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Free Parable Design Monkii Mono bagMonkii mono - open

Free Parable Design Monkii Mono bag

7
by dave atkinson
UPDATED Thu, Oct 15, 2015 04:24

First Published Sep 25, 2013

1
£17.75

VERDICT:

7
10
A versatile bag for holding a few essentials on the bike, but size limits its appeal in a bike's main triangle.
Weight: 
105g
Contact: 
www.cyclemiles.co.uk
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The Free Parable Monkii Mono is a useful way of carrying things on the bike if you have a few bikes and you like to keep a single set of tools, or for extra storage. It's not an essential but you'll probably find a job for it.

The Monkii Mono is one of a number of products using Free Parable's mounting system, which consists of two discs that can be attached to bottle mounts or elsewhere on the frame or seatpost using a separate caddy. The idea is that the various bits of kit slot onto the discs and are held firm; removing them is a simple case of sliding or twisting. There's a tool roll available too, as well as various bottle cages.

The Mono will happily accommodate a couple of road tubes, a multitool, a patch kit and some other bits and bobs; even a pump, if you have a tiny one. Alternatively it'll swallow your phone, keys, wallet and gels and the flock internals will help to prevent scratches.

Two full-length zips along the top mean access is easy; Free Parable don't claim it's fully waterproof but it's never let in any water on soggy rides.

The most obvious positions for the Mono are on a bottle boss, on the seatpost and on the top tube as a sort of energy hopper. The latter will only work on relatively narrow-tubed frames as the biggest bracket Free Parable make accommodates a 38mm tube.

In the main triangle of a bike, position one really, it's a bit of a squeeze when you're also packing a bottle, even on a big frame like I ride. That means it's not really an option for smaller bikes if you want to carry water too, which you inevitably do.

On the seatpost it's pretty effective and easy to swap between bikes (assuming you get more than one mount) although it's a bit wider than some seatpacks. It works on the top tube pretty well, even though that's not what it's really designed for. 

Verdict

A versatile bag for holding a few essentials on the bike, but size limits its appeal in a bike's main triangle.

road.cc test report

Make and model: Free Parable Design Monkii Mono

Size tested: Black

Tell us some more about the technical aspects of the product?

Hard-shell design offers an exterior with just enough room to protect inside when bent and bumps.

Water-Resistant Zippers

zipper provides a strong seal to keep belongings and away from water droplets.

Same mount, diversity usage

insulation pouches or tool bags can easily be mounted to a bicycle or backpack with the same platform.

Rate the product for quality of construction:
 
7/10
Rate the product for performance:
 
7/10
Rate the product for durability:
 
8/10
Rate the product for weight, if applicable:
 
7/10
Rate the product for value:
 
7/10

Tell us how the product performed overall when used for its designed purpose

Pretty well although it'll be too big for a fair few main triangles with a bottle in there too.

Tell us what you particularly liked about the product

Easy to fit and use.

Did you enjoy using the product? Yes.

Would you consider buying the product? Maybe.

Would you recommend the product to a friend? Maybe.

Overall rating: 7/10

About the tester

Age: 40  Height: 190cm  Weight: 102kg

I usually ride: whatever I'm testing...  My best bike is: Genesis Equilibrium with SRAM Apex

I've been riding for: 10-20 years  I ride: Every day  I would class myself as: Experienced

I regularly do the following types of riding: commuting, sportives, general fitness riding, fixed/singlespeed, mtb, Mountain Bike Bog Snorkelling, track

 

Free Parable Design Monkii Mono bag
Dave Atkinson

Dave is a founding father of road.cc, having previously worked on Cycling Plus and What Mountain Bike magazines back in the day. He also writes about e-bikes for our sister publication ebiketips. He's won three mountain bike bog snorkelling World Championships, and races at the back of the third cats.

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1 comments

Avatar
PJ McNally | 10 years ago
0 likes

" a useful way of carrying things on the bike if you have a few bikes and you like to keep a single set of tools "

This is really difficult. I'd be interested to know people's solutions!

I have a seat pack that i swap between my "serious" bikes, but don't take it on my everyday commuting bike. For that - which needs bigger tubes with schrader valves - i have a tool bottle. Except that, because it's a small and compact frame, it only has mounts for one bottle cage! D'oh! But the tool bottle fits in my bag easily.

What do you do?

I'll make a forum post to canvas opinion:

http://road.cc/content/forum/94639-one-tool-kit-multiple-bikes

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