I love bags. Recently I went for a curry with another frequent traveller, and we spoke about bags for over 30 minutes and it wasn’t long enough.
There are bags for every length of trip and purpose of trip and mode of conveyance, as is proved by this bag under review. It is aimed at a subset of a subset – people who cycle to work, and who may, from time to time, need to get their suit from A to B without wearing it (ie: in wet weather, cold weather, or perhaps if it’s a dinner suit being brought in to work in the morning ready for an evening function).
I belong in that subset of a subset. Previously I have carefully folded my suit jacket into one of my panniers (I have the Ortlieb Yellow Back Roller Classic). It’s not impossible, and if they are lightly loaded, the suit isn’t ruined, but it doesn’t come out unscathed, and if you wear good suits – and if you’re reading this, you probably do – you might want an alternative. Enter the Antler Ultimate Commuter.
As you’d expect from something that is a suit carrier converted into a backpack, it is large and has straps for your shoulders, and a further strap to keep it secure round your waist. It fits a suit and trousers, with a coat hanger and loop for crease free packing along with a pair of shoes in a separate zipped compartment, then folds in half and attaches together.
There’s even a phone pocket for easy access while on the bike, though don’t keep cycling while on the phone, life is dangerous enough avoiding all the car and van drivers who are making calls.
The bag is easy to pack, has no obvious short comings, and has a high visibility reflective strip for safety when travelling and comes with a bright waterproof cover which pulls out from a neat compartment at the bottom to encase the entire bag in wet weather – a feature I loved.
I used the bag and can confirm that even in filthy weather it was waterproof, and my suit was crease free at the end of two hours in the bag, of which 30 minutes was cycling, and the rest sitting on a crowded train with it in the overhead compartment (the bag was in the overhead compartment – I had a seat).
Any reservations? None from my point of view, though judging from my London commute, cyclists in general are far more keen on looking cool than staying warm, dry, or even illuminated than in practical gear, so that will count against it. Personally I liked the look of the bag, but it is big and fairly bulky when fully-loaded, but then, so am I.
- SIZE 60 x 60 x 10 cm
- WEIGHT 1.7 kg
- PACKING CAPACITY 36 litres
- PRODUCT CODE 3061124081
- PRICE £85.00
- CONTACT antler.co.uk
