Craft Cadence Metro Pannier Backpack

The Craft Cadence Metro Pannier Backpack provides a roomy 25L of storage and proves easy to transport both on and off the bike. It has useful outer pockets plus loops for locks and lights, it's easy to use, and the price is good. It's a good one.

First let's deal with this as a pannier. It attaches with two sturdy plastic hooks which adjust laterally to sit in unobstructed spots on your rack. The hooks are joined with a flexy handle – pull it and it opens the latches, let go and the latches spring closed. It's simple and effective.

> Buy now: Craft Cadence Metro Pannier Backpack for £79.99 from Craft Cadence

The lower mount is a simple buckled strap that stops the pannier flapping, and while it works perfectly well it can be slightly fiddly/dirty reaching in behind to access it. You also need to make sure you adjust the collar on the webbing to stop the loose end flapping in the spokes.

The hefty webbing loops on the front can hold D-locks, while behind them is a large external pocket with a waterproof zip.

You also get a good size mesh pocket on one side that's very useful – you don't want to be getting into the main compartment for every small thing. The mesh pocket is big enough for bottles, too, and elasticated at the top for security.

You especially don't want to get into the main compartment constantly here, given the roll-top uses three buckles to secure. This seems to be because the fabric is pretty flexible, and I missed the bracing many such bags have across their mouths to make rolling them up easier. This bag tends to unroll as you do the buckles up, though to be fair once you've done all three it sits perfectly well.

Also, having deliberately given it the minimum rolls and stuck it in the shower for a couple of minutes, I found it remained perfectly waterproof despite looking a bit loose.

Inside you find a large padded sleeve (it takes a 17in laptop) Velcroed to the back bearing various pockets: deep ones, shallow ones and a big zipped one. There's also a key hook and a holder for pens. Remember pens? We used to write with them on things that weren't the internet or phones.

You get a strong webbing handle for carrying it away from the bike, but if you're going far you can wear it as a pack instead. It only takes a minute to pull the straps from their (waterproof) zipped compartment and clip the ends to the lower mounts, and they're wide, well padded, mesh backed for a little ventilation and even have an adjustable chest strap.

There's a pad (normally Velcroed down) that flips up to cover the hard plastic mounts, and it works pretty well for short durations as the bag naturally tends to hang away from your back at the top. The flap also presents a much cleaner surface to your back, which is nice.

To make it more comfy you can remove the plastic hooks entirely, although the Velcro then doesn't line up so the flap is free to... well, flap, as you put the bag on. A wider line of Velcro here would be nice.

> Buyer’s Guide: 10 of the best cycling rucksacks

The mounting hooks adjust quite easily side-to-side, but you do need to take care to lock them back down carefully in one of the preset positions – if you don't, the hook can slide right off the end of its bracket.

Also, if you do remove them for any reason, their locking mechanisms can twist upside down so they close when you put them back, but don't latch. It's fairly obvious they're curving the wrong way (and not latching), and it only takes a moment to twist them back, so don't get me wrong – this really is a small niggle. But still, it requires a little care.

On the other hand, most people will probably set these hooks once and leave them alone, so it may never be an issue anyway.

While this bag is impressively waterproof as a pannier, it's not quite as a backpack – the waterproof zip is open to let the straps out. Water can then get in the gap and soak through to the inside, but you would need to wear it for quite a while in pretty heavy rain for that to actually become a problem. Again, it's unlikely to be an issue in normal use.

Perhaps a more likely-to-occur niggle is that, should you want to run this on the left side of your bike, the rear-facing reflective logo will be facing forwards instead. It could do with one on either side.

Value

At £79.99 this seems very fairly priced, especially given its backpack mode. The Altura Thunderstorm City 20 Pannier has gone up to £100 since Lara tested it last year and is slightly smaller than this 25L Craft Cadence, while the 22L Brooks Scape Pannier has gone up to £125 since Emma tested it last year.

> Buyer’s Guide: 19 of the best racks and panniers

If you don't need quite so much room (or such strong waterproofing), the Altura Heritage 16L Pannier that Tass tested last year is great for £55, but while the Bontrager MIK Commuter Double Pannier offers a huge 36L and was £89.99 when tested a year ago, it's since risen to £109.99 and still has the same flaws.

Overall

This is well made, waterproof, a very useful size and easy to carry off the bike thanks to its backpack conversion. What issues it has really are very minor – it's a very good pannier and a decent backpack too.

Verdict

Waterproof, well made and very usable luggage that's great for carting around