Evoc Padded Bike Rug

If you are regular traveller with your bike, transporting it in the back of the car or van, then the Evoc Padded Bike Rug will be a welcome addition to your kit. It'll keep the mud and grime off your interior while keeping your bike's paintwork out of harm's way from when your mates' rides are stacked on top.

• Pros: Quick and simple to fit, robust, versatile
• Cons: There are cheaper solutions out there

Yes, you can use an old duvet, sheet or blanket to keep your bike covered and protected on the way to a sportive or race, but the Padded Rug is a simple, professional looking solution and it doesn't stop being useful once you've removed it from your bike.

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Fitting is easy regardless of the bike you are using, as it is designed for everything from a time trial bike through to a full on downhill mountain bike.

You just drop it over the top tube – the front is marked so you get it the right way round – and wrap the long Velcro straps around the front and rear of the frame and the other two over the wheels.

As well as the frame being covered, most of the components are too, including the chainset, cassette and brakes – whether disc or rim – and the mechs.

The outer material is tough wearing, similar to the stuff used in various rucksacks and bags in Evoc's range, and the stitching all round and on the Velcro straps is very robust and well carried out.

Inside you get a wipe-clean silver lining which is very good at resisting water, oil and mud. The whole thing is only about 5mm thick but it does seem to offer a lot of protection from the surroundings and, to a degree, the weather.

With a lot of events like sportives and road or cross races starting early in the morning, that field you've been sent into for the car park is likely to be damp from rain or overnight dew and this is where the Bike Rug shows its versatility. Laid out flat with the inner facing upright, it makes the perfect place to get your bike and yourself set up and ready to go. It covers a fair old area which means you can lay your tools out and it gives you somewhere to sit to change into your cycling shoes.

It costs £59.99, which initially struck me as a little steep, but after living with it for a good six weeks I can now see that its ease of use, quality and versatility are really worth the money.

I often use the car to start test rides at various places, and there are the odd events I've had to drive to, and the Evoc just makes getting the bike in and out of the car easy.

> How to transport your bike by car

It's especially useful after yet another wet and muddy gravel ride, where I don't have to wipe the bike down before chucking it in the boot... Just wrap the rug around the dirty bike and when you get home give both it and the bike a good blast with the hose, ready for the next adventure.

There are a few other solutions out there, though we haven't tested many of them. One we have, back in 2011, is the Bike Parka Urbn. It's not quite the same, but at £39.95 is a lot more affordable, or you could go for something like the B'Twin 1-Bike Transport Cover. That's more of a standard bike travel solution, being a large bag that requires you to remove the bike's wheels and pedals first, but at £49.99 for a complete bag it does look pretty cheap compared to the Evoc.

> Buyer's Guide: 15 of the best bike bags and boxes

Verdict

Great travel solution for those with dirty bikes or for protecting your paintwork