Bike Commuters

I’ve been testing the Mission Workshop Vandal Cargo Backpack for the last few months. Before I get into the details of the review, below is some information regarding the bag.

The Vandal

The meat and potatoes of this bag is that you can carry anything from meat to potatoes and all food groups in between, in a weatherproof and flawlessly constructed example of what is rapidly setting the urban backpack standard.

* 3 weatherproof compartments
* 2 external accessory pockets
* Expanding cargo compartment
* Messenger bag durability
* Water-resistant urethane coated zippers
* Rugged internal frame
* Made in America with a lifetime warranty

Dimensions – Compact
Measures – 15” x 21” x 6”
Volume – 1,800 cu. in. / 30 L / 6.75 Gallons
Dimensions – Expanded
Measures – 15” x 21” x 12”
Volume – 4,000 cu. in. / 65 L / 15 Gallon
Price: $239

I’ve been using this bag for just about everything I need a big bag for. I’ve spent countless miles with it on my bike whether I am going to and from work or picking up some groceries; I have also used the Vandal for a recent camping trip. I’ve always preferred backpacks to carry my stuff while commuting, so when the opportunity to review the Vandal came up, I jumped on it.

One of my favorite features of the Vandal is its pretty green color. It’s definitely a nice contrast against a busy scene of cars in traffic. This is good because everyone knows that visibility is a bike commuter’s best friend.

The Vandal has 4 large compartments that can host your clothing, food, shoes, and beer. I was able to separate my shoes from my clothes, which is nice because I don’t want either of them to touch during transport. For one, I don’t want any dirt from my shoes to get on my clothes, and I wouldn’t want my clothes to smell like my feet. In my previous bag, I’d have to wrap up my shoes with a plastic bag before putting them in.

In the compartment close to my back, my 17″ laptop and charger called it home with room to spare.

The Vandal offers wide straps with multiple height adjustments for the chest strap.

Mission Workshop claims the Vandal is water resistant. Since I didn’t see any rain during the time that I was testing the bag, I decided to call on the help of my garden hose. I set it to a nice shower-like spray and made sure the bag was thoroughly soaked. Just to let you know, I kept the hose on for about 5 minutes.

…like water off a duck’s back

When I opened the zippers I found the inside contents of the bag were nice and dry. Good job Vandal!

When I first learned about Mission Workshop and the Vandal, I thought, “that’s a nice backpack.” Though it has some great features like the water resistant material and zippers and multi location cargo holders, I was more impressed with the fact that they offer a Lifetime Warranty. Yeah I know that the $239 sticker price is a bit steep, but you’re paying for a good quality bag and based on their warranty, you can pretty much do no wrong and they’ll still fix it for you. Well, there are exceptions, but you’ll have to read about it.

Let me get into the adjustibility of the Vandal. As I’ve mentioned you have a chest strap that can be position higher or lower to provide a better fit for the rider. You also receive the standard height adjustment on the shoulder straps. What stuck out the most about this back pack is that it had additional straps to either tilt in/out the bag to make it easier to carry. This feature is pretty helpful especially if you’re carrying a heavier load. Personally I like having my cargo as close to my back as possible.

Though I’m 5′7″ the Vandal fit me just fine. But if you were any shorter, this bag might be a bit big on you. But don’t worry, Mission Workshop has a smaller bag — actually its their medium version called the Rambler.

When it comes to stability, the Vandal is pretty darn secure. If you’ve ever carried cargo on your back that cause you to use your bag’s full capacity, then you’ll understand that when you’re on your bike taking off from a red light, your backpack will sway back and forth. The Vandal was pretty stable when I had a full load in the bag. I expanded it to make sure that all my stuff fit. To prevent it from swaying side to side when sprinting out of the intersection, I previously adjusted the tilt straps and I also adjust these straps below to make sure that my cargo was secured in its place. You see the orange part of the clip in the photo below? That right there is spring loaded and there’s enough tension on it to prevent your buckles from slipping out of place.

Last but not least, “does the bag keep pointy objects from touching my back?” Absolutely. The “back” part of the bag is reinforced with some sort of rugged frame to prevent your machetes or bike parts from poking you.

For the commuter who prefers a backpack over panniers or a messenger bag, a bag like the Mission Workshop Vandal would be a good fit for you. It’s full of features, compartments and if you can get over the the initial sticker shock of the bag, you end up with a product that is designed to last longer than most cars on the road. I gotta be honest with you, it’s their warranty that sold me on the Vandal. Nowadays, its pretty rare to see a “lifetime warranty” on products. Some may have 30-90 days or even up to 2 years. But the words “lifetime” was music to my ears. If anything, just consider it an investment.

Please click here to read our review disclaimer as required by the Federal Trade Commission.

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Several months ago, the good folks from Banjo Brothers sent me one of their Model 1050 messenger bags to test out. My review is long overdue, and I’ll get to the specifics of why in a second…

First, here’s a bit from the Banjo Brothers website:

– Huge 2000 cubic inch capacity (18L x 14H x 8W when full)
– Ballistic fabric exterior with hanging liner
– Padded, removable laptop sleeve included
– One-handed, on-the-fly shoulder strap adjustment
– Lots of pockets for pens, folders, accessories
– MSRP: $79.99

2000 cubic inches is pretty large…and that’s the main reason I delayed so long in posting a review of this bag; during the warmer months, I just don’t have much to carry. Further, on a hot day, this bag covers my entire back, leaving me extremely sweaty. During the summer I used the Banjo Brothers bag as a beach bag…it allowed me to carry two beach towels, drinks and snacks and let me keep my hands free to carry toys and to hold my boy’s hand while we walked the 1/2 mile to our secret spot on Pass-A-Grille Beach.

Now that the cooler months are here, I don’t mind the extra coverage on my back, and I can ramp up the amount of stuff I carry (books, papers, a wind/waterproof jacket, lunch, balaclava and gloves, repair tools and a mini-pump, etc.). The Banjo Brothers bag handles loads like this wonderfully.

Let’s take a look at the construction and features of the bag: the body of the bag is made of a stout ballistic nylon fabric in black, with a grey-colored nylon interior. There’s no traditional “truck tarp” liner, but between the black exterior and the liner, there’s some type of VERY effective waterproofing. More on that in a bit…

Construction of the bag is adequate. The stitching isn’t as tight as I’m used to seeing, but at least it is even and the thread is strong. All the fabric edges are covered by finer-weave nylon and the attachment points for the straps are either bar-tacked or sewn on with a strong “X” pattern…very sturdy. I’ve had no stitching or fabric failure since I started using the bag back in May, and I’ve hauled a couple of pointy, heavy loads.

The inside of the bag is fairly simple — a large compartment with two open-topped pockets and two key clips along the front corners of the bag:

On the outer wall just inside the main flap is a pair of stacked pockets — one open-topped and one with a sturdy zipper. Over these are sewn several pen slots and a strip of nylon webbing “daisy chain” to attach a blinkie or other items:

The bag is held shut by means of two quick-release buckles and a pair of vertical strips of hook and loop material. The bag’s closure system allows it to adjust for some pretty big loads, and that’s always a nice feature! Over the outside of the flap is a bag-wide strip of highly reflective material.

The reflective stuff is pretty noticeable, wouldn’t you say?

The shoulder strap system is made of wide but soft seatbelt webbing with a large integrated pad and an easy-to-use adjustment buckle. The harness also includes an anti-sway strap that fits under your arm. The bag’s harness is designed to go over your left shoulder, and there’s no way to swap that out for “righties”, as the straps are sewn directly onto the back of the bag.

This is first messenger bag I’ve tried that is truly “on the fly” adjustable…with some bags, you’ve got to release a clasp or similar to lengthen or shorten the shoulder strap; not so with the Banjo Brothers bag — merely grab the bottom of the strap, hitch the weight of the bag onto your upper back and pull the strap. Voila — adjusted! To lengthen the strap, simply place your thumb under the chromed clasp and push upwards. It’s quick and painless and very effective.

One minor gripe I have with the bag isn’t really the fault of the bag, per se…because the padded area of the strap is wide and my shoulders are narrow, the bag has a tendency to slip off my shoulder. One time, the strap slipped and pinned my braking arm against my side as I approached an intersection! This problem only manifests itself when loads are light…the heavier the load, the more stable the strap (and the whole bag, for that matter) is. To prevent this from happening with lighter loads, I squeezed on a few thin bands of clear silicone to the underside of the pad…it doesn’t slip anymore!

A lot of bag manufacturers will sell you the main bag, but if you need to carry a laptop and a cell phone you may need to purchase accessories such as a padded sleeve or a holster. Not so with Banjo Brothers — both of these items are included in the purchase price.

Padded laptop sleeve:

Cell phone holster:

Earlier, I mentioned waterproofing. Up until yesterday, I hadn’t had a chance to test the bag in wet conditions…but on the way to work yesterday I got caught in a fierce storm, soaking me to the bone. When I arrived at work, I had to pour water out of my shoes! Lo and behold, my work clothes and other belongings were absolutely dry inside the bag. Whew! One of the tricks Banjo Brothers uses is the way the body of the bag and the lid are cut…extra “gussets” fold down as the lid is closed, creating overhangs that eliminate water-entry points at the corners.

Timbuk2 users will know that despite the heavy truck tarp interiors of their traditional messenger bags, those exposed corners will let a bit of water in — glad to see that Banjo Brothers (and other bag makers) have addressed this with a little creative fabric cutting.

Overall, I really enjoy using this bag — the harness takes the sting out of a heavy load and prevents that load from swaying too much. The more cargo, the better the bag feels and performs. I trust its waterproofness now that I’ve had a chance to see it in action, and it’s got enough organizational features that lets me carry my things without a lot of hunting around for small bits.

Yes, it is a rather plain-looking bag…and no, there are no customizable liner colors, stripes, accessory pockets or wild exterior color schemes to choose from as with other bag makers…if it bothers you, sew on a ZPG patch and be done with it!

Likes:
– good harness system
– good capacity for heavy loads
– stable on the bike
– great value (accessories included!)

Dislikes:
– stitching and overall finishing is a bit crude but completely functional
– plain-jane color scheme may not appeal to everyone
– really hot on your back in warmer weather
– narrow shoulders may not like the wide strap pad

Banjo Brothers makes a couple other sizes of messenger bags and they also make a fantastic backpack (reviewed on our sister site The Bike Geek: click here for the review). They’ve also got a wide range of other cargo solutions for bike and for body…all at great prices! Check them out by visiting Banjo Brothers on the Web.

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We’ve got a few new products to review from our crew’s recent trip to Sea Otter: a couple items from the good folks at Cycleaware including their “HotRod” MTB handlebar light –

and their “Heads Up” eyeglass mirror –

In addition, we’ve got a really cool new pair of “Oasis” sunglasses to show off by Ryders Eyewear –

and a voluminous messenger bag/laptop sleeve combo by the folks at Banjo Brothers –

Finally, in the next few days I will be posting the results of my long-term test of the Seattle Sports Fast Pack waterproof pannier. For right now, let me just say that this thing is bombproof. Also, I will be posting a “final thoughts” article on the Ergon BD-1 backpack that we’ve been testing.

So, stay tuned…lots of useful goodies and information coming your way!

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A couple months back, we posted our first impressions of the Ergon BD1-M Team Edition backpack. I’ve had a chance to ride with this pack for all the time since (about 300 miles worth) in all weather and carrying a wide variety of loads.

First, a bit about the bag:

Gender • Male / Female specific
Capacity • 12 liter
Main fabric • 420 D Nylon
Hydration Pack • optional

As mentioned in the earlier article, the whole suspension system revolves (pun intended) around the novel “Flink”, or Flexible Link. Basically, this is a plastic half-sphere that allows the bag to move with the wearer, keeping the bag centered and floating without undue sway. After riding with this bag for those 300 miles, I’d say that the Flink really works!

And, as with other load-carrying backpacks, the hip belt is crucial for keeping the weight off a wearer’s shoulders. I subscribe to the Colin Fletcher method of adjustment.

“…hunch your shoulders so that the pack lifts a little, and cinch the hipbelt tight. Really tight. To achieve that end, pull firmly. Then shrug the pack even higher and tighten again. Now take a deep breath and pull even harder. If the belt hurts a little it’s about right.”

– From Colin Fletcher’s The Complete Walker III, originally published in 1968 and revised in 1984.

This method is a little extreme for the Ergon pack, but let’s just say the tighter the hip belt, the easier the load is on your shoulders. If the hip belt is nice and tight, you absolutely WILL NOT notice any appreciable weight on your shoulders, and that is truly comfortable. The tightness of the hipbelt, along with the sternum strap, the nicely-contoured shoulder straps and the Flink means this backpack stays right where it is supposed to with no wobbling or swaying. Towards the end of my “to work” commute, there is a nice downhill and then a sharp left turn into the edge of downtown Tampa. With this pack fully loaded, I can burn a high-speed turn at a very sharp cornering angle and the Ergon backpack would not shift an inch, even with a heavy load. Now THAT, I like!

The same goes with out-of-the-saddle sprints. When I tried either of those with my old messenger bag, I would have to reach back and adjust the location of that bag as it swayed and slipped all over the place. Not so with the Ergon.

As I mentioned in the earlier article, this bag is packed with features. There is one external and one internal zippered pocket, another open internal pocket and a large, spandex-y pocket for a hydration bladder (to go with the hose-routing loops on both faces of the shoulder straps). I emailed Ergon to ask their recommendation for an appropriate hydration bladder that would fit, as I had tried an older 70 oz. Camelbak bladder and it didn’t fit in the pocket so well. I never got a response from them, so I chalk it up to “lost in the mail” or perhaps less-than-stellar customer service. Oh well…that’s not a deal-breaker.

Here’s the internal pocket for the bladder:

One serious drawback that kept coming back to me as I tested this bag is the capacity. It just isn’t big enough to rate as a truly serious commuting bag. Granted, Ergon does not market this bag as such — it is designed for extended mountain bike expeditions where a rider might need to bring spare tubes and tools, a rain jacket or extra warmth layers and some snacks. Nevertheless, it is something to consider. If your daily commuting load is only a few items, this bag would be a dream. If you have to carry a laptop, nice clothes or different shoes, this might not be the bag for you. My typical load for this bag was my lunch, a sweater and a hardcover book or two in addition to my mini-pump and a couple small tools. That’s about all this bag will carry without cramming items inside.

I got to test the built-in raincover a couple times, too. While the raincover doesn’t keep the bag totally dry, it does ward off the worst of the wetness. To be extra safe, it might pay to wrap sensitive items in plastic bags if you’re expecting to get caught in a downpour.

Overall, for the bike commuter who can travel light, I give this bag a resounding “YES”. It’s comfortable as can be, it is strong, and most importantly it is stable with a load. But, if you have a lot to carry, you might consider another brand bag that can handle a bulky load.

Check out Ergon’s complete line of bicycling products here.

Read this review in Spanish at ciclistafanatico.com here.

Check out these messenger bags and backpacks.

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12″ Sub inside my OYB bag.

Some of you may remember this little bag from Outyourbackdoor.com, but since my post was a casualty of Mr. Hacker, I think it’s worth mentioning again.

This little $35 bag is a saddle bag, handlebar bag, pannier, or a man purse.

It’s 10″x8″x4″ and is great for carrying all manner of daily-use goodies, including wine bottles.

The way the bag works is that each bag comes with 3 small leather buckle-straps stowed in the front pouch. To use as a bar-bag, tuck shoulder-strap into main-pouch and thread 2 leather straps thru the big D-rings to the bars and 1 strap around the head-tube thru the waist-strap D-rings. To use as a saddle-bag, here’s where it gets neat: Each main-strap D-ring has a 1/4″ section removed beneath its attachment loop—shove the canvas aside and clip each D-ring thru your saddle rail or bag-loop, then use a leather-strap to afix to the seatpost. Presto!

I attached it to the Brooks Saddle of my Swobo Sanchez and it has become extremely useful. I can carry a T-shirt, shorts, a tube and my CO2 pump in that little bag. Today, I used it to carry my 12″ Sub that I got for lunch. So if you are looking for a small inexpensive do-it all bag, I highly recommend the OYB Bag.

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With the recent rains that Southern California had experienced, I wanted to see how well the Banjo Brothers Commuter Back Pack’s ability to keep things dry over a long period of wetness exposure.

So I set up the bag in my back patio where it gets pretty wet during the rains. Rather than standing in the rain all night long. I recruited the use of my old ladder and a bungee cord to hold the bag in place.

This is the bag the following morning. I apologize for the fuzzy picture, my camera sucks.

As I opened it up this morning, I expected that the bag would have been flooded inside.

But to my surprise, the items in the bag stayed dry!

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Our friends at Ergon Bike Ergonomics recently sent us a backpack to check out. This model is called the BD-1M “Team Edition” backpack, and it is sleek and packed with features.

Originally, RL was slated to test this backpack…but with his husky, macho physique, the harness system was a bit too snug. We needed someone willowy and narrow to test this bag, so the duty fell to me. As it turns out, the system is just a hair too BIG for me, but I got the bag’s straps and buckles adjusted to the point that everything worked out in the end. Phew!

Let’s get something straight right here at the beginning — Ergon does NOT market this bag as a commuter-specific backpack. In fact, it’s intended for the MTB crowd…a bag that can carry a hydration bladder, some tools, snacks and a jacket. At only 12 liters (730 cubic inches or so), it is not designed to carry a huge load. That being said, it does what it is intended to do splendidly!

Anyhow, on to the bag itself: It’s made of black and pea-green woven nylon, with a very visible hard plastic “exoskeleton” that gives it shape and forms the suspension components of the bag. All of the harness parts (shoulder straps, back pad, hip belt and sternum straps) are attached to the exoskeleton. The back panel adjusts using a simple hex screw and nut to fit a range of backs…I have it set to the “small” setting.

Here’s a shot of the harness and adjustable back panel:

Not visible is Ergon’s flexible link or “Flink” — a plastic sphere right behind the adjusting screw of the back panel that separates the bag itself from the harness system. This “Flink” allows the bag to pivot both up and down and side-to-side with the rider, staying balanced between the shoulder blades no matter what the load.

From the side, the “Flink” is a bit more visible. It’s that green object right between my shoulder blades:

The bag hugs the rider’s back, yet lets a surprising amount of air to flow between bag and rider. The padded portions of the hip belt and shoulder straps are lined with mesh to let additional airflow in.

Did I mention that this bag is packed with features? It’s got a pocket for a hydration bladder inside, slots and hook-and-loop straps to control the bladder’s hose, a zippered outside pocket, a zippered inside pocket and another small open pocket on the inside of the bag. The folks at Ergon went the extra mile and included an ingenious raincover, too! At the inner base of the bag is a little “garage” for the raincover:

Tear open the hook-and-loop strip and deploy the raincover — it stretches right over the body of the bag:

Ergon even included a built-in emergency whistle, which is molded into the buckle of the sternum strap. Amazing!

Well, how does this thing ride? I took it on one commuting trip to work — loaded down with two 500ml bottles of soda, a bulky hardcover book (Crusade: The Untold Story of the Persian Gulf War by 3-time Pulitzer Prize winner Rick Atkinson), a work shirt and assorted tools, tubes and small items. It was a tight squeeze…and God forbid if you had to get something at the very bottom of the bag. The narrowness of the interior compartment and the overall small volume means that you must unpack everything to get at goodies in the bottom of the bag.

Even with this load (maybe 15 lbs.?), the bag felt weightless once I got the straps snugged up. The padded hipbelt soaks up the most of the weight, and the shoulder and sternum straps serve to stabilize things. I felt FAST wearing this bag, and I never once worried about the bag shifting while I cornered or got out of the saddle to do some sprinting. Pretty cool so far!

In the coming weeks, I will test the waterproofness of the raincover, check the durability of this bag and offer further thoughts about the performance and balance of this system. Stay tuned for all of that.

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Product Tested: Banjo Brothers Commuter Back Pack

As described on the site.

COMMUTER BACKPACK (waterproof) – Messenger bags are great, but with two straps to distribute the load, a backpack is often a more comfortable option for longer rides or heavier loads. Unfortunately your options have either been student backpacks that leak like a sieve, sit up too high, or cost a fortune. We designed our backpack with a full welded waterproof liner that is removable and replaceable if it is punctured.

* Medium – 1500 Cubic inches / 17″Tall x 12″ Wide x 8″ deep
* Waterproof 2-layer design: outer ballistic nylon layer wears like iron; replaceable waterproof liner keeps contents dry in a downpour (will not keep water out if submerged, in case underwater-riding is your hobby).
* Wide padded straps distribute load more evenly than messenger bags
* Sits lower on the back than standard backpacks to reduce blind spots while riding
* Chest strap and removable waist strap for stability
* Large reflective stripes and tab for safety light
* Quick-access side pocket fits mini-U lock
* In-Stock
* MSRP: $79.99

The Banjo Brothers Commuter Back Pack is a pretty strong and reliable bag. I’ve been using this baby for a many months and it hasn’t failed me yet.

The bag has a few highlights that I really like such as the side pocket in which is big enough to carry a u-lock. Though they said it was more designed for a small u-lock, my normal sized piece fit just fine. I also like the zippered storage and of course the little blinkie hanger on the lower section of the bag.

The back pack is a bit more comfy than a traditional student bag. The padded shoulders and padded back helped ease the strain of carrying a bag full clothes and gear to work.

Ok now here’s my MOST favorite part of the bag….the reflective “racing stripes� on the back. I mean talk about killing two birds with one stone! Not only did they make this back pack more safe, but its even cool looking with the reflective stripes. Don’t worry, those stripes do work at night. They’re kinda like the reflective arm/ankle bands you can get at the bike shop.

I talked about how comfy this thing is right, well when you have way too much things to bring with you, the back pack doesn’t disappoint. Just check out the things I had to carry on a recent liquor run. All that was pretty darn heavy, almost felt like I was carrying a ruck sack for an army of drinkers…Banjo says that the back has something like 1500 cubic inches of storage….1500 sounds allot! It’s actually way more than I really had to use. Even after our little trip to the liquor store, the bag still felt fine. I didn’t feel it cutting into my massive body builder like shoulders, not did it tear or rip at the seams. In fact, the bag is so well made that not even a thread came undone in the months that I’ve had this. Now that’s quality if you ask me. I’ve had other bags…one even a hand made customized hydration pack that started fraying on me after a few months of use. But the Banjo factory seems to know what they are doing.

The bag has a white water proof liner that protects all your goods from getting wet. I like how it’s white, makes it easier to find things that are in the bottom of the bag. You can actually remove the lining from the bag. But I never did, I like the fact that it was there constantly protecting my skivvies and work clothes due to wetness from my sweaty back.

One of the claims that Banjo Brothers says this bag is capable of or has the ability to be is…�WATER PROOF�. Since it hardly rains in sunny Southern California, and it is September right now, I enlisted the help of my kids to see how “WATER PROOF� this bag really is. So if you check out the video you’ll see that the bag pass our test. Now I’d imagine if you’re someplace that rains allot, this might be a significant factor in your choice of buying a bag. Now I’m not so sure if our water test will impress you folks up in Seattle or Portland, but as you will see, it did really well.

Bottom line, I really dig this bag. For the folks that don’t like to ride with a messenger bag or panniers, I’d tell them to get a Banjo Brothers Commuter Back Pack. It’s a great deal, waaaay cheaper than any other messenger bag out there, more comfortable…and I know what I’m about to say next will get some smack, but it LOOKS WAAAAAY COOLER THAN A PANNIER COULD BE. So if you’ve got a strong back and Ginormous shoulders like I do, and you think you can huck around your stuff in a back pack, then get this bag. Like I said, its cool, not just cool, its UBER cool!

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