Getting organized as the clock ticks down to departure time for a journey to a race or sportive can be a challenge.
Non-specific bags often provide a poor match for cycling kit, making it easy to lose, or still worse, forget items.
Enter the Transfer bag from Inside Line Equipment, an American firm making bags by hand in California. We’ll be getting to know the Transfer better in the weeks ahead, but we thought we’d bring you our early impressions and these pictures without delay.
The Transfer, made from robust looking sail cloth, is one designed specifically for cycling, and contains an internal drawstring bag for shoes or wet kit, an elasticated net on the outside in which to carry a helmet, and short, elasticated pouches on either side, perfectly sized for water bottles.
Two chunky zips run either side of the full length of the main compartment, allowing the bag to opened like a suitcase and so providing easy access: no scrabbling around blindly for items at the bottom of the bag, as with a conventional ruck sack.
Once inside, the drawstring bag is the most immediately obvious feature, one that easily swallowed the Vitoria Hora Evo shoes we have on test. As an early test, we laid shorts and short-sleeved jersey over the top and were impressed by the amount of room remaining: we’d expect to get a full set of kit in here without difficulty.
Either side of the draw string bag are net pouches, presumably intended for bidons.
The interior of the rear panel is lined with elasticated net for further storage options. We stowed our glasses case in there for these pictures, but there’s plenty of room for gloves, a folded base layer, and folded arm or leg warmers.
The shoulder straps are padded, as is the panel that rests against your back. The sternum strap, like all others on this bag, closes with a firm ‘click’, and there’s a handle above the shoulder straps at the top of the bag if you want to carry it by hand rather than on the back.
Website: Inside Line Equipment
UK Distributor: VAM Performance
Price: £159
