine “Hot Laps”, we now arrive at the AMS OS strap – a mega simple rubber strap. Here’s what we thought of it…
The AMS strap is completely made of rubber and aside from the small loop that holds down excess material, it’s essentially just one piece. Mounting it is pretty simple, but despite the decent sized tab, it can be a bit difficult to line everything up and get a good amount of tension. Since it’s rubber and therefore grabby, it doesn’t need a ton of said tension if you’re just carrying a tube.
We ended up riding a fair bit with our go-to bits: a 27.5″ Ultralight tube, Michelin tire lever, Lezyne patch kit, 25g CO2 with Lezyne head, and last, but not least – a Dynaplug. With the average sized top tube of our Devinci Spartan, and all of the above contents, there was still two notches left on the strap, although we’d prefer to avoid using them…
As mentioned prior, it was a bit difficult to get as much pressure as we’d like on the strap. Therefore, in rough sections, the strap and its contents had a tendency to shift around a bit. Granted, we loaded it down with quite a lot, perhaps beyond its intended usage.
Pictured above, the rubber hook (or clasp, or whatever you’d like to call it) didn’t have quite enough support and/or rigidity to really harp on the strap. On the brighter side, the AMS OS strap weighs very little and is incredibly simple.
If you’re trying to jam a bunch of bits and pieces onto your bike, the AMS strap might not be the best answer as it isn’t quite as secure as velcro options like the Backcountry Mutherload. On the contrary, if you’ve got a seat bag for your CO2 or keep a mini-pump bolted to your frame via a waterbottle mount and just need a minimalist way of storing your tube and a tire lever, then it’s a totally viable, simple and lightweight option.
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