Yankz! Bicycle Fuel System Review

Today we’re going to take a look at a new product from Yankz!, the Bicycle Fuel System. We’ve reviewed Yankz! products before, testing their T2 Bag. I’ve also been a long time user of their lace system and I’m always happy to talk to the folks at Yankz! about new products they have. We’ve been testing two components of the Bicycle Fuel System; the N-Series 100 and 200. The 100 is a larger pouch, with enough room to hold a few bars or a handful of gels, or a combination of the two. The 200 is smaller and better suited for salt tabs, jelly beans, or similar.  Additionally, the N-100 includes a LokSak pouch for your cell phone. If you’ve never tried them, they just work,

The first thing I noticed about the system is the quality of construction. We’re talking about pretty small components here and the fit and finish looked really good. The openings are large and the lids are pretty deep, which is important for reasons I’ll discuss later. The material used is heavy weight and seems to hold up well, though we won’t know how well until we’ve used it for much longer.

The Bicycle Fuel System is an interesting take on carrying your nutritional needs on a bike. Instead of a traditional pouch or bag that mounts to your frame, the Bicycle Fuel System starts with a mounting strap that has a non-skid bottom and velcro top. The non-skid bottom prevents the compartments from sliding around, while the velcro on top is how the compartments attach to the bike. The process is really simple. It took me only a few minutes to remove my old pouches and add the two compartments.

Overall, the fuel system worked very well. As recommended, we loaded up the N-100 with bars and gels and stuck them in the fridge overnight. On the ride the next morning, the bars and gels stayed cool, not completely cold, until we finished them. The weather was pretty oppressive that day, so in cooler climates, you might be able to load the pouches up and keep your nutrition cold for longer. For us, the pouch kept things cool for about 2.5 hours. According to Yankz!, the compartments are also freezer ready, so you can load them up and stick them in the freezer if you’re looking for a longer-term cool.

We didn’t test the N-200 in the refrigerator or freezer, instead choosing to use it to carry Sport Beans and a few salt tabs. As I mentioned before, the lid of the Bicycle Fuel System is pretty deep, which prevented any loss of contents, even on some very poorly maintained roads in Muncie, Indiana.

The main advantage of the Bicycle Fuel System over other pouches is the food-safe interior. This construction allows you to open your food and store it directly in the pouch, which means you won’t have to open it while riding. This, of course, doesn’t apply to gels…

But the main advantage is also a big disadvantage: if you’re storing open food in the pouches, you probably won’t want to keep your rusty Allen keys there. For us, the solution was as simple as putting our kit pouch back under the bike seat, but keep this in mind when figuring out where you’re going to store gear. If you’re going to use this system, my recommendation is to store your gear somewhere else and take advantage of the food-safe interior here to store your food out of the wrappers. It’s easier to eat, produces less trash while you’re riding, and helps you stay focused on your ride, not on the Powerbar wrapper.