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Evoc Padded Bike Rug

8
£59.95

VERDICT:

8
10
Great travel solution for those with dirty bikes or for protecting your paintwork
Weight: 
900g

At road.cc every product is thoroughly tested for as long as it takes to get a proper insight into how well it works. Our reviewers are experienced cyclists that we trust to be objective. While we strive to ensure that opinions expressed are backed up by facts, reviews are by their nature an informed opinion, not a definitive verdict. We don't intentionally try to break anything (except locks) but we do try to look for weak points in any design. The overall score is not just an average of the other scores: it reflects both a product's function and value – with value determined by how a product compares with items of similar spec, quality, and price.

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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.

> Find your nearest dealer here

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.

evoc_padded_bike_rug_-_detail_1.jpg

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.

evoc_padded_bike_rug_-_outside.jpg

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.

evoc_padded_bike_rug_-_inside.jpg

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.

evoc_padded_bike_rug_-_detail_2.jpg

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

If you're thinking of buying this product using a cashback deal why not use the road.cc Top Cashback page and get some top cashback while helping to support your favourite independent cycling website

road.cc test report

Make and model: Evoc Padded Bike Rug

Size tested: 15cm x 75cm x 2cm

Tell us what the product is for

Evoc says, "The EVOC PADDED BIKE RUG is a padded transport protection mat and spacer for all bike types. Perfect bike frame protection - also for wheels and other components."

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

From Evoc:

SPECIFICATIONS

900 g, 150 x 75 x 2 cm

Fits: road bike, triathlon bike, XC-, FR-, downhill, 29' bikes

Dirt protection (inside)

MATERIAL

P600 D PU COATED

A very durable fabric for high-abrasion areas, it is also tear-resistant and lightweight while absorbing almost no moisture. Combining these characteristics, it's the perfect material for high-stress pockets or backpack base constructions.

WOVEN PE

Extremely lightweight, tear-resistant and highly water-repellent fabric which is used as protective lining material.

Rate the product for quality of construction:
 
8/10
Rate the product for performance:
 
8/10
Rate the product for durability:
 
9/10
Rate the product for weight (if applicable)
 
7/10
Rate the product for value:
 
6/10

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

Quick and simple to fit and use.

Tell us what you particularly liked about the product

Offers a bit of protection to the bike and whatever you're travelling in.

Tell us what you particularly disliked about the product

Simplicity.

Did you enjoy using the product? Yes

Would you consider buying the product? Yes

Would you recommend the product to a friend? Yes

Use this box to explain your overall score

The Padded Bike Rug is a neat solution if you travel with your bike a lot, especially in the back of a car or van. There are cheaper ideas out there but its robustness, ease of fitment and other uses all stack up to justify the price.

Overall rating: 8/10

About the tester

Age: 39  Height: 180cm  Weight: 76kg

I usually ride: This month's test bike  My best bike is:

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

I regularly do the following types of riding: time trialling, commuting, club rides, sportives, fixed/singlespeed

As part of the tech team here at F-At Digital, senior product reviewer Stu spends the majority of his time writing in-depth reviews for road.cc, off-road.cc and ebiketips using the knowledge gained from testing over 1,500 pieces of kit (plus 100's of bikes) since starting out as a freelancer back in 2009. After first throwing his leg over a race bike back in 2000, Stu's ridden more than 170,000 miles on road, time-trial, track, and gravel bikes, and while he's put his racing days behind him, he still likes to smash the pedals rather than take things easy. With a background in design and engineering, he has an obsession with how things are developed and manufactured, has a borderline fetish for handbuilt metal frames and finds a rim braked road bike very aesthetically pleasing!

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5 comments

Avatar
EagleDay | 5 years ago
0 likes

No getting away from the claims of racist innuendo is there? broken heart

Avatar
Yorkshire wallet replied to EagleDay | 5 years ago
0 likes
EagleDay wrote:

No getting away from the claims of racist innuendo is there? broken heart

He probably sees it everywhere. Can't say 'wog' ever came to find on first viewing it. Must be some sort of 'magic eye' thing for him (or maybe her). 

Avatar
Deeferdonk | 5 years ago
0 likes

I'm not paying sixty quid for a bag that looks like it has w*g written on it in big letters.  2

Avatar
Woldsman replied to Deeferdonk | 5 years ago
1 like
Deeferdonk wrote:

I'm not paying sixty quid for a bag that looks like it has w*g written on it in big letters.  2

So how much would you pay? 

Avatar
Beecho replied to Woldsman | 5 years ago
0 likes
Woldsman wrote:
Deeferdonk wrote:

I'm not paying sixty quid for a bag that looks like it has w*g written on it in big letters.  2

So how much would you pay? 

3K

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