Malmesbury Bikes

I’m a firm believerin the view that the market-leader isn’t usually the best – it usually relates to food and drink (compare John Smiths to Speckled Hen or Doom Bar). So I had a good look around when I needed to sort out a larger cycle ruckie.

I’ve had a small Camelbak Lobo for three or so years, and that’s been perfect for short MTB trips through the year, for running (cross-country) and even skiing – all outings where hydration and a few key items (such as first-aid kit and an extra base layer) where essential. But my boys are getting bigger and really starting to enjoy their MTBs, so more space was needed.

The retail price for the Camelbak HAWG was a tad too high at first and I couldn’t find one to look at in the flesh, so I looked at options from Ino-8 and North Face – both really good bags, but again finding one to check out was proving difficult. That was the point when Merlin ran a Camelbak promotion and the price was just about right.

To cut a long story short, we’ve run two trips to the Forest Of Dean now and the H.A.W.G has carried everything – the trip out it was just two of us on a cold & rainy day in March, the next was four of us on a sunny albeit chilly Sunday in April. When you first start to load the sack, the bladder seems to take up a lot of the space, but the bag does carry a suprising amount of kit in the main two pockets – there are also two side pockets ideally sized for a trail-sized first aid kit and some tools. The helmet net on the back is great for stuffing a collection of waterproofs and sweatshirts into.

Most importantly though is how comfortable the rucksack sits on your back, Even really well loaded, once the waistband and chest-strap are secured, the pack sits comfortably and stabily. On both outings I wore the sack for about three hours and never really noticed it was there – it was easy to pop off to get at snacks and the camera, and never felt sweaty or obtrusive… pretty much ‘fit-and-forget’.

So I take it back, buying the market-leader can be the right decision – sometimes.

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