Chrome Industries Corbet 24L Pack

The Chrome Industries Corbet 24L Pack is a well-made and feature-filled backpack with some quirky design choices that may annoy or delight, depending on your needs – as with many things Cycling, there's no right or wrong luggage, just what suits on this particular ride. It's possibly a good choice for those in and out of cafés with laptops all day.

For more options, check out our guide to the best cycling backpacks.

> Buy now: Chrome Industries Corbet 24L Pack for £137 from Chrome Industries

The Corbet is a significant bit of kit. At 1.22kg and with 24L of capacity it's large enough to use as an overnight bag for a work or leisure trip, on or off the bike – which also means it's more than up to all-day-about-town use.

The most important part of a backpack is the harness – if that feels off, you aren't going to want to carry anything. Most packs are made to suit larger-framed wearers, so smaller folks are often left with a fit across the outside of their shoulders and not on the trapezoid muscles – not good when the load is heavy.

The Corbet straps are adjustable in their top position – meaning the straps can be spaced to suit the broad-shouldered and small alike. You get no fewer than five widths to choose from, by twisting the metal buckles out of webbing loops and repositioning. This feature also means you can set the Corbet up messenger bag style, with just one strap diagonal across your chest. To do this you unthread the strap from the buckle at the bottom of the padded section, and then tuck it into a pocket on the side.

The Corbet has substantial padding on the straps and back, meaning carrying heavy loads is comfortable with either strap configuration. The removable sternum strap can be adjusted over a wide range, again to suit wearers of varied stature.

In the main

The main compartment is an odd mix of the brilliant, practical and slightly annoying. An issue I have with all backpacks is the colour of the inside. Really, it should be compulsory for insides of packs to be a lighter colour to make finding things much easier.

Chrome has added a zip to one side that lets you open the inside roughly two-thirds of its length, giving access to the whole inside and casting a lot more light than is possible from the top entry. I used this often to pull out or stuff jackets back in, being faster and easier than opening the top flap. If you're wearing the pack it's also far easier for a friend or partner to do likewise.

The mouth is wide open for easy access, but it doesn't have a roll top or cinch cord. This means when the solid flap closes over the top, the corners either side are open. You can easily get your hand inside the pack with the lid fastened, which gave me concern that if the pack were to be placed sideways – for example, in a train or plane luggage rack – smaller items would easily fall out.

Adding to this issue is how you fix the top flap. There's one wide strap with a huge plastic buckle at the top, which is completely obscured by the internally reinforced top flap. So you have to bend the flap back to access the buckle, often making it a two-handed effort. Honestly, it's easier to think of the Corbet as a zipped side-entry pack, with an optional top flap.

The flap has a padded, fluffy-lined pocket on the top, perfect for glasses or other scratch-prone items.

The strap is positioned coming out of the top of the front pocket, which is designed for a hefty D-Lock to insert D-end down into a padded sleeve. The strap then passes through the lock and secures the flap, meaning your lock can't fall out. The pocket itself is zipped, with an internal clip for keys. On the outside at the bottom is a webbing strap with two loops sewn in, for affixing rear lights.

More pockets

As befits a cycling pack, there are two waterbottle-sized side pockets with elasticated tops. You can't call the pockets captive, as if the bag isn't well filled and is put on its side then a bottle can slide out.

Inside on the front of the pack there's another zipped pocket about small-tablet sized, with a couple of phone-sized pockets sewn on the outside for arranging small items.

Against the back padding is a fluffy-lined laptop sleeve capable of taking a 16in laptop no problem. This can also be accessed from the side via a full-length zip. And on the pack-side of the laptop divider sleeve there's another open pocket, again, roughly small-tablet-or-thin-book-sized.

Vis-a-visibility

The only nods to night-time visibility are two small reflective patches on the bottom of the padded straps, and a narrow strip on the main strap. So no, this isn't the highly-reflective commuter packpack you're looking for.

Chrome industries say there's a 'Roller bag handle pass-through strap for easy travel'. This is a vertical webbing strap between the two sides of the back padding – so in order to pass a wheelybag handle through it, the Corbet needs to be turned sideways.

Yes, in theory this works, but the previously mentioned open nature of the bag top means wheeling it about on its side over rough surfaces or up and down stairs is asking for smaller items to eventually jiggle their way out and into the world without you knowing.

> 15 easy ways to carry stuff on your bike

I have a Samsonite backpack that's been my go-to pairing with roller cabin luggage for years, where the entire back padding is a sleeve for the extended roller bag handle to slip through vertically. This means the combination behaves like one item when being wheeled or lifted up or down stairs, and behaves much better than the Corbet does. The Corbet has a normal handle at the top, which is convenient enough for carrying when you don't want to use the straps, but it's too narrow to accommodate a wheelybag handle to hold the Corbet upright.

Out and about

Out and about with the Corbet is a pleasant bike-stuff-schlepping experience. It sits comfortably on your back and shoulders, thanks in large part to the adjustable-width strap for a perfect fit. The sternum strap holds things solidly, and the padded back is comfortable when bent over on the bike with a heavy load.

When you need to stop and lock your bike, your D-lock is immediately to hand, and jackets or gloves are easily stuffed in or pulled out through the side zip. You can access your laptop easily without opening or unpacking the whole bag, which is very handy for quick emails or retrieving any documents slipped into the laptop sleeve.

Value

At 1.2kg the Corbet is pretty light for a largeish backpack with the number of features and quality of material and construction on offer. (And Chrome offers a lifetime warranty on materials and workmanship.) It's also lighter on the wallet than some.

The Osprey Metron rated highly as a 24L backpack, with a bright rain cover, nice bright interior and loads of pockets, but you don't get adjustable-width straps, or a dedicated D-lock pocket, and it's gone up to £150.

I rather liked the 22L Two Wheel Gear Pannier Backpack Convertible Lite I reviewed a couple of years ago. As the name suggests, it has the extra benefit of turning into a pannier if desired, and opens fully to a bright red interior. Nice. But that, too, has gone up a little in price, to £145.

Conclusion

Overall, Chrome industries has made a high-quality pack that's adaptable and comfortable, and that will physically suit riders of all sizes, if they are accepting of the open-top design and large flap clip.

> Buy now: Chrome Industries Corbet 24L Pack for £137 from Chrome Industries

Verdict

Well priced for the quality and features on offer, with an adaptable strap design