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review
£25.00
VERDICT:
Simple little case to keep your phone, cash and other valuables from getting wet when you ride
Weight:
58g
Contact:
At road.cc every product is thoroughly tested for as long as it takes to get a proper insight into how well it works. Our reviewers are experienced cyclists that we trust to be objective. While we strive to ensure that opinions expressed are backed up by facts, reviews are by their nature an informed opinion, not a definitive verdict. We don't intentionally try to break anything (except locks) but we do try to look for weak points in any design. The overall score is not just an average of the other scores: it reflects both a product's function and value – with value determined by how a product compares with items of similar spec, quality, and price.
What the road.cc scores meanGood scores are more common than bad, because fortunately good products are more common than bad.
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The Velovita Pocket Pack is a handy little stash to prevent your phone, cards and bank notes from getting damp when you ride.
The Pocket Pack is a case for the valuable stuff you take with you when you ride. You get a leather-effect exterior over a PVA (synthetic polymer) casing, and a fabric-lined interior. Your phone goes on one side, held in place by elastic straps if you want to use them, and there are wallet-style slots on the other side for any cards or money you want to take along.
You could fit something like a front door key in there too, and coins as long as you're careful enough to keep the Pocket Pack the right way up so they don't come out of their stowaway area and rattle around in the phone compartment.
The exterior material is waterproof and the zip is almost waterproof. I mean, you wouldn't want to drop the Pocket Pack with your phone inside into a bucket of water, but moisture won't get through in normal circumstances. I've used this in the rain and put it in a jersey pocket for the tropical sweat-fest that is the Wednesday night turbo session and nothing has ever got damp inside.
The Pocket Pack is available in two sizes. I've been using the small version that measures 145 x 80 x 30mm. This is designed to take an iPhone 4, 5, 5s, or another similarly sized phone. It's lightweight and sits flat enough in your pocket that you hardly notice it's there, with plenty of room to spare for other stuff.
The large version (£27.50) is intended for an iPhone 6, Samsung Galaxy S4, or something similar.
That's about all there is to tell. This is a simple little case that does a really good job.
> Find more reviews of phone cases and mounts here
There's nothing to stop you carrying your phone around in a freezer bag, of course, but this is a whole lot nicer! Plus, the low density materials offer a decent level of protection for your phone if you drop the Pocket Pack in the road while pulling a windproof out of your pocket, for example. Not that I'd be dumb enough to do something like that, of course, but, hypothetically, if I had done such a thing last Tuesday, say, while riding up on Salisbury Plain, say, the phone would have survived just fine. The Pocket Pack isn't designed with impact protection in mind, but if you're going to drop your phone in the road it's not a bad idea to put it inside one of these first.
Looking around at other phone case prices, £25 seems reasonable.
Verdict
Simple little case to keep your phone, cash and other valuables from getting wet when you ride
road.cc test report
Make and model: Velovita Pocket Pack Small
Size tested: Small
Tell us what the product is for, and who it's aimed at. What do the manufacturers say about it? How does that compare to your own feelings about it?
Velovita says, "Introducing the Pocket Pack.
"A waterproof phone and essentials case from Velovita.
"Made from lightweight all-weather materials, it's designed to fit comfortably into your jersey pocket, moulding around your lower back, the Pocket Pack is big enough to carry your phone and essentials yet small enough for you not to notice.
"Plus, with its weatherproof bound seams and zip, the Pocket Pack ensures your stuff stays dry even when you don't.
"Compact, functional and stylish. Created by cyclists for cyclists."
Rate the product for quality of construction:
8/10
It's not the most complicated design in the world but the seams are bound and the waterproof (well, highly water-resistant) zip is decent quality.
Rate the product for performance:
8/10
Again, it doesn't have the most complex job to do but it keeps moisture out well and even offers a little impact protection for your phone.
Rate the product for durability:
8/10
There are no moving parts, unless you count the zip. It should last ages.
Rate the product for weight (if applicable)
8/10
Rate the product for value:
8/10
Tell us how the product performed overall when used for its designed purpose
It stops rain and sweat getting to your phone (and that can be bad news, believe me!) and allows you to stash all your valuables together in one place when you're riding.
Tell us what you particularly liked about the product
The fact that it protects your phone from sweat. I've disabled a phone in the past by just slinging it in a jersey pocket. It came back to life a couple of days later, but why take the chance?
Tell us what you particularly disliked about the product
It's not a dislike as such, but I do wonder whether Velovita could add to the Pocket Pack range by producing a version that could take a spare inner tube, tyre levers and multi-tool too (the things that many people keep in a saddle pack) with a sleeve for a mini pump on the side. It would be quite a bit larger, obviously, but all that stuff would fit into a single rear pocket, just about. Then you – well, I – would only have to remember to take one thing out on a ride. Anything for an easy life.
Did you enjoy using the product? Yes
Would you consider buying the product? Yes
Would you recommend the product to a friend? Yes
Use this box to explain your score
This is a very good product that has scored 8s across the board. The overall score has to be an 8, no question.
About the tester
Age: 43
I usually ride: My best bike is:
I've been riding for: Over 20 years I ride: Most days I would class myself as: Expert
I regularly do the following types of riding: commuting, club rides, sportives, general fitness riding
Mat has been in cycling media since 1996, on titles including BikeRadar, Total Bike, Total Mountain Bike, What Mountain Bike and Mountain Biking UK, and he has been editor of 220 Triathlon and Cycling Plus. Mat has been road.cc technical editor for over a decade, testing bikes, fettling the latest kit, and trying out the most up-to-the-minute clothing. He has won his category in Ironman UK 70.3 and finished on the podium in both marathons he has run. Mat is a Cambridge graduate who did a post-grad in magazine journalism, and he is a winner of the Cycling Media Award for Specialist Online Writer. Now over 50, he's riding road and gravel bikes most days for fun and fitness rather than training for competitions.
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11 comments
I bought one of these and loved it until the metal part of the zip broke. My husband had one also and his lasted a little longer and then did the same thing. We both tried to contact the company but they will not respond so we have had to replace with another product. Such a shame as for the 3 months that I had mine I did love it.
If you want something with a little more style & is British made then check out RidePac
http://www.velopac.cc/ridepacs/
Gumo-DS-RidePac.jpg
"a leather-effect exterior over a PVA (synthetic polymer) casing, and a fabric-lined interior "
So it is, in fact, a plastic bag....a bit like my ziploc freezer bag (but heavier and a bit dearer, but then of course it does have a fabric-lined interior
)
Riding a bike is one of the few times in modern life where one can be free of things like phones. The day I start wanting to take a phone on a ride is the day I give up cycling.
Actually I would pay good money for a leather drawstring coin pouch that I know will last me decades. There's something about having nice little things like that. Plenty of them on Etsy but they don't look strong enough to last a lifetime.
Granted, however the pOcpac lasts and you don't have to remove the phone to use it.
Or for a tenner you can get a pOcpac.
As much as that?
A zip freezer bag does me for everything that might get wet.
How is this "nicer"?
And lighter (for weight obsessives).
What's the cost of a new iphone screen these days? £90, £100? I think I'd pay for a bit of protection as opposed to using a freezer bag.
You could, though, if that's being advocated one would imagine you should use something like this product every second of every day, just in case.