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review

Knog Leading Dog Bar Bag

8
£40.00

VERDICT:

8
10
Versatile and hard-wearing bag with ingenious fitting system
Weight: 
0g
Contact: 
www.todayscyclist.co.uk

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Knog's Leading Dog bar bag (you've got to love those names) is a stylish and practical bar bag with all the rugged practicality you’d expect plus some unique and clever features.

Bar bags have two jobs, to carry as much of your stuff as possible and to keep the elements out while doing so. Water is the big enemy of the bar bag and to combat it the Leading Dog is made from a water resistant 1200D fabric moulded into a shock proof EVA base. It's not enough simply to be made of water-restitant material though, a good bar bag needs to be well made.

On the Leading Dog tapered seams coupled with integrated “nip and tuck” ears keep the elements out whilst the anti-scratch lining incorporates three pockets for good organisation. It also means expensive sunglasses can be tossed in with casual abandon and little fear of scratching should the sun unaccountably go in.

A large zippered section keeps valuables such as passports, tickets, keys and other knick-knacks secure. Measuring 260x290X100mm, the main compartment feels less generous than some traditional designs, yet it proved big enough to take a medium sized compact camera, multi-tool, spare tube, energy bar and a lightweight training jacket-more with careful packing. 

The ingenious rubberised bracket offers a genuinely secure fit on all handlebar diameters, damping road shock yet engaging and releasing effortlessly from the universal hub- allowing the leading dog to convert from bar bag to stylish urban satchel in seconds. 

The absence of a clear map holder could deter some and the more straight-laced might be put off by the naked cartoon characters on the inside flap (although unexpected and gratuitous nakedness pretty much counts as a plus in our book) but these are minor detractions from an otherwise excellent design.

 

Shaun Audane is a freelance writer/product tester with over twenty-eight years riding experience, the last twelve (120,000 miles) spent putting bikes and kit through their paces for a variety of publications. Previous generations of his family worked at manufacturing's sharp end, thus Shaun can weld, has a sound understanding of frame building practice and a preference for steel or titanium framesets.
Citing Richard Ballantine and an Au pair as his earliest cycling influences, he is presently writing a cycling book with particular focus upon women, families and disabled audiences (Having been a registered care manager and coached children at Herne Hill Velodrome in earlier careers)

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