The Peloton Asphalt

The only bag

I've had this bag for more than 4 years now, and used it as my only bag to commute everyday and travel every so often.

But I also used it as my bike trunk. I can move anything with this bag, from lots of groceries thanks to the large capacity, to an office chair, or other kind of small furniture.

After 4 years, the plastic coating inside the bag is damaged, but it's still waterproof thanks to the cordura fabric. One of the zippers of the front pocket is half destroyed, because I used it extensively to grab my keys. And the rubber at the bottom of the bag is a bit worn out. But other than that it's as good as new, and still fits its purpose.

The downside, as many already reported before, is the design of the front pocket: because the straps to roll and close the main compartment are pulling on the front pocket, it keeps opening it. And the noise of the scratch opening when I put my bag on my back is the most frustrating. (I have a version with a scratch, not the newer version with magnets.)
To this, I think I may have a simple solution: instead of sewing the strap between the fabric of the front pocket flap and the fabric from the outside of the main compartment, it might be possible to sew them to the back of the front pocket, or the fabric from the inside of the main compartment. This way, when pulling on the straps, it won't open the front pocket, but pull on the main compartment, actually holding in place what's inside.

Also, I could really do without the laptop compartment: it's quite hard to clean.

Absolutely amazing Every Day Carry!

Hi,

Like others down there, I spent many time to check different bag, reading reviews, and tested some of them in real life. I tried North St. Flanders, Backpack 0.0 from Haize Project, Wandrd Prvke 41L. At the end, I found someone on reddit who mentioned the Asphalt. This is my review after 1 year of daily use. Note that I’ve bought the regular and the asphalt model in order to compare them. I’m a daily bicycle commuter, and a weekend-ly motorcycle user.

Those were my initial criterias:

- A bag with minimum 30L of capacity
- Light interior to see what’s inside (The PRVKE is really bad on that point)
- Comfortable
- Rolltop
- Quality of materials
- Waterproof

I wanted a bag able to carry a lot, because I often pass by the food grocery when commuting back to home. This bag can easily handle all my working gears (big headphones, laptop, extra jacket, notebooks) in addition of almost 1 week of food grocery. The ability to increase the capacity of this bag is just amazing. You can really put a lot. Like really. Amazing.

Concerning the comfort, the backpack strap are well made, highly soft, I never had a back-ack even after hours of carrying. It is heavier than the average bags you can find in this category, but you don’t really feel the difference IMHO. Compression straps are cleverly designed, easily expendable to reach the other side of the bag (as advertised on the pictures). Carrying big cardboard boxes/parcels is really easy-peasy.

The document pocket is nice, I never wrinkled anything in it. Waterproof works well, nothing got wet even after heavy rains. Zippers have a small plastic cover that prevent any water drain.

The two front pockets are nice, but very small so I don’t use them very often. However, they are well placed (bottom) so you can reach and open those pockets even when riding a bike.

The big front pocket is very convenient, I really like the transparent pocket (and it is the only really reliable place to put stuff – see the cons below).

The bottom of the bag is seriously reinforced, so you don’t have to worry about laying your bag on dirty/scratchy floors.

Aluminium buckles all around the bag are a good idea as you can put them using one hand. However, I’m not sure that the good choice for the top straps, the fabric of the buckle started to be damaged very quickly. Sidenote: always use the top buckles when fully loaded. I dropped some food on the highway (chicken and pasta :’) ) while riding my motorcycle.

Comparing with the regular version of the peloton:

You go a step forward in term of material quality on the Asphalt. It feels more robust, especially the inside fabric that seems to be weaker on the regular. The regular version is lighter than the Asphalt. Note that the asphalt comes with waist belt. The Asphalt have magnets for the front pocket, while the regular has a big scratch. One might find the scratch noisy on the regular, but it sticks better than the magnets of the Asphalt.

Now the cons:

- The major flaw of this bag is the big front pocket. Indeed the 2 buckles of the rolltop are sewed too close of the top of the front pocket. The consequence is when the main compartment is starting to be loaded, the top 2 straps that maintains the rolltop are then pulling the fabric near the top of the front pocket. As the front pocket is using magnets, the magnets are not strong enough to compensate the pulling force of the straps, so they sometime unstick, or they make front pocket to be slighly opened. This problem does not really exists on the regular Peloton thanks to the scratches that prevent this phenomenon. I don’t know how this should be fixed but that really the major issue of this bag.
Having zippers on each sides of the front pocket is a good idea, but it create a small gap so small objects might go away especially when you are lying the bag on the floor for example. So I don’t really trust the front pocket, precious stuff always go in the main compartement or in the zipped transparent pocket. This is the missing star on the review.

- As said in other reviews, the side access is not really usable. The length of the zipper is too short, you can barely put your hand to extract an item. In addition, straps on this side make the opening/access harder. Now, I’m used to open the rolltop instead of using this side access.

- The interior could be flashier: it is sometime harder to see what’s inside the bag. The regular peloton, with its flashy yellow fabric has a clear advantage here.

- The rolltop access might take time, as it is a 3-movement process. I’m thinking about replacing the top buckles with Fidlock V-Buckle.

- Don’t forget to count import taxes for Europe. No resellers so far, what a pity!

I hope those feedback will allow to improve the bag :)

So to answer the big question: should you buy it? If you can afford it, definitely yes. That’s the best bag you can get in this volume. This product has been designed by clever people. Design is discreet, however some of my friend noticed the bag and found it qualitative with an eye glance. This bag is following me in big travel, in mountain (it might be a bit heavier however), as EDC. I love it :)

Thanks!

You can feel the passion

I purchased the Peloton Asphalt a few months ago and wow this is an impressive bag. Before ordering, spent about a year of researching potential bags and was fortunate enough to visit and inspect many of big brands near me (Chrome Industries, Mission workshop, Road Runner, Inside Line Equipment and Timbuk2). I ended up taking the risk and ordered the Peloton without having actually inspected in person and the risk paid off. Here are my thoughts:

First, the quality and build of this backpack is literally second to none of the brands mentioned above. Like it legitimately feels like the Peloton Asphalt was built to survive a nasty motorcycle crash, or an atomic bomb.

Second, the attention to detail is unreal. Every time I pick up this back, I can feel the pride of workmanship and design that was put into this bag. The people behind this company truly put their souls into this produce. Everything has purpose. Every detail is so meticulously accounted for, ergonomics and everything.

Third, this company is still looking to improve. One of my reservations with all of the bike messenger bag brands was all of them used velcro, including LBB. But when my bag showed up, they had replaced the velcro with very thoughtfully placed magnets! Hundreds of times better -- I absolutely love it. So there is good chance that if you order one of their bags, it will be even better than what is shown in these videos or on their website.

Overall, this is a pretty amazing bag. Although pricey, it is definitely shocking that it is as cheap as it is compared to Chrome and Mission. The bag I would have purchased if not the Peloton was the Blck Chrm. While Chrome feels almost as indestructible, it does not feel like Chrome is at the same design level as LBB and I am very satisfied with my purchase. I think once people in America begin discovering this brand, it definitely has the chance to shake up Chrome and Mission. Highly recommend.

• 6 out of 6 people found this review useful.

Really good bag

I’ve had this bag for over a year and the quality is great. It’s held up really well and is extremely adaptable to going from a small bag to a very large bag. Highly recommend.

• 1 out of 1 people found this review useful.

Quality product

I’ve had the bag for about a year now, it was used as my main commuter bag in Toronto for a year, where I didn’t have a car and the bag was put through rigorous paces of every day transit commute, all weather conditions (including crazy snow storms), bus, train and airplane travel. Fit, finish and material quality are extremely solid, this bag is a real tank. My criticisms after extensive use are as follows: the large flap of the front admin pocket has magnetic closures. While magnets are strong enough to hold the pocket closed in a light to medium load, in a high load situation the flap pops out when the bag bulges out. Workaround for this is to run the roll top straps all the way down to the bottom of the bag to hold down the pocket. Shoulder straps are awesome in light to medium loads, but not comfortable in medium to heavy loads when worn for a long time. Definitely wear the hip belt if carrying any significant loads for more than 2 hours. Main criticism is the size and width. The bag can hold a ton but it can benefit from a size down version. It’s marketed to cyclists and motorcyclists, but I wouldn’t take it on a motorcycle for anything other than very short low speed rides. The bag’s width creates drag from the front and even more so at oblique angles. It was apparent even on bicycle rides. It really needs a size down and a slimmer profile. Other than that, the bag is an absolute beast for commuting and travel, it feels indestructible. Water guard zippers are very impressive and functional, everything on this bag is overbuilt to last a lifetime.

• 2 out of 2 people found this review useful.

100% Perfect Bag

I've had this bag now for more than 6 months. I was blown away when I first got it, but I wanted to wait before reviewing to make sure it was the real deal. I'm telling you, this bag takes anything I throw at it and still looks brand new. Trust me, I tried plenty of other bags. Timbuk2, Chrome, Manhattan Portage...but every time I started looking at larger bags, I had to sacrifice versatility or organization. Not with the Asphalt. I don't own a car, so I need a bag that can carry everything from a few notebooks, a week's worth of groceries, or awkward packages. The strap system is incredible. The rear pockets are perfect for easy access without having to take the bag off. ...Honestly, I could rave about this bag for hours. Stop compromising. Get this bag.

• 4 out of 4 people found this review useful.