Muc-Off LAB.94 The Ride Pack

The Muc-Off Lab.94 Ride Pack is a well-considered and impressively rugged rucksack with enough volume for a daily commute and flexibility for more thanks to additional external options. It's a bit pricey but should last for years.

Produced by king of bike cleaning, Muc-Off, the Ride Pack is a 20-litre rucksack with a roll-top closure and oodles of technical features. The main roughly rectangular section has a few internal organiser pockets for bits and bobs and a Velcro fastening tab at the top as well as the roll-top and clip closure.

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It gives enough storage for a day's commuting kit (shoes at a push), and also comes with a decent quality removable laptop sleeve that will take a 15-inch laptop. 

Thanks to this design, and the tough and durable nature of the 1,000 Denier Teflon-treated Cordura, it's a very water-resistant pack, although if the weather is as bad as bad can be, there's a waterproof cover squirrelled away in a pocket at the base.

It's reflective, too.

In addition to the main compartment, the pack has numerous options for extra storage, thanks to military style webbing straps and optional extra packs and pouches available from Muc-Off. Since the webbing follows the military MOLLE (Modular Lightweight Load-carrying Equipment) standard design, it's possible to buy pouches and extras from third party stockists. I found an external pouch to be particularly handy for tools and the like, and very easy to fasten to the bag securely.

As well as key pockets on the waist strap…

…there are two soft-lined pockets externally accessible on the sides, also closed with waterproof zips, one with a key-ring in it. Both are notionally 'device' or 'phone' pockets, but not quite big enough for one of the modern, slightly larger smartphones, particularly if you keep your phone in a protective case of any bulk.

Running the width of the pack at the bottom is another pocket, this one well sized for tools or wash kit or other accessories, again with a waterproof zip.

In the centre of the MOLLE webbing is a small Velcro-closed pocket designed to hold a lightweight Hiplok FLX cable-lock, but this pocket isn't really big enough to hold much else securely. The webbing straps do secure a D-lock nicely too.

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To top off the carrying options, there are webbing straps on the bottom to which extra stuff can be lashed, like a waterproof jacket maybe. Overall, there are more organisational and storage options than you can shake a stick at.

The bag has a faux-military style to it beyond just the webbing straps, with an urban camo grey and black pattern and a Velcro patch on the back for a 'morale' patch, a rectangular attachable statement of the individuality of the user, designed around the patches on military uniforms to allow for name-plates, unit identifiers or national flags to be attached.

Muc-off supplies three with the bag to give you a choice, but many more options are available from third-party suppliers should the mood take you.

Between the main body of the rucksack and the harness is a separate, insulated compartment for housing a hydration bladder and/or back protector (both of which Muc-Off supplies as optional extras).

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The insulation seems a little surplus to requirements and contributes to the rucksack, empty, being a little heavier than necessary. However, this compartment is nice if you use a bladder, and effectively provides another option for storing a laptop, albeit without the padded sleeve. This compartment is secured by a waterproof zip that extends around a full three sides of the bag, meaning it can be opened fully to allow easy access.

The back panel is vented, as are the harness straps, to make the rucksack more comfortable to wear.

The harness is pretty comfortable, with soft padding in the straps, a chest strap and a (removable) waist strap. A minor niggle is that while the chest strap is adjustable in height, the webbing it attaches to is itself only attached to the shoulder straps at two locations, quite far apart, so these webbing sections can deform and pull together as you tighten the chest-strap. The straps also have a tendency to bend to intrude on the chest area.

The removable waist strap is very comfortable, and I continued to use it as it definitely helped stabilise the bag on the back. .

In use, the bag was very comfortable. With light loads, it flexed with the back and almost felt like it wasn't there. With heavier loads, it was more noticeable – but the load was held close to the back and stable, so caused no discomfort even on longer rides. The slightly flexible back panel helped with comfort levels on a stretched-out road bike as well as on a more upright commuter, tourer or mountain bike.

Price-wise, it's definitely at the expensive end of the spectrum, although in the same ballpark as some similar recently tested packs such as the Shimano Tokyo 23 at £119.99, and the Braasi Industries Webbing 18 at £105, but the Muc-Off's rugged build makes cost per wear better value than it would initially seem. It's a bit more versatile than either the Shimano or Braasi, too.

Verdict

Excellent build quality and durability, with loads of features, though the chest/shoulder straps could be better