Apidura City Backpack

The Apidura City Backpack is a lightweight and fully waterproof backpack designed for urban riding and daily commuting – and in its simplicity, it is a great backpack with ideal storage space.

> Buy now: Apidura City Backpack for £130 from Condor Cycles

Our best cycling backpacks buyer's guide rounds up the top choices out there.

The City's simplicity is one of its most appealing features. The bag features a welded waterproof construction to keep your belongings dry in any weather and its features are minimalist, with only the essential pockets.

Inside, there's a suspended laptop sleeve for secure storage and the sleeve has one zipped pocket for storing pens or other small items you don't want to fish from the bottom of the bag.

On the side, there's an easy-access zipped pocket for keys and the like.

Otherwise, the bag is basically one single rectangular pouch with flap closure that's 50cm in height, which can be extended to 56cm, and 30cm wide. This minimalist approach makes it rather pleasing to the eye, and the materials used are good quality.

The shoulder straps are quite thin but have a lot of flex and just enough padding. Connecting the shoulder straps is an adjustable sternum and waist strap for a comfortable fit while riding.

That said, I took the waist strap off rather quickly and subsequently never missed it. I barely ever feel like I'd like to wear a backpack with a waist strap when cycling (perhaps because I ride mostly drop-bar bikes and hence am in a lower position) and the one that comes with this bag is rather thin, making it dig into the abdominals.

The padding on the back is dense and has quite a low profile. Apidura says it's 'quick-drying padding for comfort without bulk', and it's right with this claim, but I'd add that the padding is definitely not as breathable as for example the mesh-style backs on certain Osprey bags. After a 45-minute commute on a 25°C day, my back was thoroughly soaked and although the bag might've dried pretty quickly, my T-shirt definitely didn't.

And talking of commuting, the 20-litre capacity of this bag proved to be more than enough for carrying office essentials and even some extra for a weekend-long trip.

The padded laptop sleeve fits laptops up to 17in in size and keeps them from rattling about even if you have nothing else inside. It's also nice that the padding is not too extensive, so if you don't store a laptop in the bag the sleeve takes up little space.

The capacity around the laptop sleeve is flexible because of the flap closure system, which I much prefer to roll-top closures, which I find cumbersome – and I also think the City Backpack's aesthetics are better than a roll-top, but that's subjective.

The flap attaches to a buckled, adjustable-length strap, so you can pack the bag pretty much full to the brim, and still the flap wraps over the belongings to protect them from rain. I did have a few instances where the buckle came undone unintentionally when the bag was empty, but because of the 'bucket' style design, nothing falls out even if this happens.

And talking of rain, as many of us this summer, I've been caught more than once in proper downpours when using this bag – and it kept its contents completely dry every time.

The waterproof material feels durable and is easy to clean, although it is a little 'stiff' and the outside of the bag shows little scuffs, it's very nice and keeps the bag light. The reflective detailing at the bottom of the bag is well placed so that it shows even if you ride in an aggressive position, and there are loops for attaching a rear light for extra visibility.

Value

There aren't many cycling backpacks like the Apidura City Backpack in the market, as most of them feature a roll-top or zippered closure.

The closest rivals include the £89.99 Oxford Aqua Evo 22L Backpack, which Steve was extremely impressed with and the £94.99 Craft Cadence Backpack that Nick-Ball thought was both stylish and comfortable. Both scored extremely highly in our testing, are waterproof and quite a lot cheaper.

If you are happy with a rolltop design, the Ortlieb Commuter Daypack City backpack comes in at much the same price as the Apidura. It's light, tough and well organised and Patrick thought it was pretty much perfect.

Conclusion

Overall, I think this bag makes a comfortable, practical and stylish choice for urban cyclists and commuters, but it isn't the best if you regularly commute in hot weather and absolutely hate a sweaty back. It's very simple in design, which made me reach out for it even for non-cycling trips, and because of the waterproofness I never had to worry about my stuff getting wet. But as nice as the City Backpack is, I do feel its £130 price tag is somewhat hard to justify.

Verdict

Comfortable, practical and simply stylish choice for commuters, but with a high price tag