Ogio Metro rucksack

Ogio don't sell specifically this as a bike bag – it's promoted for mixed use – and to be honest it shows. Although it's well made it doesn't have those little touches which make a bag ideal for use on two wheels. On upright machines and short hops it's fine, but if your ride is longer or your position lower then you're better off looking elsewhere. On the plus side, it will swallow masses of kit.

The first thing that struck me when I saw this bag was the huge number of zips. If you are the kind of person who likes everything in its right place then this bag has a pocket for you. I prefer the storage system known as the 'pile of stuff' and I was worried that if I made full use of this bags organisational capabilities there was a distinct chance that I'd never find anything ever again.

You don't get any accessible side pockets, so if you want to grab your keys or some change or a snack bar then you'll have to haul the whole thing off your shoulders while you try to remember which pocket you put them in. There's no light loop or anywhere that you could sensibly bodge one on. Nor do you get any reflectives. For a bag that's going to be mainly used by commuters, that's not so great.

The biggest flaw, for me at least, is the way that the neoprene carry handle is placed way too far down between the shoulder straps. On a drop barred bike, like my not-very-aggressive commuting hack, this pressed into the back of my neck and pushed my head forward. The only way to alleviate it was to loosen the straps to the point where the bag felt sloppy. The sternum straps were no help as they were too short to fasten around my 42" chest without squeezing me. I also had problems with the chunky straps cutting into my armpits. However, on an upright holiday hire bike it was fine as the bag sits much better.

Ogio don't make any claim for this bag being waterproof, which is honest of them because it failed my cheap and cheerful foul weather test (ie being put near the garden sprinkler while I watered my veg) in spectacular style. After ten minutes it had let water in just about everywhere, including the "weatherproof" audio pocket. Water was also starting to pool in the main compartment. You might be ok in a light shower, but anything more is going to leave you with some soggy contents. The large laptop pocket fared rather better, protected as it is by the rest of the bag and your back.

If I only commuted on foot, or on a very upright bike then this would be a fine bag. It has good capacity, 36 litres to be precise, and everything fits nicely. As a bag for cyclists these good points are tempered by some fairly major faults.

Verdict

Nice commuter bag but no good if you normally ride a drop barred bike. Waterproofing isn't great either.