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review

Avenir Sportive bar bag

5
£39.99

VERDICT:

5
10
Good bag let down by a poor mounting bracket
Weight: 
310g
Contact: 
www.raleigh.co.uk

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On paper the Sportive bar bag looks like a good bet, compact and lightweight for a day ride. And it mostly lives up to expectations, but sadly the bracket is badly flawed and needs redesigning, which makes it hard to recommend.

The Sportive has a semi-hard construction in common with many bags, and the 600 Denier nylon shell is well put together with weatherproof zips. There's a map holder up top and you also get a clear GPS case, a phone holder, a carry strap and a rain cover. Inside the main compartment there's a padded pocket for a camera or phone and some lid pockets for odds and sods, and there's a legre pocket at the front of the bag too. The mount is a twin banded affair with a cable lock to stop the bag rotating round the bars.

The six litre capacity is about right for day riding, it swallowed a spare windproof and gloves, an inner tube, some wine gums, a mini pump and a malt loaf and there was room for keys and money in the top pocket and a camera in the padded one. I zipped it all up and set off, and I was glad I zipped it up as the second speed hump sent it cartwheeling down the road.

The plastic sprung lock on the mount isn't strong enough, and doesn't engage with a close enough tolerance, to stop the bag coming off when you hit a pothole or bump. I thought I'd just put it on wrong but even a cursory examination was enough to discover that it's really easy to dislodge. That spoilt the ride for a few miles until I realised that I could jam a stick into the mount and make it more secure and, happily, it worked a treat. however, as Avenir don't supply it with a stick I'm guessing they think the bracket is okay, and it's not.

Other than that it's a decent bar bag, and the other niggles – the map holder tends to flap up at the front at speed, and the plastic sub frame could do with being a bit stiffer – are more minor. But the mount ruins it, and it needs to be addressed for next year.

Verdict

Good bag but poor mount spoils the package

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road.cc test report

Make and model: Avenir Sportive bar bag

Size tested: 6L

Rate the product for quality of construction:
 
8/10
Rate the product for performance:
 
6/10
Rate the product for durability:
 
6/10
Rate the product for weight, if applicable:
 
8/10
Rate the product for value:
 
7/10

Did you enjoy using the product? Yes apart from the one major flaw

Would you consider buying the product? not without a bracket rethink

Would you recommend the product to a friend? no

Overall rating: 5/10

About the tester

Age: 36  Height: 190cm  Weight: 98kg

I usually ride: whatever I\'m testing...  My best bike is: Trek 1.5 with Ultegra 6700

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

I regularly do the following types of riding: time trialling, commuting, sportives, general fitness riding, fixed/singlespeed, mtb, Mountain Bike Bog Snorkelling, track

Dave is a founding father of road.cc, having previously worked on Cycling Plus and What Mountain Bike magazines back in the day. He also writes about e-bikes for our sister publication ebiketips. He's won three mountain bike bog snorkelling World Championships, and races at the back of the third cats.

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