Thanks for tuning in
today we're going to be reviewing the
Topeak PakGo GearPack.
Cycling is a sport that requires a lot
of accessories, everything from cycling
clothing
helmets shoes down to tools and water
bottles which means if you have to
travel to an event
it's very easy to misplace something.
Topeak's answer to this
is the PakGo GearPack. This is a smaller
version of their PakGo
bike travel case and carries over some
of those design elements.
As you can see it's a very compact and
lightweight travel case
that allows you to carry all
the cycling gear you need
with an expandable design. Packaging wise
you can see really simple
there's a cardboard sleeve and the pack
itself here is in the most compact
form we'll go ahead and take off the
sleeve and go over the specs.
Retail price is 149.95
and it has a 38 liter capacity which is quite
large. It has a hard case
design and the pack is also expandable
and here it's in the compact form but
the center section will actually extend
out like an accordion for additional
storage space.
It's constructed from 600d polyester and
EVA Foam.
It features three main large
compartments as well as six side pockets.
To carry the pack you also have a couple
options, you have the top handles
a side handle as well as backpack straps
inside.
You can see the exterior has this
nice hard case designed to protect your
items.
Now let's take a look at what comes with
the GearPack,
inside you'll find the instruction
manual this is nice because there's a
couple subtleties
such as the folding inner pocket.
You'll also find the backpack straps
which is a really nice feature
they just attach using this carabiner
style attachments to some hooks on the
side of the GearPack
so really easy to put on and take off it
offers a nice option
when you want to wear the GearPack to
an event and you don't want to carry it
the whole way.
The bottom has a simple plastic hook as
well.
Now let's take a look at the weight of
the PakGo GearPack
with the backpack straps on the inside
of the pack comes in at 1226g
which is still pretty lightweight. Topeak
claims the maximum
capacity of this is 3kg or
about 6.6 pounds so more than enough
space and capacity for everything you
need.
Now let's take a look at the fit and
finish of the Topeak PakGo
GearPack.
Visually share some of the design cues
from the larger
PakGo bike travel case. You see the
PakGo
logo here with the rib design and this
embossed X.
This gives it some nice protection from
impacts but still maintains the lighter
weight.
This is constructed from a eva foam
as well as 600d polyester. It's not
waterproof but it is water resistant
and you can see it's fairly lightweight
as well so you don't have a bulky design.
You have two of the main side pockets
and these are zippered
and then you have a three level three
compartment design as well as some side
pockets on the center section.
Here we have the backpack strap
actually already installed it goes on
these little hooks here
on the bottom and then on the top.
Now this is not quite as comfortable as
say a normal backpack
but it provides a nice way to carry this
if you have to ride to the start
of a gear drop or another vehicle
to drop off your gear.
Now i've already filled this up with
some gear and we'll start with the
compartments.
So on the on one side you have
two labeled compartments so you have the
shoes and then you have the helmet.
If you open this up you can see the
shoes fit in really nicely
and this is at the bottom so it prevents
keeps
the weight nice and low.
Then you have the helmet section with a
handle
as well and this fits in nicely in here.
We'll take that out there's a velcro
divider in here
a little bit hard to see but this
actually provides some structure and
then when you want to lay this flat
you lift this up.
What's nice about these is they're
labeled so it's harder to forget and
but it makes it really easy double check
if you have everything.
You have a nice strap here as well to
hold it
and another nice detail is the all the
zippers have these nice little hooks on
here
so really easy to grab and you have all
these straps and additional hooks that
you would need.
You can also put an additional helmet
here
by simply attaching the rear attachment
point to this little hook
and running these straps through these
little loops.
It is a nice nice way to carry an
additional helmet if you need a spare
one or an aero one and a road one.
On top you'll find the clothes section,
so again the nice easy zippers
and here you can fit quite a lot so it's
a big
compartment.
I've got my jacket, I've got my jersey
and I've got the bib shorts so really
nice. You don't have to put
exactly what's on the label so you can
really mix and match or be creative.
Now in terms of side pockets there's six
of them
so you have one nice
zipper one a velcro pocket here the mesh
design
as well as the Topeak logo and PakGo.
You have a zippered secure pocket here
which is pretty good for
smaller things and then you have the
main two side pockets as well as two
straps up here to
hold the bag.
Now the side pockets are
protected by the
hard case sides.
You can see when i open it up if you
have the zippers open
you can see this little button design, this
will hold it at 30 degrees
and if you have that off you can
actually open this fully so a nice
little design detail.
Here you have more mesh pockets a little
elastic
so you can carry a little flash stand
or sunglasses.
What i really like about this is
everything's really obvious
so instead of having a bag with
everything dumped on top of each other
it's really easy to visually check
everything. You have another big pocket
here
and then the design detail that's really
nice about the side pocket
is that they have the drain holes here
so
if you have sweaty clothes or if you're
doing triathlon and you have wet clothes
you can actually put them in here and
it'll drain down.
These inner liners are waterproof so
it won't soak through
so a nice design detail from Topeak.
The other side is quite similar,
we have a nice big side pocket and a
nice
big mesh elastic pocket here so you can
put any smaller items
and then larger items between here so
definitely a lot that you can carry here
and a pretty small compact package.
Now let's go over the pros and cons for
the Topeak PakGo GearPack.
What we like about it is the durable
construction it feels really well built
and there's a lot of attention to detail.
Also the expanding design offers a lot
of storage space so
you can put everything you need for any
type of event and then when you don't
need it you can actually
compress it down to really small size.
And finally the separate compartments
make everything really easy to access
and organize
so before you go to your event you can
do a quick check and make sure
everything's in the right place.
Some of the cons is the fact that it's
not fully waterproof on the exterior
only on the inner liners. It's only
available in the single charcoal and
black color scheme
and finally it lacks reflective elements
which would be nice for better
visibility. This would be a nice feature
to have especially at an early morning
race when you're on the side of the road
just for the additional safety. Taking
everything into account we would give the
PakGo GearPack an 8.8 out of 10. This
really is the ultimate cycling gear pack
and even though it's not the cheapest on
the market it provides a lot of storage
and value
especially if you travel a lot to your
events. Thanks for watching review
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