Zefal Z Adventure F2 Front Bag

With its 2.5 litre of space, the Zefal Z Adventure F2 handlebar bag is a useful way to carry ride essentials and has some good features. It's waterproof and light, but the access could be easier for opening it on the move, and the mounting system lets it down slightly.

Check out our guide to the best bikepacking bags for more options, and our feature on 15 easy ways to carry stuff on your bike.

The Z Adventure F2 bar bag is a pretty spacious and usable product. It is made of a tear-resistant polyester and has an IPX4 waterproof rating; this doesn't include the zip, which is only water repellent, but its position on the front of the bag instead of the top means it is a little less exposed to the elements.

The bag mounts using two handlebar straps which have some very grippy rubbery material on the bar side to reduce movement. The straps themselves are Velcro, and loop through a buckle and back on themselves. This works well, but doesn't remove all movement.

To combat this, Zefal has included a bungee cord and drawstring, and the images on the Zefal website show it wrapped around the stem, but it doesn't work very well. I prefer designs with a Velcro strap that wraps around the head tube or steerer, which works better in my experience.

Used the way Zefal suggests, it doesn't stop the bag from moving, especially when loaded with heavier products. The bar straps do their best and work well to keep side-to-side movement and rattling down, but with the bungee, the heavier the load, the more it stretches and, well, bungees.

You can, though, thread it around your steerer and tighten it – though it doesn't seem to be designed to do that. It's one big loop rather than effectively two like you get with Restrap's Canister, but you can tie it down in much the same way, and it does then reduce movement quite effectively, though still not as well as a Velcro strap in my opinion.

The inside of the bag is a simple affair, measuring in at 250 x 120 x 120mm, and being cylindrical it's larger than it first seems. With just one compartment it provides ample storage and easily takes a thick jacket and arm warmers, for example. Some kind of smaller internal storage for more valuable items would be good, but it works well nonetheless. With its minimalist design it's also pretty light at just 135g; this is pretty impressive when compared with competitors, if you're happy not to have extras like pockets, light loops or bungee cord for attaching other stuff.

The zip is a bit of a pain; it doesn't run the full width of the bag and can provide a pinch point trying to get larger items out, and because of the way the bag is fastened to the bike, pulling out an item causes the bag to deform and makes it harder to grab things on the go.

Value

At £39.99 the Z Adventure F2 sits somewhere in the middle of the bar bag price range. It does have some good features, like its IPX4 waterproofing, but for the price I would expect some more, such as an inner valuables compartment. A more stable mounting mechanism would be good, too.

Although it's a fiver less than the Restrap Canister bag, reviewed on off.road.cc and a similar looking weatherproof design with one large internal area, the Restrap uses more reinforced fabric, helping it to hold its shape better and making access on the go an easier affair. It also features a light loop on the front and a webbed outer pocket on either end, giving a little extra storage for smaller items that need easy access. The Zefal bag does offer more storage space, boasting an extra litre over the Restrap Canister, but the Restrap comes with a few extra features and, to my mind, a better design for the extra £5.

There are cheaper designs on the market, too. We haven't reviewed these, but this Lumiere & Co bag is £24, for example, and Cycology has various designs for £35, which include external and internal pockets and bungee strapping cord, a Velcro head tube/steerer strap, and a shoulder strap for carrying it off the bike.

You can spend a lot more, though: Brooks' Scape Handlebar Pouch, tested by Hollis in 2021, is £59.99, and the Wizard Works Lil Presto Barrel bag Anna tested in 2021 is £68.

Conclusion

Overall, I think the Zefal Z Adventure F2 is a decent entry-level bar bag, with good waterproofing, but a few little tweaks would make it a much better option.

Verdict

Decent bar bag that will keep thing dry, but suffers from some movement when riding and a too-short zip