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review
£6.00
VERDICT:
Would be a nice idea if it wasn't a bit big, and didn't want to slip out of your pocket and then split
Weight:
27g
Contact:
www.wildoo.co.uk/index.php
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 meanGood scores are more common than bad, because fortunately good products are more common than bad.
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- Appalling
The Velopac smartphone case is cheap, light and does what it's supposed to. Unfortunately, it doesn't do it for long.
Now that the phone that you have to have in your pocket costs as much as a bike, um, I mean some wheels, um, I mean a nice pair of cycling shoes, it pays to keep it safe and dry when out and about, especially cycling when it's frequently wet.
Made in the UK by Wildoo the VeloPac Smartphone Case is a semi-flexible PVC sleeve to protect your phone from the rigours of cycling and the weather. It's see-through on one side with a range of bicycle-themed designs to chose from on the other, just to let people know what you do for fun, and to boost your own self-worth.
The VeloPac isn't there just to shelter your device from the damp elements that can bother a cycle-jersey pocket but it's also designed as a useful barrier to the soggy ingress of sweat from the other side, which can be quite corrosive to expensive electronics. Depending on the size of your phone there's room to stuff other valuable things inside the VeloPac Case that you don't want to get damp as well; keys, money, credit card and wotnot. Okay, keys and loose coins really aren't so delicately susceptible to moisture but it keeps all those loose knickknacks in the one safe place.
The clear front panel lets you see your posh phone screen and the material it's made from allows you to do all your social touch screen activity without taking the phone out of the case, which is handy if you need to Twitter and then Facebook and then Instagram your ride just so everyone else knows how Epic you're being riding in the rain, or if you need to instantly see if you KOMed that Strava section.
You can also talk to someone, in real life, to explain why you're going to be late without taking your phone out of the VeloPac but it feels a bit awkward grappling to hold onto a phone inside a semi-rigid plastic bag. If you have an old fashioned phone with actual buttons on it then it can be tricky to punch them accurately through the plastic and you're better off to taking it out of the sleeve to use. But that means it might get wet, and everyone will see it and laugh.
A sturdy press seal closure strip runs along the length of the case which easy to use, even with gloves on, and it snaps firmly in place to keep moisture out.
It's a nice idea, but.
It's a bit big. In order to fit a small yet powerful computer inside it the case is quite wide. The VeloPac will fit round all smartphones up to a 5.5in screen, which, when you've added on the space needed for the closure strip makes it 4in across in old money, and over 7in tall. That extra width means that it won't fit in some cycling pockets without a bit of folding over, which leads to creases and bends in the plastic, and it's tall too, which makes it poke out the top of a pocket, lanky into the rain.
The plastic material of the VeloPac is quite shiny and slippery which means it can sometimes slowly work its way out of a pocket if you're riding with a lot of body movement, standing up out of the saddle, sprinting, getting low in the drops, the sort of thing cyclists do all ride, every ride. All of this motion seemed to be a very effective way of worming the VeloPac slowly up and out of a pocket, leading to the annoying practice of having to continually reach around during a ride to check that the case hadn't crept out of its pocket too far as a prelude to launching itself onto tarmac.
But most critically in compromising the waterproof shelter of your expensive phone is that the VeloPac will split (see test report), turning it into a not very Protective Smartphone Case. Repeated pullings and pushings of the closure strip, especially clumsily with winter gloves on, weakens the side seams. Combine that with the VeloPac's plastic turning a little brittle when it gets a bit cold and those side seams will tear next to the the seal at some point turning it into an expensive useless leaky piece of plastic with a cycling pattern on.
Verdict
Would be a nice idea if it wasn't a bit big, and didn't want to slip out of your pocket and then split. You can buy at least 200 locking sandwich bags for £5.99.
road.cc test report
Make and model: Velopac Protective Smartphone Case
Size tested: up to 5.5'' screen
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?
VeloPac say their Protective Smartphone Case is for any active cyclist that carries a smart phone whilst cycling. A jersey back pocket is the natural place to put your phone but this leaves it vulnerable to sweat, rain and road spray damage and with smartphones costing up to £600 to replace one wet ride could prove very expensive. The simplest and cheapest solution is to put the phone is a freezer or food storage zip bag but these offer minimal protection.
That's all true, but the VeloPac case is fatally flawed.
Tell us some more about the technical aspects of the product?
Semi-rigid form factor fits a jersey or jacket rear pocket.
Keeps valuable together without floating around the pocket.
Protects contents against water and corrosive sweat damage
Helps to prevent pocket sag!
Velopac will hold a phone together with bank notes, a credit card, passport etc.
No more soggy bank notes at the café stop!
Fits all makes of Smartphone up to 5.5' screens including I-Phone, Samsung, HTC, Motorola, Nokia etc.
Clear front panel allows touch screen can be operated without removing the case.
Phone calls are possible without removal from the case which helps prevents the wind interference often experienced making outdoor calls in exposed conditions.
Soft PVC materials ensure quality & durability is maintained and prevents cracking in cold weather.
Vivid full colour digital printing in striking designs.
Manufactured in the UK by Wildoo.
Rate the product for quality of construction:
1/10
It split.
Rate the product for performance:
1/10
It split.
Rate the product for durability:
2/10
It was okay for a bit, then it split.
Rate the product for weight, if applicable:
5/10
It doesn't weigh much, it's just a posh plastic sleeve, but if you're worried about weight you won't be carrying a heavy phone in your pocket.
Rate the product for comfort, if applicable:
3/10
It wasn't uncomfortable per se, but it wanted to slide out of some pockets too easily, which made it irritating.
Rate the product for value:
2/10
It's cheap compared to the price of the phone it's protecting, but it can't do that for long. Other cheap and even free plastic bags are available.
Tell us how the product performed overall when used for its designed purpose
It split.
Tell us what you particularly liked about the product
Nothing really, it's an over-engineered plastic bag that broke.
Tell us what you particularly disliked about the product
The fact that it split, that's on top of it being a bit big for some pockets, and it's incessant attempts to slip out of others.
Did you enjoy using the product? Not really, no. It was equal parts a bit useful and quite annoying, then it broke.
Would you consider buying the product? No. While I appreciate the need to keep an expensive phone protected on a ride and the need for some people to use their phone all the time I'm not one that has to continually communicate whilst on a bike ride anyway so a phone hidden in a plastic bag is fine by me.
Would you recommend the product to a friend? No.
About the tester
Age: 42 Height: 180cm Weight: 73kg
I usually ride: It varies as to the season. My best bike is: The one I\'m on at the time
I've been riding for: Over 20 years I ride: Most days I would class myself as: Experienced
I regularly do the following types of riding: road racing, cyclo cross, general fitness riding, fixed/singlespeed, mtb, Fun
Jo Burt has spent the majority of his life riding bikes, drawing bikes and writing about bikes. When he's not scribbling pictures for the whole gamut of cycling media he writes words about them for road.cc and when he's not doing either of those he's pedaling. Then in whatever spare minutes there are in between he's agonizing over getting his socks, cycling cap and bar-tape to coordinate just so. And is quietly disappointed that yours don't He rides and races road bikes a bit, cyclo-cross bikes a lot and mountainbikes a fair bit too. Would rather be up a mountain.
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61 comments
That is a fair point. Maybe I am still holding on to the fact that I can get some information from a review. I do find it important to take all things I read on products with a pinch of salt though.
'Company In Honest We Didn't Know It Got Cold In England Shocker'
Maybe I've been blessed working for reputable publishers, but I've worked for god knows how many magazine publishing companies over the last 27 years and never met an editor who will review a product in any other way than honestly and with the reader in mind. Magazines/websites depend on their readers to be able to attract advertising - and you don't keep readers by feeding them wrong advice on product reviews. And I can totally assure you we don't gift reviews to anyone on road.cc.
I wonder if they are going to do a product recall and offer replacement sandwich bags al-la SRAM brakes
Oh dear. We found this with our first generation products - even though they had a zip. Without a zip these products cannot open and close effectively in the cold. If you would like to get your smartphone home and dry with a product that works and doesn't cost the earth try one of our third generation pOcpacs www.thepocpac.co.uk
I've had a few of these types of PVC cases with a waterproof zip (although not the one reviewed), all freebies and all have split along the welded seams within a few days of use whether I've been riding in summer or winter. I now use a neoprene case like this http://cervorosso.com/index.php?section=shop&cmd=details&productId=142 for my phone and emergency money which has held up all this winter both on the bike and skiing.
What a kerfuffle over a wee bag for your phone!
In the interests of fairness, I think my pocpac split last week. Cost me a fiver nearly a year ago, but I certainly haven't used it for every ride.
I've used Wildoo for kit and water bottles. Never had any problems and found customer service to be great. I've never used the phone pouch though.
I can feel for them. Reviews are subjective to the experience of the tester and the tester had bad luck, that luck has turned in to a poor review.
Hypothetically speaking, say Wildoo make 250,000 of these and have a fail rate of 5%, that wouldn't be too bad. But if luck is involved and one of the fails end up in the hands of a reviewer there is going to be a bad review.
I think it would have been fair to contact Wildoo before writing the review and saying, 'hey it broke, what do you offer if it does?' You could of then received new one and continued test...
Either way a small UK company is now suffering and the internet people are slamming them and for a small company that would really really hurt, on a personal level too.
So a question of bad luck? Maybe Wildoo send another for a test?
Except that the company themselves have said "the product split because of the cold temperature". That's not unlucky, that's um, a product that doesn't work in the cold.
5% would be 12,500! Unrealistic for any company. We look at less than 0.05%
Wildoo already admit that they will fail so whats the problem? They had a fair review..
On the other hand, should a review be about how a product might have worked if some things about it had been different, or how it actually did work when the reviewer had it? Or if something breaks or performs badly, should they not say so?
I've got some sympathy with Wildoo here but I'm not sure it's the job of the reviewer to just give everything the benefit of the doubt.
It's not an exclusive problem though.
The word hypothetical was used, you've taken it out of context. There is no problem other than people slamming a whole company for one product.
But if it breaks... I've had pretty much every product break at some point, failures happen. The question is about customer service and addressing how it could be dealt with, there would be no reason to say it didn't split but a replacement arrived etc etc, if that one split is another matter.
Any time something gets a poor review, there is a suggestion that the vendor should have been contacted prior to publication, but as Dave, Tony etc have stated previously, this opens a can of worms where there's a load of to-ing and fro-ing involving 2nd and 3rd attempts or discussions over how poor the review will be. Before you know it, the reviewers no longer have the necessary distance from the vendors, and they get accused of being in the manufacturers' pockets. They (road.cc) can't win.
What a pretty sandwich bag!
it is a can of worms, and we don't consistently do the same thing because we have to take each case of failure on its merits. Sometimes it's not obvious why a product has failed, and in a case like that we have before, and will again, contact a supplier to arrange a replacement.
Here there's a very obvious design flaw – material that becomes noticeably more brittle when cold – that's directly led to the failure. If we got another one it'd still be brittle when it was cold, unless the material was different, which it wouldn't be. So what's to be gained by getting another one?
depending on who you want to believe we're fair/unfair/independent/in the pockets of advertisers/looking to give bad reviews/puffing up products/impartial/etc. Plus ça change. All we can do is try and review things as well as we can. we don't always get it exactly right. can't really see an issue with this one though.
I think that is fair enough. The product is doomed, which maybe it needs to be, and someone has to say it's bad when it's bad. I feel very sorry for Wildoo as they're getting slammed badly (regardless of personal comments from their staff). Like I've said, other stuff from them (that I've had) have been great. I know of other phone pouches that do the same, so this isn't a unique problem. I doubt when Wildoo (or a another company) set off they intentionally think of making a poor product to sell at huge profit. You even admit the 'idea' is good. Bottom-line Road.cc can say what they like and that is fine. I just feel for a UK company that is now tarnished for one product. It's a no win situation. There as always two sides and would feel equally horrified for people that paid £6 for a faulty product, and yes only so many returns that can happen.
Wildoo here again.
I did say to myself that I would not add to this thread and it has gone off topic a little but feel also that I should set the record straight. I started Wildoo and my mantra from day one was to offer quality products with competitive prices. Most consumers will not know Wildoo as our core business is customised cycling products for businesses, clubs etc. This is a very tricky and competitive market to be in as we constantly have to balance quality & price backed up with excellent service. I know we do this well as Wildoo is steadily growing year on year & we have a strong core of regular and very happy customers. We now also have a portfolio of products that no other company in the UK can offer.
The VeloPac smartphone case is our own product and we have developed this ourselves. When we started with this product we were fully aware of the design remit and knew the welded seam needed to be tough. We initially looked at sourcing from China but found that the quality just was not there and they could not offer the printing quality that we required. We then started looking close to home and found a specialist company in the UK that could make the product for us. This company is very experienced in this area and the product we have developed is well made and on testing the seams have not been a problem. Of course if the product is pulled apart with considerable force it will split but that could be said of many consumer products if mishandled. We do not to date have any issues or reports of the seams splitting and have many customers both in the UK and overseas that have ordered and re-ordered VeloPac and are very happy with the product. I do have to admit that we did not expressively undertake cold weather testing. I now have the test sample back from Road.cc and will discuss this with production so we can establish the reason it split. To say the product is fatally flawed is I believe unfair and not constructive as if that was the case they would all be coming back split but this has not happened. If there are customers who do have a Velopac that has split after an unreasonable period of use and contact us we will happily replace them for free.
Our sales strategy is based on a regular customer base and if they are not happy they will go elsewhere. To achieve this we have to deliver quality reliable products. To this end we are constantly looking at improvements across the range and constantly reacting to customer feedback. No company gets it right all the time but in the case of this product we have not actually got it wrong. It does now appear that there is weakness issue with colder temperatures and to this end we are already looking at new tooling with a stronger weld around the zip.
I do have to stress that we have not set a high retail price for this item (one can pay more than £6.00 to park a car or buy a glass of wine) and are not trying to rip off the consumer. In fact there are single use consumer products out there that cost more than a VeloPac case
I have personally put a lot of time into developing the pack and also VeloPac as a brand and from day one the reaction has been good from customers. There is a market for this style of product and we are committed to growing the brand further.
The VeloPac brand is growing and we are launching a new premium Musette bag this week (also UK Made) and have other products under development.
I appreciate there is a risk sending products to magazines for review & I reacted badly to the review on Road.cc. This was because the review was not how I know the product and I was truly shocked. Yes the tested item did split and I am not trying to supress this fact. However the thread has been hijacked since & there have been comments made about Wildoo that are distressing and totally unacceptable. Luckily for us Wildoo has a strong core customer base that know us and will continue to work with us and we will go on and be stronger but nonetheless it still hurts.
I know this is only a bag but for us we are building a new brand here from the ground up with a commitment to manufacturing in the UK and feel like we have had a major & unfair kick in the teeth. I did fuel the fire with my initial response and have learnt from this but a lot of what came after is not nice to hear.
I am impartial in every way to you, your company and the product, but you did make your bed in this case....
'Company In Social Media Trainwreck Fuel Fire Can't Help Making It Worse Shocker'
Have I missed something!?
yeah a review piece on sandwich bags
Excellent, my lunchbox needs renewing!
Performance, price etc...meh. Why has it got the WC stripes on it? Was this one made specifically for Rui Costa?
As Ronan sang "You say it best when you say nothing at all"
I myself am going into the market of making a plastic covering for phones and other back pocket items at fancy prices…..I'm going to call it 'Rappa'
You've never worked for Empire Magazine or any of those film reviewers?…..anytime I see an advert for a film that has a quote like 'best film ever' and shows five stars I know it's Bollocks - with a big 'b'.
Here's an interesting NYT article about the balancing act of writing (US gun) reviews for readers when advertisers pay the bills.
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/05/business/media/banished-for-questionin...
I've ordered one. It was only a fiver including a donation to charity. It will do for my needs.
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