Deuter Operate II messenger bag

From Deuter's wide range of bike luggage, the solidly-made Operate II messenger bag is part of their business and life style range. It's pleasant to carry and protects a laptop well, but several details let it down.

I used the Operate II for the best part of a month as my take to work bag. I have ridden with it on my 'cross bike, taken it on the tube and brought it in the car too.

The Operate II is designed to take an up to a 15.6 inch laptop, which it carries well, though at 900g the bag is on the heavy side for a messenger bag. My regular messenger bag comes in a little over half that weight. The bag is well padded, with protection for both the laptop section and the lid or front of the bag, which explains the extra weight. The bag on test is all black with no reflective areas.

The Operate II has many pockets and sections. It has quite an opinionated design; there is definitely the Deuter way to use it. From the back to the front there are six separate sections with some additional organizer pockets towards the front. The rearmost pocket is on the back of the bag, closest to your body and good for a kindle, iPad or magazine. This is accessible when the bag is closed. Next is section inside the bag under the large flap, this is the padded section for a laptop, a 15.4 inch MacBook fits well, smaller laptops shift about inside. I use a Macbook Air as my daily computer and it was ok with this. It would be a better fit in the Operator I, but that is a smaller bag.

The next pocket is intended for your change of clothes. There is a big section for trousers and a shirt, plus two half-width sections for smalls or wash products. This works fine, but it leaves little space for the rest of life's clutter. I tended to put cables, glasses and similar, bulkier things under the clothes.

The last big pocket is the organizer section. This is nearly really good. It is about an inch deep projecting from the front of the bag, so not taking space out of the clothes section. However, the final shallow, scooped velcro-ed pocket on the front is flat stitched into place. This makes it hard to use both. I wanted to have a quick stow pocket for bike kit, lights, pump and tools, but these clash with the other personal items like a phone or wallet in the pocket behind.

There are some other useful features. The two external pockets are stretchy spandex and can take a water bottle. I ended up putting some bike kit in these to deal with the clashing front pockets. The organizer pocket has a short, detachable key strap, but this is less useful than it seems. The blue clip of the strap is intended to stay on your keys and it is behind the flap and a zip, so not quickly accessible. An opening clip, like on other messenger bags would be more helpful.

Riding with the bag is good. It sits neatly within my silhouette on my 40 inch chest. The shoulder strap tucks out of the way into one of the spandex pockets on the side, so the bag will not snag on anything. The shoulder pad is the right size and sits in place too. There is a waist strap that's easy to adjust for left and right handed operation and easy to cinch tight to your body; the bag is then really quite stable. Even a decent bit of fast cornering only required a small flick to correct.

The lid of the bag has both velcro and plastic buckle closures. Leaving the buckles undone does lead to a tap, tap sound as the unfastened buckle swings and bumps the base of the bag which is annoying when walking.

The Operate II is described as water resistant. I had no problems in the time I was testing it, but I escaped a drenching. There are other messenger bags that have water proof outers or liners.

Lastly and surprisingly there is no place to attach a rear light. This seems like a curious omission, especially when the bag has no reflective details.

Verdict

Comfortable bag that rides well, let down by lack of reflective materials, no light mount and poorly designed pockets