Briefcase, shoulder bag, pannier—this is a very versatile bag. And it looks good too. Ortlieb’s new Urban line of products introduces a new fabric, new clips and a chic new design aesthetic for this iconic luggage company.
The top flap opens easily to reveal ample space, including a good selection of zippered and easy-access pockets and a laptop sleeve with a catch. I particularly liked the key tether, which saves a lot of fumbling. The light-colored lining helps for finding other things. The natural-look fabric comes in pepper or light charcoal colours. It is soft to touch but the bag has good structure.
This bag is quite wide for a pannier (40cm) but heel strike is readily avoidable with the adaptable QL3 mounting system, which allows the bag to be mounted well back or on a tilt if necessary. The QL3 system also situates the clips on your rack not the bag, so they don’t dig into you when carrying the bag. The Commuter Bag also comes in the QL2.1 mounting system, however, in which the clips are on the bag, if that’s your preference.
I briefly thought about dashing out in the rain to test the waterproofness of the Commuter Bag before quickly changing my mind. After all, waterproofness is a cornerstone of Ortlieb’s monumental reputation, so it’s unlikely that I’d catch them out with this new design. The website declares the Commuter Bag’s waterproofness to meet IP53 standard, which is resistant to all rain and road spray, and I’m convinced.
A small criticism is that the smaller version (called Medium) has all the same dimensions as the Large except for the depth (10cm compared to 15cm). Less width would be more useful to minimise heel strike for riders of smaller bikes. The capacity of the Medium is 14 litres and the Large 19 litres.
More info here.
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