Support road.cc

Like this site? Help us to make it better.

Back to REVIEWS
review
Bags
Ortlieb Vario PackOrtlieb Vario rucksac

Ortlieb Vario Pack

9
by Lara Dunn
UPDATED Tue, Jan 26, 2016 15:37

First Published Jun 24, 2010

2
£110.00

VERDICT:

9
10
Well made, versatile commuting bag that doubles as a rucksack
Weight: 
1,160g
Contact: 
www.ortlieb.com
How we test

At road.cc every product is thoroughly tested for as long as it takes to get a proper insight into how well it works. Our reviewers are experienced cyclists that we trust to be objective. While we strive to ensure that opinions expressed are backed up by facts, reviews are by their nature an informed opinion, not a definitive verdict. We don't intentionally try to break anything (except locks) but we do try to look for weak points in any design. The overall score is not just an average of the other scores: it reflects both a product's function and value – with value determined by how a product compares with items of similar spec, quality, and price.

What the road.cc scores mean

Good scores are more common than bad, because fortunately good products are more common than bad.

  • Exceptional
  • Excellent
  • Very Good
  • Good
  • Quite good
  • Average
  • Not so good
  • Poor
  • Bad
  • Appalling

Is it a pannier or is it a rucksack? The first thing you notice about the Ortlieb Vario, aside from its Ninja friendly good looks (it does come in two colours other than post-industrial mat black- red/black or lime green/black) is that it’s got all sorts of complicated looking bits and pieces attached to it.

Setting these aside for the time being, it’s a well made and sturdy fully waterproof pannier style bag with an effective and simple roll-top closure. It fastens securely to a rack with Ortlieb’s standard Quick-Lock2 fastenings (anti-theft locks are available as an extra) much as a normal pannier. It’s both left and right side compatible. Ideally sized for commuting, the bag will easily take a 15.4” laptop in protective sleeve as well as a change of clothes, although that’s pretty much the lot.

The bag consists of a single main pouch, with a small zipped mesh pocket inside and a stretchy neoprene pouch pocket on either side on the exterior. The main point of difference for the Vario, though, is its ability to transform quickly and easily into a rucksack, making it ideal for extended carrying. A discrete zipped stretch fabric compartment on the front of the bag houses the rucksack harness which simple clips on to eyelets on the back of the bag with sturdy and secure clips, without needing to do anything at all to the Quick-Lock2 clips. The harness itself is robust and well padded, offering good wear comfort, but is a little tricky to put away again, as the front stretch pocket is quite neat in size.

A nice extra is a simple but effective helmet strap on the front of the bag, which can easily be removed when not required, but works well with the bag when employed as a rucksack.

The only thing I’d have changed is added a little extra reflectivity. Two fairly small reflective patches are present, but certainly with the black version, a little more would have been preferable. A strap is available as an optional extra to secure the bag at the bottom, to prevent banging off the frame (this wasn’t a particularly bad problem anyway) but it would have been good to have this as standard.

The price isn’t bad considering how robust the build quality is, the fact that it’s a fully waterproof pannier (or rucksack), is smart and versatile enough to be used as an office bag and that it’s of a size to be genuinely useful on a daily basis.

Verdict

A well made, nicely featured, versatile fully waterproof commuting bag that doubles as a comfortable rucksack.

road.cc test report

Make and model: Ortlieb Vario backpack

Size tested: n/a

Tell us what the product is for, and who it's aimed at. What do the manufacturers say about it? How does that compare to your own feelings about it?

Aimed at all season commuter cyclists.

Quickly converts from a bike pannier to a comfortable backpack.

Well considered and nicely featured for commuters, but could have done with a bit more reflectivity.

Helmet strap a nice touch.

Easy to convert to rucksack, not quite so easy to stash straps for reverting to pannier status.

Tell us some more about the technical aspects of the product?

Made of tough waterproof nylon fabric.

Roll-top closure for easy waterproof protection.

Quick-Lock2 rack fastenings

Stowable padded rucksack straps.

2 neoprene side pockets

1 internal zipped mesh pocket

Removeable helmet cradle on front of bag.

2 reflective patches

Optional extras of padded notebook sleeve and Quick-Lock2 anti-theft device.

Available in black, black/red, black/lime green

Rate the product for quality of construction:
 
9/10

Well made and rugged.

Rate the product for performance:
 
9/10

Performed really well, easy to use, kept things dry and was simple to convert to backpack. Slightly more tricky to convert back to pannier (putting straps away was slightly fiddly)

Rate the product for durability:
 
9/10

Not really much to go wrong. Fastenings easily replaced if necessary.

Rate the product for weight, if applicable:
 
8/10

At 1.2kg it's not a bad weight, especially given how sturdy and waterproof it is. That includes the straps etc.

Rate the product for comfort, if applicable:
 
9/10

Comfortable to wear as rucksack.

Rate the product for value:
 
9/10

Good value for a genuinely versatile commuter pack that will last.

Tell us how the product performed overall when used for its designed purpose

Performed excellently for its intended purpose.

Tell us what you particularly liked about the product

Ease with which it transforms from pannier into rucksack.

Helmet strap.

Knowledge that it's completely waterproof.

Tell us what you particularly disliked about the product

Would have liked more reflectivity.

Slightly tricky to put rucksack straps away.

Did you enjoy using the product? Yes.

Would you consider buying the product? Yes.

Would you recommend the product to a friend? Yes, especially those regularly commuting with laptops etc.

Anything further to say about the product in conclusion?

Well designed and easy to use.

Overall rating: 9/10

About the tester

Age: 37  Height: 1.65m  Weight: 67kg

I usually ride:   My best bike is:

I've been riding for: 10-20 years  I ride: Most days  I would class myself as: Experienced

I regularly do the following types of riding: commuting, touring, general fitness riding, mtb,

Ortlieb
Ortlieb Vario Pack
Ortlieb Vario Backpack
commuting pannier
rucksack pannier
cycling pannier
Pannier
cycling luggage
Lara Dunn

Lara has been riding bikes for longer than she'd care to admit, and writing about them nearly as long. Since 2009 she has been working as part of the road.cc review team whilst championing women's cycling on the side, most notably via two years as editor of the, sadly now defunct, UK's first and only women's cycling mag, erm, Women's Cycling. 

Believing fervently that cycling will save the world, she wishes that more people would just ride a bike and be pleasant to each other. 

She will ride anything with two wheels, occasionally likes to go fast, definitely likes to go far and is always up for a bit of exploring somewhere new and exciting. 

Add new comment

2 comments

Avatar
IanGlasgow | 4 years ago
1 like

I really, really want to love this bag.
It's a great rucksack, completely waterproof and the abilty to clip it onto my panniers is really handy. It means you can have a pannier but can switch to another bike without a rack and you don't need to unpack and repack your stuff into a backpack.
When I go shopping I stuff a light, folding rucksack into the Ortlieb so if I buy more than it can cope with I can unfold the rucksack and put the Ortlieb on the rear rack.

Unfortunately mine is 2 years old and has failed for the 2nd time.
After 12 months the zip on the front pocket failed so Ortlieb replaced the bag under warranty.
ANother 18 months on and the bag is coming apart at the seams (which are glued but not stitched together).
I'm sure Ortlieb will replace it under warranty again but I'm beginning to think it's not as robust as the price suggests. The 5 year warranty is needed.

Avatar
IanGlasgow replied to IanGlasgow | 3 years ago
1 like

UPDATE:

They did replace it.
It lasted about another year before one of the clips that hold it onto the rack when using it as a pannier broke.
This time they didn't replace the whole bag - just the rail the clips are on. The dealer I bought it from (evans Cycles, Braehead) fitted the new part. Unfortunately they binned the old rail which still had the little adapters that make the clips the right diameter for the rear rack tubing.

And... 6 months on, one of the bolts holding the rail on has come loose and fallen off. So now it needs another part. To be fair that probably wasn't Ortlieb's fault, it was Evans Cycles' for not tightening it properly (and a typical reflection of the standard of workmanship I've had from two different branches of EC). Or maybe my fault for not checking it (because I know that whenever EC do anything I need to check their work and fix it myself). My choices were; return it to Evans to fix, or pay the postage to send it to Ortlieb. I opted to avoid paying the postage.
While checking the rest of the bag over I noticed a side pocket is splitting where it's sewn onto the main part of the back. So maybe they'll replace it AGAIN.

4 years old and 4 faults in.
Basically I've leased a bag for 5 years - they'll just keep repairing or replacing it until the warranty expires. It cost £120, so that's £24/year. To be fair at RRP that's better value than the £80 Altura Morph Versa that it replaced which also broke once a year but only had a 2 year warranty. Though I got that in a sale for £36 so maybe not.

Latest Comments