Every Sling Bag Should Have One of These
I finally found the perfect biking pack.
Leg Day is a newsletter about the pursuit of joy on a bike.
I don’t carry much on most of my bike rides. It’s usually just a lock, water, a snack, and my day planner. More recently, I’ve started to pack a mini-pump, tire levers, and a spare tube, which basically guaranteed that the one day I left my house without them I’d get a flat. No worries, it was about time my bike met my first true transit crush: the G train.
There are many ways to carry stuff on two wheels—frame bags, bottle cages, saddle bags, handlebar bags—but many don’t quite work with the way my main bike is currently setup1. When I started to ride a few years ago, I figured the small sling bag from The North Face ($59) would be up to the task. It seemed just big enough to hold what I wanted while leaving plenty of my back open to the air. With it, I could arrive my destination looking fresh and free of excess, unsightly sweat stains.
I soon discovered a problem I could not have predicted …
BUT BEFORE WE GET INTO THAT I want to let you know about an event that’s happening in the city next week. As you know, the NYPD has decided to start issuing criminal summonses to city cyclists who violate minor traffic laws like running red lights. The first cyclists caught up in the policy have started to have to appear in court this week. Most seem to be having their charges dismissed because the cops wrote the ticket wrong. (A negligent police office? Shocker! ) Even still, going to court just to have a charge dismissed is a massive waste of time, especially when you get a judge prepared to scold you with a rehearsed speech about how you are endangering the eldery. [A reminder from our friends at Streetsblog: the NYPD’s own statistics show that only one pedestrian was injured by an e-bike in the first three months of this year. The number injured by cars in that same period? 2,271.]
Organizers from the New York City Bike Messenger Association are putting together a peaceful protest to show solidarity against the over policing of cyclists next Friday, May 30th. The group will start in Union Square around 6 pm and move down to City Hall. I’l see you there! BACK TO OUR REGULARLY SCHEDULED PROGRAMMING.
The North Face bag sat comfortably on my back when I was walking. But the moment I got on my bike and got pedaling, the bag started sliding around. As I would bend over and sit up, the bag would move up and down my back. To combat this, I tried to tighten the bag as close to my body as possible. But because of the single-strap design, this meant I’d get off my bike with a very sore right shoulder muscle. I soon stopped wearing it.
I had sort of given up on the idea of a sling bag for cycling. I had some luck with a musette—a bag with an angled strap that allows its pouch to sit flat on your bag as you’re riding2—that was sent to me by the very nice people at Attaquer. But these offer so little internal organization that they felt pretty unideal for days where I was planning to do anything other than biking. For example, I wouldn’t put a camera in one, for fear of it banging around in open space with my bike lock.
For the next year or so, I resigned myself to biking only with backpacks and pannier bags. Both are totally functional, but have felt like overkill for my extremely medium carry needs.
Then, a few months ago, I got an email from a rep with Elliker, a British brand I had never heard of that makes gently technical hiking apparel and accessories. The clothes seem fine, I thought, but nothing special. And then, I saw it: the Eyam sling backpack.
The first thing that caught my eye about the pack was its massive front pocket, which is styled containing a 1 L Nalgene water bottle. Considering that I have tested many backpacks that can’t fit a Nalgene in their dedicated side water bottle pockets, this immediately confirmed I was looking at a very special bag. The list of impressive features went on: waterproof coating, two separate storage compartments, plenty of further internal organization options, and all in a package that weighs less than a pound. The real kicker, however, is the added tri-strap harness, which would allow you to more securely stabilize the bag to your body.
I quickly responded to the email and asked whether they would be able to send me one to test. I am thrilled to report that the Eyam Sling has solved my personal bag crisis. It’s the bag I bring for most of my rides. I slide my lock into the side zippered pocket. My flat-fix kit goes into the main internal compartment, along with my agenda and the Baggu I pack in case I stumble upon a perishable good I must bring home3. (I tie it to my rear rack.) And of course, I’ve usually got a Nalgene in the bottle pocket.
The bag is also quite comfortable to wear. The main shoulder strap is padded and hides a bonus long pocket that’s perfectly sized for pens4. If I had one criticism, it’s that the extra strap is basically just a piece of nylon. If you pull it too tightly, it can really dig against your ribs. This isn’t a big deal if you’re layered up, but I imagine it’s something you’ll want to be careful about when you’re biking in your cropped tees this summer. And ultimately, it’s something I would be so willing to deal with at the bag’s affordable price of £45 (about $60).
Do you have any favorite bike bags? Opinions about backpacks versus racks? Drop them in the comments below.
Can you imagine this beater with integrated cabling?
Mainly used by professional bike racers to bring extra food and water up from the team car to their leaders at the front of the peloton.
The is bounty all around us! It’s usually cookies.
You never know when you’ll need one!