Altura Ridge Dirt Bag review

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Liam Mercer

Since beginning his mountain biking career while working as a resort photographer in Greece in 2014, Liam became a freelance contributor at off.road.cc in 2019. From there, he’s climbed the journalism job ladder from staff writer to deputy technical editor, now finding his place as technical editor.

Partial to the odd enduro race, heart rate-raising efforts on slim-tyred cross-country bikes, hell-for-leather e-MTB blasts or even casual gravel jaunts, there’s not a corner of off-road cycling where Liam fears to tread. With more than 40 bike reviews under his belt and hundreds more on MTB, e-MTB and gravel parts and accessories, Liam’s expertise continues to be cemented and respected by the industry.

Product reviews

Altura Ridge Dirt Bag review

The Alura Ridge Dirt Kit Bag has been built to handle the packing and transport of filthy kit. For the most part, the brand has done an excellent job, making it a permanent fixture of any ride I’ve done since the start of my test. However, its popper fastening system isn’t the most reliable and extra pockets would make this the only bag you'll need to carry post-ride gear.

Altura Ridge Dirt Kit Bag - Technical details

Carrying riding gear around usually calls for an Ikea bag or similar and, while a big blue bag does a solid job carting kit, there’s a definite call for something more durable. And that’s where Altura’s Ridge Dirt Kit Bag steps in.

To fill its role, it’s built from a waterproof material with welded seam technology using a closed-cell foam base to stand on when the bag is flat. Its fabric is a durable nylon ripstop finished with a TPU coating.

Closing up the sides the Ridge Dirt Bag employs four poppers which makes for quick closing and opening when the time comes. And because of its flat-pack design, it can pack down to a super small size and be stored in a car or van all the time.

Boosting the bag’s usefulness are nylon straps but they’re not sewn onto the bag’s outer. Instead, there are areas where a helmet’s straps can be looped through, so as well as your dirty kit, this bag can also carry your helmet. Handy.

Altura Ridge Dirt Kit Bag - Performance

Unless you always ride to the trails, any bag is a must-have to carry unused and dirty kit to and from the car. And where I’ve wrecked an old canvas backpack or used one of those blue sacks from the Scandinavian flatpack gods, the Ridge Dirt Kit Bag has genuinely been something I use before and after every single outing.

First and foremost, it’s a bag. You bung stuff in, you pour stuff out when you need it. It’s not doing anything cool in that department. It carries stuff, it’s great. But it’s all in its build and ability to flatten where it begins to make the investment much more worthwhile.

Most of my travelling is in a van and I’ve got space to get changed in the back, but the Ridge Dirt Bag’s ability to flatten out and present a soft but durable pad to stand on makes slipping on MTB shoes more pleasant. However, the bag makes a lot more sense when tearing off wet and mud-covered riding threads. Again, there's a nice soft pad to stand on that’s stopped my feet from getting wet when laid over damp ground and it does a solid job of being comfortable to stand on.

Then, once free from my mud-ridden rags, closing up the bag’s sides is quick, and easy. And because the bag is waterproof, nothing soaks through, so you can sit the bag on your car’s rear seat in full comfort so that mud won’t mess everywhere.

Although it’s made my pre- and post-ride routines much more pleasant, the Ridge Bag could be improved. I may have been using it beyond its capabilities but it’s not a one-stop-shop for all your kit-carrying needs. I’ve been carrying shoes, tops, bottoms, base layers, pads, and a helmet and this can overwhelm the poppers, causing the bag to open up unintentionally.

In terms of improvements, a separate shoe pocket is needed here. I don’t know about you, but I don’t wash my shoes after every ride so a place that keeps them from my clean kit would be super useful. More pockets would improve the Ridge Bag to no end. It’ll be great to carry dirty pedals, a GoPro, and other bits and pieces separate from my riding kit just for safety’s sake, and to stop my clean kit from getting dirty when rubbing up against the leftover grease of my pedal’s threads.

Altura Ridge Dirt Kit Bag - Verdict

The only issue that might affect the appeal of the Ridge Dirt Kit Bag is the £50 price, which is a surprise given that Altura usually offers banging value for money. A serious competitor is Muc-Off’s Grime Bag, which will set you back £30. It might not have a dedicated helmet loop but it does appear to house dirty clothing much better thanks to its drawstring design. However, it may not be as packable when not in use.

There’s also Fox’s Utility Changing Mat Bag for £40. This is a blend of Muc Off’s bag and the Ridge Dirt Bag as it’s both a bag and a fold-out mat. It then cinches up with a drawstring to enclose wet clothing. There is no soft pad to stand on, however.

Altura’s Ridge Dirt Bag is still a product that’s worth consideration as it does its job a little differently than others, offering a large soft pad to stand on in an easily foldable and carryable package. There’s a lot to like, such as its waterproof build and purpose-built helmet loops but I would expect more for the money, given that its competitors do a similar job for significantly less. More pockets, at least, would make this a purchase easier to justify.