Briefcase

Product Review (submitted on October 16, 2010):

This is an extraordinarily well constructed and feature-rich bag. There are many useful pockets and pouches, and the straps cinch it down nicely. The Arkel pannier latch works well, and this bag holds a TON of stuff. It is, however, not for everyone, for two reasons. One, it is overkill for all but the urban road warrior who carries everything: laptop, books, clothes, etc. Secondly, and more importantly, it is very difficult to fit this on an ordinary frame bike and not have your heel hit the bag while pedaling (notice that most rear touring panniers are trapezoidal to give your heel clearance; the rectangular shape of the briefcase precludes that). If you have one of those Kona bikes with the extended rear frame, great, you're set. Otherwise, you will most likely need to plan on buying a longer rear rack (the one that probably is the longest one that you can get without going custom is the Jandd Expedition, which will set you back another $100). Even then you'll have to play with the latch positions to shift it absolutely as far to the rear as possible, and hope that you don't have long shoes. I originally bought this briefcase, tried to make it work, gave up and exchanged it for the Commuter bag. The Commuter is not quite as functional or stylish, doesn't have as many pockets, but I'm pretty sure that I'll be able to use it without a clearance problem.