Thule RoundTrip bike duffel black

The Thule Roundtrip Duffel is a well-made and cleverly designed bag. With removable compartments to keep your gear organised and plastic-lined pockets for stinky socks, Thule has thought it all through. It does come in pricier than your regular duffel, though its quality matches up to the price tag.

The duffel’s been designed for a 3-5 day trip, or to house your cycling loot in-between rides. It’s robust and comfortable to carry, with multiple storage compartments to keep your kit organised.

The duffel’s by no means an essential piece of kit, but it is a very nice bit of gear to own.

Storage

In the main body there are 22 removable ‘wine-rack-style’ slots, one of which is soft and fuzzy, designed to keep your sunglasses in a scratch free cocoon.

Cleverly, they’re not stitched to the bottom, meaning there’s space underneath for non-cycling clothes to lie flat and crease free. And what’s more, they’re fully removable, so your duffel can live out a double life and you can use it for any trip.

Everything has its place, perfect if you’re taking it to a race and needing to quickly grab a bit of kit. Alongside the ‘wine-rack’ slots is space for a helmet, while plastic-lined pockets on the top and side keep shoes and stinky laundry separate to the clean stuff.

A long pocket opens out on the front. It’s meant for small bits and bobs, so has several elastic loops of varying sizes to keep tools and the like locked down.

Next to them sit three mesh pockets to provide space for other little knick-knacks too. There’s also a zip-up side pocket, for easy access to your wallet and keys.

The level of thought that has gone into storage compartments is seriously impressive. Of course, Thule is Swedish! The whole bag gives you that sense of well-thought-out design that the Scandinavians do so well. It’s wonderfully practical, without sacrificing any of its aesthetics.

Since everything has its place, it makes it seem you’ve got more storage than a regular 55l bag would give. In fact, I felt I could fit in enough kit and tools for a week’s trip, rather than the 3-5 days suggested by Thule. Although perhaps that statement just confirms I’m more feral than the average person…

Durability

The bag’s constructed with the kind of quality you expect for the price tag. It’s made with a good quality canvas, kept in place with some solid stitching. Thule has also used a black tarpaulin for any place that has plastic lining, meaning it’s unlikely to snag or rip.

The duffel’s zips also feel super durable. It’s so irritating when an entire bag becomes useless from a cheap zip breaking apart. Here the zips are big and strong, so you don’t get the sense they’re going to bust apart in a years time.

Thule has done a good job here. The whole bag has a feeling of good quality construction, which was one of my biggest questions before I tested it. Yes, the design’s smart, but was the quality going to match that of a flimsy duffel bag, or a bag costing £110? It’s definitely matched up to that £110 price point.

Comfort

Thule has done two things to make the bag comfortable when you’re carrying it. The first is that when it’s on your shoulder, the part of the bag that rests against your back has extra stitching and material. This means it holds its structure far better and lies flush against your back.

The second is adding a good bit of of padding to the cover that goes over the side strap, which prevents it cutting into your body. When fully loaded, it was comfy enough to carry. I could also ride with it, handy if you’re pedalling a short distance to a station, or wherever, to start your adventure.

The only place I feel Thule has missed a trick is not including two straps. The bag has four loops; one in each corner, allowing you to unclip the side strap and switch it to the other side. If they’d included another strap, you could use each loop and turn it into a backpack.

I’m 5ft 4 and while I ride a lot, I don’t have a huge amount of upper body strength. It was comfy enough, but an extra strap would make it even more versatile, allowing me to spread the weight equally across both my (weak) shoulders. However, let’s give Thule some credit here. The fact that the only thing I’d really want to change about it is the inclusion of an extra strap speaks for itself; I’m fishing to think of improvements.

Value

If you’re just looking for something for you to lob your sports kit in, there are plenty of cheaper options out there. When compared to cycling specific duffels, Thule’s comes in a little more expensive. That said, it’s the only duffel offering so many storage compartments.

Evoc does a whole bunch of duffle bags, the closest like-for-like being its 55L Gear Bag that doubles as a backpack and comes in at £30 less. However, though the Thule is pricier, you’re getting far more storage compartments, along with wet and dry storage, which isn’t on offer from Evoc.

Jez tested the slightly larger 60-litre Ortlieb Duffle back in 2016 but it’s still available. He rated it very highly, and it doubles up as a backpack, but it now costs a hefty £148.75.

Rachael reviewed the smaller Osprey Transporter 40 for our sister site off.road.cc. Like the Evoc and Ortlieb duffles it also works as a backpack, but the 40-litre volume only makes it suitable for shorter trips.

Conclusion

The bag’s got everything you’d need to keep your kit neat and organised, with its quality matching the price tag and design. The fact that the only suggestion I had was for Thule to include two straps, rather than one, to give the option of wearing it as a backpack too, is testament to how impressed I was with it.

Verdict

The bag’s got everything you’d need to keep your kit neat and organised, with its quality matching the price tag and design

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