Review: Rapha Trail Hip Pack

The Rapha Trail Bum Bag is reviewed in our Kit Essentials group test of Singletrack World Issue 143Price: £60.00Capacity: 3 LRide: noFrom: Rapha, rapha.ccColours: old gold, black, green, navy blue Unlike many mountain bike journalists, I really have no problem with Rapha. He has a style. It makes things really good. I can kind of understand people’s frustration with all his all-bike-must-hurt monochromatic retro schtick, but his products are generally good. Its recent foray into mountain biking has some great items (knee pads, for example). Sometimes, however, Rapha drops the ball. And while this backpack isn’t exactly a dud, I really don’t think it’s up to the job of a good mountain bike. I mean, I love the Old Gold color. It’s lovely. But the Rapha Trail bag is much more like a gravel bag or, dare I say, a duffel bag. No mountain biker really wants an external bungee cord to store their clothes; we want floaty/floating clothes to be out of harm’s way. When not in use, the drawstring simply prevents getting inside the bag or closing it. The other, bigger issue is that the bag doesn’t stay in place very well. I kept pulling him and correcting his slips. It wasn’t until I really tightened the belt (to the point where I found it constricting) that it stayed in place. It may not really work with the looser jackets and tops of…

---