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Passport Tool Keg

7
£7.99

VERDICT:

7
10
A neat, light solution to carrying your stuff, at a decent price
Neoprene bag stops rattling
Secure fit in bottle cages
Logo can scratch quickly with some cages
Weight: 
67g

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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The Passport Tool Keg is a neat little solution for carrying your essentials noise-free. It isn't that different to others on the market, so really it just comes down to price, and it does well there, to be fair.

> Buy now: Passport Tool Keg for £4 from Passport

It's a simple idea, like many others out there – basically, a 300ml (also available as a 750ml) water bottle with a lid but no spout, designed to carry your spares or essentials rather than a drink.

Inside you'll find a neat little neoprene bag that'll stop your stuff from rattling around, and the bottle provides a good fit in a whole range of cages. The lid is a simple screw-on affair, which stays in place without issue.

The overall quality is good. You get a smoked translucent bottle with Passport's logo printed on the outside. This does scratch quite quickly as you slide it in and out of the bottle cage, though, so it doesn't stay looking box fresh for long.

> Cycling emergency essentials: the 10 things you should take with you on every ride

The neoprene bag has a handle to make removing it from the bottle easy even with gloves on. It'll hold an inner tube and a few tools or tyre levers, or will easily swallow a handful of gels and energy bars if you're out for a long ride.

2023 Passport Tool Keg - 2.jpg

Cost-wise, at £7.99 it's six quid less than the similar Topeak Escape Pod, up to £13.99 since I tested it in 2020, although a neat touch of the Topeak is that it has a section of foam under the lid to make sure nothing rattles at all.

The slightly larger Vel Storage Can 450ml doesn't come with a neoprene bag, but it does have a foam liner and costs just £5 – and is currently available for £2.50.

It's worth noting that the Tool Keg is reduced to £4 on Passport's website at the moment. Overall, it's simple and effective, and currently a bit of a bargain.

Verdict

A neat, light solution to carrying your stuff, at a decent price

road.cc test report

Make and model: Passport Tool Keg

Size tested: 300ml

Tell us what the product is for and who it's aimed at. What do the manufacturers say about it? How does that compare to your own feelings about it?

Passport says, "Perfect for carrying tools etc. Inc Neoprene tool wrap"

It's a simple solution to carry your spares.

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

Passport lists:

Smoke colour with stealth graphics

Material: Polypropylene (BPA-free)

Large filling opening – easy to clean

Neoprene sleeve to stop tools rattling inside

Available in two sizes

Fits most standard bottle cages

Rate the product for quality of construction:
 
7/10
Rate the product for performance:
 
8/10
Rate the product for durability:
 
7/10
Rate the product for weight (if applicable)
 
8/10
Rate the product for value:
 
5/10

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

It carries a decent amount of kit without rattles.

Tell us what you particularly liked about the product

Neoprene bag stops rattling.

Tell us what you particularly disliked about the product

The logo scratches quite quickly.

How does the price compare to that of similar products in the market, including ones recently tested on road.cc?

It's cheaper than a very similar design from Topeak, although the Vel I mention is very cheap. The Tool Keg is currently on sale on Passport's website for £4.

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 Tool Keg is decent quality and fits any bottle cage without rattling about, for a decent price too.

Overall rating: 7/10

About the tester

Age: 44  Height: 180cm  Weight: 76kg

I usually ride: This month's test bike  My best bike is: B'Twin Ultra CF draped in the latest bling test components

I've been riding for: Over 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,

Since writing his first bike review for road.cc back in early 2009 senior product reviewer Stu has tested more than a thousand pieces of kit, and hundreds of bikes.

With an HND in mechanical engineering and previous roles as a CNC programmer/machinist, draughtsman and development engineer (working in new product design) Stu understands what it takes to bring a product to market. A mix of that knowledge combined with his love of road and gravel cycling puts him in the ideal position to put the latest kit through its paces.

He first made the switch to road cycling in 1999, primarily for fitness, but it didn’t take long for his competitive side to take over which led to around ten years as a time triallist and some pretty decent results. These days though riding is more about escapism, keeping the weight off and just enjoying the fact that he gets to ride the latest technology as part of his day job.

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1 comments

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Secret_squirrel | 1 year ago
0 likes

I've recently binned my Topeak version of this.  The form factor is all wrong and you are totally limited by the size of the opening, and on the large models the dent in the throat to catch the bottle cage lip.

I replaced it with a no-name zipped case from Amazon that has exactly the same shape but because a zip runs all the way around it I can actually fit twice a much in AND I dont have to empty the neoprene holder finding the thing I want is enveitably at the bottom.

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