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For bike commuters, finding the safest and most comfortable way to transport your laptop and other work essentials is the ultimate goal.
With Able Carry’s Daily backpack, that goal may finally be realized.
If you’ve been bike commuting for a while then you may well have cycled (sorry) through the various options for transporting your work gear between home and office.
If you’re new to bike commuting, then you’re probably wondering how on earth you’re going to be able to drag a laptop (and assorted paraphernalia), neatly pressed slacks and a button down shirt, plus lunchtime sandwiches, and a flask of coffee anywhere at all.
Pannier bags are certainly capacious, but not great for delicate tech. Front baskets are fine for whimsical bouquets of flowers, but do nothing to keep the rain off your office-friendly clothes.
Thankfully, Able Carry’s Daily backpack solves all these problems in a stylish bag that protects all your gear for your journey and looks super stylish propped next to your desk during the day.
Let’s take a look at the details.
Tech details
The Daily is an EDC backpack suitable for bike commuting, general everyday use, day hikes, and (with a little minimalist packing) weekend getaways.
The backpack comes in three colors: Olive, Black and Navy Blue. We’ve been testing the Navy Blue pack and the X-Pac fabric that this is constructed from feels super durable, with a diamond embossed pattern to it that looks stylish-but-not-shouty.
The Daily is a claimed 20L size and we weighed it at 2 lbs 5 oz / 1.05 kg (this is a minor difference from Able Carry’s figures on their website: 2.1 lbs / 0.9 kg).
Overall, the Daily has a high quality well-thought-out design. The exterior looks simple but it hides a huge number of useful pockets and compartments (see if you can find the secret pocket – hint: it’s near the top of the bag).
A couple highlights on the exterior of the bag that are particularly useful for bike commuting to mention. The zippered pocket at the top is very handy for stashing your work ID pass and lanyard (that way you’ll always know where it is and it’s easy to retrieve it). The U lock webbing loops on the lower side are a real bonus for safely storing that all-important theft-prevention device.
We found the strap system on the Daily to be very comfortable to use – even with a full load of office essentials and a chunky old laptop. The main shoulder straps are well padded and sit well on the shoulders. The chest strap helps the main straps stay in position and we especially appreciated the magnetic buckle that can easily be operated with gloved fingers.
Sweaty backs are avoided with the ventilation channels that the inner padded foam back provides – sucking soothing cool air in from the base and letting the steam from your exertions out through the side vents.
“Inside the backpack though is where the real bike-commuting magic happens“
There is one main compartment for the bulk of your work kit. In addition, there is the laptop sleeve, three pen slots, two zippered pockets…and possibly another hidden pocket too (look under the inside top panel below the carry handle – Shh, don’t tell anyone I told you).
These pockets allow you to stash everything you might need and keep all your gear separated.
The laptop sleeve has space for most 16” laptops (internal dimensions are 15”x10”x1.5” or 38x26x4cm). Our 13” Dell Inspiron fitted in easily.
The sleeve for the laptop is padded and it’s also floating – meaning that it’s suspended above the bottom panel of the backpack. That’s super useful because it stops your laptop from being bashed when you put your bag down on a hard surface.
Conclusion
Able Carry’s Daily is one of the best backpacks we’ve seen for commuting to work by bike.
The price is on par with other similar commuting backpacks (think: Osprey’s Talon 22 and Ortlieb’s Velocity 17) but the features (notably the floating laptop sleeve) push the Daily into the lead.
This is a backpack that is fully functional (it’s got a great laptop compartment, a suite of other useful pockets, a snug and comfy strap system, and water-resistant fabric construction).
“Able Carry’s Daily is one of the best backpacks we’ve seen for bike commuting“
At the same time, it looks great when you’re toting it around the office during the workday: the Daily is not a bag that screams, “I’m off for a hike up some mountains over my lunchbreak!” and so won’t hinder your path to that corner office.
It may just be the right time to upgrade your bike commute with the Daily backpack.
