‘Click – Yank; Click – Yank’.
That 4-second procedure is all it takes to securely mount a tailbag or duffle to your bike using a pair of RokStraps. The click of the plastic clips; a yank on the strap’s loose end to tension it against the elastic.
It’s not ROKet science, but watching some riders faff about mounting or removing tailbags by other means makes me realise how brilliant two-part ROK straps are.

Regular adjustable webbing straps also work but fail to account for a loose bag’s tendency to ‘shift & shuffle’ on the back of a bike, which tensioned elastic reliably compensates for. And you effectively need double the length of webbing to loop across frame loops and back.

Before ROK
Back in the Flintstone era but after the invention of string and mild steel, bungies were the next best thing; a bunch of elastic strands encased in a jaunty woven nylon sheath tipped with two coiled and plastic-coated metal hooks. Bungies were such a hit they spawned the daredevil activity of bungy jumping.
But even then we knew bungies were a cheap and nasty convenience, and sometimes it was the bungy that was jumping back at you. Because they were way too stretchy you had to tension them to the max to eliminate movement of anything heavier than a copy of MCN, and there was no adjustment other than knotting them. Add some UV, rain, more UV plus persistent over-stretching, and over the years several unfortunates have suffered nasty injuries from a stray hook recoiling into their face at 350mph. It’s said that was the motivation behind the invention of ROKs in Australia back in the 1990s.

Stiff elastic + clips + adjustable strap + tethering loops = ROK Strap

ROK Straps come in two parts: a shorter sheathed section of thick, flat rubber producing minimal recoil. It clips to a regular webbing strap with an adjustment buckle and best of all, both chunky sections end with a sewn loop to thread round a subframe or rack tube. Result: all pieces of ROK Strap are always attached to the bike (but remove easily) for lashing down loads quickly and reliably.
At the end of a long ride when you can often be weary or forgetful, just click your two straps apart, lift off your bag and stroll into a velvet-lined riad for a poolside aperitif while others are still fumbling with buckles or stumbling around clutching their eye in agony. It can be that simple. A pair of 16mm, 1.1 metre (42″) ROKs (above left) got for 15 quid discounted at SportsBikeShop. Rok On.