I like to travel light. Most of my rides are about 1 hour’s riding in the evening after work, usually with a cappuccino stop around halfway.

Because of this, it’s not feasible to take a pack out with me… Well, it’s not sensible anyway. So, I take a 750ml bottle with Nuun or High5 Zero in it, a fiver for a brew and a few essential bits.

The essential bits go into my saddlebag. For some years I’ve had a basic bag from Decathlon which has served me well but has always been a bit too big if I’m honest.

When the guys at ProBikeKit sent me the Lezyne M-Caddy saddlebag I thought: ‘Ideal, just what I need!’

Was It Just What I Needed?

The M-Caddy is one of a choice of saddlebag sizes that Lezyne offer. ProBikeKit sell the smaller S-Caddy too, along with a whole bunch of other bike accessories. This M-Caddy is big enough to hold:

• a spare road inner or a puncture repair kit (my choice as MTB inners are a bit chunkier than roadies);
• multi-tool;
• gel;
• 2 tyre levers;
• house keys;
• cash for mid-ride cake
• … Plus there’s a loop on the back for your rear light.

Colour options are basically Ninja black or Shiny silver for the more visibility-conscious rider. As a mountain biker and fan of cheap Japanese gameshows (have you SEEN Ninja Warrior?!), obviously I went for the Ninja option.

I really like the way Lezyne think things through at the design stage. This bag is no exception: neoprene & velcro pouches are put to good effect to hold your major bits and pieces, meaning that it will be easy to find them again when you do eventually have a road-or-trail-side emergency to sort out. Fastenings are simple & secure velcro meaning that the bag will fit snugly to any stem/saddle combo.

The Good Bits:

Ideal size to hold the essentials but stow away nicely

• Specific pockets for your bits of kit
• Rear light loop
• Great price

The Bad Bit:

The zip, whilst it has a great rubberised loop to make it usable with gloves on, tends to pull at the bag when it’s being zipped open or closed. I’m worried that this will damage the zip or bag with heavy use. I’ll let you know if this turns out to be a problem but to be fair, there’s no sign of damage after a few weeks of use.

Should You Buy the Lezyne M-Caddy Saddlebag?

If you’re an MTB rider who dons a 3 litre Camebak every time you go out then you don’t need a saddlebag. If, however, you’re like me and like to travel with the minimum of tools, or if you use a very small hydration pack, a saddlebag like this is perfect. No unpacking every time you ride, just a simple space to keep the essentials in.

At this price (under £17 as I write this but click here for latest prices) for a nicely-designed piece of Lezyne kit, I’d certainly recommend it.

Hi,

For my sins I wear glasses (short sighted) –  I have tried contacts but didn’t really get on with them.
My regular glasses are Oakley, normal looking with metal arms and a thin frame. I chose Oakley after trying various different type including the specsavers/vision express cheapies/2 for 1 and have found them to be superb, my current Oakley frames are 4 years old and I’ve never had a problem with them.

Now, with this in mind I wanted something a bit more, well, shall we say “cool” ? Because that’s what I wanted! Something I could wear on the bike, obviously sunglasses are an option but I ride at night, so that was a no no.

I wanted the wraparound style so my eyes wouldn’t water on fast descents… I wanted some sort of shading for sunny days and something that looked a bit better than normal glasses….

After much deliberation and internet browsing I settled on some Oakleys as they seemed to meet all my requirements. I went to an opticians that was an Oakley dealer (Andrew Care ) to try a few styles and decided on the ‘Straight Jacket‘. Mine are the smoke grey frame with grey tinted lenses and transitions shading (they change with the sunlight). Oakley claim to have a unique way of making the lenses so they can make prescription lenses in the wraparound style…..

So… ordered on a Wednesday, phone call the following Tuesday to say they were in, quick service! (Oakley make the glasses to order in Ireland)

So, my impressions?

Excellent, money well spent (£240). They fit great, nice and snug to my face meaning not much light gets in the side and the wind doesn’t make my eyes water on fast descents – this was tested on a mile long 14% gradient on the road bike!

The shading is just right, not as aggressive as a proper set of sunglasses but I’ve never found myself walking into a room or shaded area and not able to see. The beauty of the transitions is it makes these more than just prescription sunglasses, they can be used as normal glasses for everyday use (I have).

The wraparound lenses were the biggest surprise, regular glasses wearers probably don’t realize how much peripheral vision is lost, this was made very clear to me once I’d got these Oakleys! I was amazed at how much easier looking over my shoulder etc was with these glasses, I have a genuine full range of vision now.

The lenses are supposed to go from 15% tint to 90% tint, to be honest you don’t notice the 15% inside but I have yet to see then go fully black, although they warned me it takes a few days full sun for the chemicals to work properly in the lenses.

Note, they can only make wraparound style for prescriptions of up to +4.00.

So, fuller range of vision, no watering eyes, shades as well as normal use and they look pretty good when shaded (unshaded is a matter or personal taste….) for the price of a decent pair of glasses. Yes, I’m happy!

The opticians I used also do mail order and are running 20% off making them fairly competitive.

Apologies for my ugly mug! The image of them shaded with the light blue backdrop is after 10-20 seconds in the sun, gives an idea of the speed they change.

Find me on Twitter @StuartMc1

Note – the Amazon link is non-prescription. Use the optician’s link above if you want prescription lenses!

New phones are released into the market at an alarming rate, so it was only a question of time before a competitively-priced iPhone5 handlebar case came along.

I’ve been using a ProductX Action Camera Case with my iPhone4 for a while now, so when the guys from ProductX told me they’d released a handlebar mount for the iPhone5, of course I was interested.

The important difference is that this new case does not have a lens, so it will not allow you shoot video. If that’s what you want, check out the Action Camera Cases from ProductX instead. This case is a handlebar mount which is ideal for having your phone’s screen handy on the move: extremely handy for checking where you are (safely!), or for keeping an eye on your chosen cycle computer and SMASHING YOUR STRAVA PB’s!

What’s It Like To Use?

I tested the case on my daughter’s bike. We found that the adjustable collar was excellent, allowing for unlimited removal and reattachment with the natty little clip. Once tightened, the clip retains the collar really securely but you can loosen it easily. The case itself then clips onto the collar with a reassuring “clunk”, and there’s a length of cord which you can tie to your bars or stem for added comfort, although I’d seriously doubt whether this will every be called into action.

The phone is held in the case with a good quality zip, and the case has a hard back inserted to protect it. My daughter’s phone isn’t an iPhone5, it’s a Samsung, but the flexible case held it securely throughout a 10 mile ride on-and-off-road, as the zip closure provides a simple but effective solution.

Should You Buy This iPhone5 Handlebar Mount?

If you want to mount an iPhone5 on your handlebars, you should think about this. It’s not totally weatherproof but my preferred rainproofing option of a carefully-folded sandwich bag will solve that

For a shade under £15, compared to prices well over double that for hard cases, it’s got to be worth a look for you.

Have a look at the ProductX website here. - £14.99 as we published – a great price.

… but I had some things to do, so I went up in the afternoon, by which time it was raining and cold.

Ah well, never mind. It was still great fun and I took this video using my ProductX iPhone Action Camera Case thingy, fastened to my backpack straps. I did a review of it a while ago, which you can read here if you want to. I like it a lot, considering I don’t do much video so there’s no way I’m planning to spend GoPro money.

Yes, I know, I need to angle it up slightly. I’ll get it right sometime soon!

Lee Quarry was great fun and the purpose-built link trail up to Cragg Quarry is quite tough on the way up, but great fun on the way back down. I’ll definitely be doing it again, and lowering my seat further next time – I had a couple of near-OTB moments at weekend!

But hey, Tone Loc on the soundtrack! = WIN !