Wolf Tooth B-RAD System: Space-Saving Genius

As a constant tinkerer I am always looking to utilize space on the bike as effectively as possible. Something that I have learned over the years is that there isn’t one sure fire set up. Depending on the trip, and the available mounts it can be difficult at times to make everything fit the way you want it to. This is where the Wolf Tooth B-RAD system comes into play. B-RAD stands for Bottle Relocation Accessory Device, and it not only helps you to relocate bottles, but allows for more freedom when loading up your bike. I’ve already found that it has allowed me to do things that I was not able to do before, and has even solved a couple of major packing problems for me, and even my eight-year-old daughter.

My initial plan when receiving the kit from Wolf Tooth was to put it to work. As a guy who has a bunch of bikes and bikepacks with my family, I thought it would be amazing to see how I could utilize the B-RAD kit on each bike I own. From full suspension, to my commuter to my daughters 24 inch rig, I wanted to see how the B-RAD system could help.

Wolf Tooth Components

Wolf Tooth Components is located in Minneapolis, Minnesota, prides itself on being a group of people who ride bikes and nerd out on the finer details of bike components. Wolf Tooth’s ability to create custom components with a high-level of originality and customization have made them an industry leader for some time now. The brand constantly seeks to make their products better and boast a wide range of colors, enabling the consumer to create a custom look for their rig.

First Impressions & Setup

Upon arrival, I’ll admit I was overwhelmed. Because Wolf Tooth sent me a little bit of everything, I had to take the time to digest all the bits and pieces. I immediately noticed the attention to detail as every package included the necessary hardware, zip ties and protective sticky foam. The bases are made of a high grade aluminum and are light enough even for the gram conscious watt whiner. They are built in such a way that they can accommodate all Wolf Tooth mounts as well as other off brand products. One thing that jumped out at me was the amount of plastic packaging that came along with the kit. As an official member of the tree hugger society, I felt like they could have done a touch better job in this regard.

Wolf Tooth classifies the B-RAD system into one of the three categories. First, the B-RAD bases themselves, these are the aluminum rails that you mount directly to the bike allowing for the movement of your accessories. They come in either two, three, or four slot options. One amazing accommodation that Wolftooth thought of was to put a printable PDF on their website of the bases that you can print off to see which base will fit your bike best.

Next comes the B-RAD Mounts, this includes things like the double bottle mount. These are the mounts that allow you to attach your accessories in a variety of ways to the rails. These mounts are well thought out and are what make the system tick. Without the mounts accessories could not be attached to the Unique B-RAD bases, so keep this in mind when putting in your order.

Lastly are the accessories that attach to the mounts. In many cases these are your everyday accessories like bottle cages so you can use much of what you probably already have. Although there are also a large selection of accessories that Wolf Tooth has put together that are unique to the system such as their Morse Cargo Cage and their beautiful Morse Ti GOLD bottle cage.

The Five Bike Test

As I mentioned, my goal for testing the system was to see how many ways I could apply it to my current quiver of bikes. And boy did I have fun with it! From my full suspension bike to my kiddos mountain bike, I put the B-RAD system to work. The best part was using the system to help solve a few gripes I had with previous bikes that have always had me scratching my head. It was nice to know that Wolf Tooth was looking out for me. I broke these setups down by bike. This allowed me to see what could be done with the system because as I mentioned there were a lot of bits and pieces to deal with. It all had my ears smoking a bit on how I would apply them all. Not a bad problem to have and a fun one to solve. Here we go...

1. The Canyon Neuron (aka Full Sussy)

With a full suspension bike there's rarely an occasion (at least for me) when it needs to be completely rigged out for bikepacking. However, I have always found the need for carrying a spare tube. I do carry a hip pack when I am riding gnarly trails but one extra that always takes up too much extra space in the pack is a spare tube. I have a Canyon Neuron and one thing I love about the bike is that it has a variety of mounts for bottles and accessories. I have always thought it would be nice to have something that I could use as a mount for that space tube on the down tube and with the B-RAD system I can now consider that problem solved! For this application I used a B-RAD 2 Mounting Base and the B-RAD Medium Strap accessory mount.

2. The Scott Addict (aka The Roadie)

It’s rare that I ever strap extras to my road bike. There is one instance when I wish I had the option and that is when I am doing a multi day tarmac ride or when I am out for anything longer than 100k in the dead heat of summer. My wishes are that I could carry an extra bottle on the bike. I made this happen with the B-RAD 4 Mounting Base and an extra Wolf Tooth Stainless Steel Bottle Cage. This was a simple yet effective add on that I will appreciate come summer.

3. The Salsa Cutthroat (aka The Gravel Grinder)

With my Cutthroat, the story is much the same as my road bike. I often like to go light but it is also a go-to for me in regards to fast and light bikepacking. What I loved about the B-Rad setup for this ride is that I was able to put my water upfront using the Dual Bottle Cage system allowing for my frame bag to be mounted inside the triangle. For both sides I used the B-RAD 2 mounting bases to attach the Dual Bottle Cage Holders. I also stripped the bike down and used the B-RAD 4 Mounting Base to carry my Wolf Tooth gravel repair kit below my seat tube water bottle, saving space and negating the need for me to carry my hip pack any longer on gravel rides!

4. The Specialized Riprock (aka The Kiddos Rig)

Hazel's bike is a small 24 inch Specialized Rip Rock and although I never want to load her up to the point where she's having zero fun on bikepacking trips she often insists she carries some of the load. In the past I have loaded her up with an emphasis on handlebar cradles but I have found this reduces her confidence on the bike as she has to constantly be thinking of the extra load and what it does to her steering. For this application, I got creative with a few different pieces that I already have and came up with an idea to use three different companies' gear to piece together a rear rack solution for Hazel's ride. I use the Aeroe rear rack and Wolf Tooth B-RAD 3 Mounting Bases to attach Tailfins’s Front Panniers via a couple of their mounting plates. For this application I used the provided foam as well as zip ties and a handyman's secret weapon, electrical tape. The bags were solid and streamlined Hazel’s setup to the point where her cockpit was clear of any confidence reducing clutter. One extra I did add to her bike was the B-RAD everywhere base at the back of her top tube. I then added a bottle cage. With her bike she has a small triangle and pulling her bottle is tricky, this fixed that issue!

5. The Bridge Club (aka The Workhorse)

When it comes to my Sury Bridge Club there’s not much I don’t put it through. From rugged backroad adventures to the daily commute it has been the workhorse of all my bikes. Although it has a jack of all trades aura to it one particular style of riding that it does exceptionally well is family bikepacking. When we hit the trails as a family this is the bike that carries the load and does it well. There has only been one stand out issue I’ve had with it and that’s its awkward placement of the front fork braze-ons. This is also the case on many Surly forks. They are set back on the fork and in many applications accessories added get in the way of both the wheels and the brakes. This was the problem I was most excited about solving with Wolf Tooth’s B-RAD system. With the help of two B-RAD 2 Bases and two Wolf Tooth Double Bottle Adapters I was able to push mounted accessories forward giving the bike enough clearance for anything I threw at it. In this case it was the Tailfin Front Fork Panniers. I was ecstatic that with just a couple chunks of well engineered lightweight aluminum I could solve a problem I had written off years ago. What was also super cool was the ability to mount a secondary accessory alongside the panniers, in this case I mounted a pump, what a beauty! I also used the Morse Cargo Cage that they sent my way to attach my large Nalgene bottle for cooking water. The cage itself is light just the right size and comes with two ski straps that can be used in other applications as well. I’ve also attached this cage to the bottom of the bike and strapped my creek crossing shoes for safe keeping. So much versatility here.

Wrapping Up

At the end of all the tinkering, mounting, removing and remounting of bases, mounts, and accessories I had solved all the packing issues I encountered over the years. I even managed to come up with a couple innovative ways to pack up the bikes better than I ever had before. When I first took on the B-RAD review my worry was that I wouldn’t be able to find enough words to fill the page as the product seemed uninspiring and even a little uninteresting. That soon changed as I discovered this ecosystem's versatility. You see, the B-RAD system is a product that isn’t supposed to jump out at you. It’s the workhorse on the team, the unsung hero even. It really has become the add-on I never knew I needed and I really think that anyone who spends a substantial amount of time on a bike should have a range of tools in the B-RAD system. I am also happy to report that I have even dedicated a drawer in my toolbox to the system and I’ll sleep easier knowing that I can pull that drawer in the event that I am dealing with a bikepacking conundrum. Thanks Wolf Tooth!