Choosing a women’s urban cycling backpack

Tepee 45

109,00 €

Plume 20

79,00 €

Smartbag 40

99,00 €

Smartbag 25

89,00 €

You’ve decided to take up cycling and get yourself a rucksack to carry everything you need. It’s a good idea. Practical and easy to use, a rucksack is perfectly suited to cycling. But it’s important to choose the right one. If you opt for a model that isn’t suited to your needs, your riding style or simply your body shape, it can quickly turn into a disaster. In the best-case scenario, you’ll decide to change your bag. In the worst case, you might want to stop cycling or even injure yourself. Here are a few tips to help you choose your urban cycling backpack for women.

I want to reuse my current backpack!

Are you already using a nice rucksack to carry your usual belongings? Why buy another? You could just use it to carry your work stuff when you cycle. After all, why not? But in that case, your rucksack has to meet a number of criteria to be suitable for velotafing.

Watch the weight

For a start, carrying a few things in your rucksack while walking is not the same as doing it on a bike for several kilometres. Your body will have to endure the strain of cycling, plus the weight of the rucksack and its contents. To avoid putting too much strain on your back during the journey, your rucksack should be as light as possible even when empty. You can have a very strong rucksack, but one that is too heavy. In that case, it won’t be suitable for velotafing.

The right capacity

Your urban backpack should be able to carry all the things you need for work, as well as clothes to change into when you arrive. So it needs to have enough capacity to hold all your stuff.

Too small and you’ll have to choose what to leave behind and what to take with you, which can quickly become frustrating. If it’s too big, it may not be adapted to your body shape. Especially as it’s well known that the more space you have, the more things you take with you. So you’ll be tempted to pack things you don’t necessarily need, which will make your bag heavier and ultimately increase your fatigue and the risk of injury.

Sufficient comfort

OK, so your current rucksack looks good and has the right capacity. But is it comfortable enough for cycling? It’s important that the rucksack you use every day has reinforced, padded shoulder straps to limit the pressure exerted on your shoulders by the weight of the bag. A back brace is also welcome to reduce the impact of the bag’s contents on your back.

I want a practical bag

What is a practical rucksack for cycling?

You want to be able to store your things easily, and above all you don’t want them to get mixed up during the journey. Naturally, you don’t want them to get damaged either. The best solution is to opt for a model with lots of specialised compartments.

Karkoa backpacks have several reinforced compartments. The Nomad 25, for example, has separate compartments and inside pockets for files, a computer and small items of equipment. There’s a special compartment for your shoes and plenty of outside pockets for anything you want to keep close to hand, such as your phone or keys.

I want a designer bag that's "all-terrain".

When it comes to cycling, you need a backpack that’s practical and comfortable. But it doesn’t have to be plain. Not all backpacks are plain black or grey. Sometimes all it takes is a little touch of girly colour to turn a practical backpack into a beautiful urban design backpack.

The Karkoa Nomad 25 backpack, for example, has a few touches of pink to give it a definitively girly look. The handle and zip pulls are available in pink, or in red if you want to give your bag a punchier look.

You also need to be able to take your urban cycling backpack everywhere, and it needs to stand up to anything. This Nomad 25 is made from high-density, water-repellent polyester fabric. The interior is also lined with a waterproof fabric. This type of equipment means you can take your bag wherever you want, whatever the conditions. So it’s ideal for cycling!

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