Best cycling backpacks 2026 — carry your stuff the simple way

Altura’s Heritage 12L Backpack is part of their traditionally styled Heritage range and this canvas bag certainly looks the part. It’s made from a 97% cotton, 3% polyester 12oz canvas, with a water-repellent wax finish that can (mostly) handle pretty heavy rain. 

Inside is a padded sleeve designed for up to 15in laptops, plus a couple of mesh pockets, a zipped organiser pocket, and a keyring. The padded straps are adjustable, and the chest strap is removable too. The 12-litre main body closes with a zip and then rolls up for protection from rain.

Tester Lara said, “I found this size spot on for a day’s commute – it takes a compact change of clothes, shoes, a laptop and the inevitable bits and bobs, though doesn’t leave much space for shopping on the way home. The quite narrow shaping and thick fabric keep the contents all safe and secure, too.”

The Apidura City Backpack is a lightweight and fully waterproof backpack designed for urban riding and daily commuting. The City’s simplicity is one of its most appealing features. The bag features a welded waterproof construction to keep your belongings dry in any weather and its features are minimalist, with only the essential pockets. The 20-litre capacity of this bag proved to be more than enough for carrying office essentials and even some extra for a weekend-long trip.

Inside, there’s a suspended laptop sleeve for secure storage and the sleeve has one zipped pocket for storing pens or other small items you don’t want to fish from the bottom of the bag. On the side, there’s an easy-access zipped pocket for keys and the like. Otherwise, the bag is one single rectangular pouch with flap closure that’s 50cm in height, which can be extended to 56cm, and 30cm wide.

Apidura’s Packable 13L backpack is an excellent cycle-specific backpack that squashes down to almost nothing when not in use. It’s made from a tough, waterproof rip-stop polyester that measures 7 x 8 x 9cm in its packed form. 

There are a surprising number of technical features too, such as adjustable straps, elasticated mesh pockets capable of carrying water bottles, reflective dots to add visibility on the bike, and most impressive is the fact that all the seams are tape-sealed for waterproofing – a real feat at this size, weight and price.

Also, it’s worth noting that Apidura offers a lifetime materials and workmanship warranty, and will help with repairs where needed.

The Chrome Industries Hawes 26L Pack is super stylish and is backed up with great quality, too. We found the fabric to be extremely water resistant, so you can feel confident about keeping valuables in there in the rain. 

It’s got plenty of compartments to keep your items separated, as well as a dedicated laptop sleeve and D-lock compartment.

The Craft Cadence backpack is designed for commuting cyclists to carry pretty much everything they need in a stylish and comfortable manner. It’s great quality and is waterproof. 

There are three storage areas to the bag: the 21-litre compartment, and two zipped pockets on the outside. Inside the main compartment are two Velcro straps holding an eight-pocket organiser sleeve. This includes a pocket for a 15in laptop plus a large, zipped pocket. There’s also an A4-sized pocket and some smaller ones, plus two pen holders with a key strap.

The Elops Cycling Backpack Speed 520 is a waterproof pack from Decathlon and it’s a thoroughly practical and versatile bit of kit that’s ideal for commuting and more. The design is simple but not basic, with attention to detail in its zips, reflective strips and internal pockets, and despite its 25L size, it folds down quite compactly. 

It’s also comfy to wear thanks to chunky padding and supportive side straps that really hug as you move. 

The Osprey Metron 24 is a great pack for commuters with a 24L total capacity and a grand total of 14 storage compartments and pockets, plus two compartments that hold covers. 

Osprey makes the Metron using nylon from recycled sources, and it’s said to be abrasion-resistant in case of a spill. The Metron 24 is about as feature-rich as they come, one of the great features being the helmet holder, and it offers brilliant practicality in a neat design. 

You can get a smaller 18L messenger or 22L roll-top version if you know you’ll need less capacity, but the 24L tested here might turn out to be the sweetspot for most.

The Oxford Aqua Evo 22L Backpack is a great pack that does exactly what it promises to do – carry your stuff comfortably, securely and dryly. If you’re about town in all weathers, it’s ideal.

Inside, the backpack features a laptop sleeve, a couple of smaller fabric pockets and a zipped mesh one, and outside there’s an 18cm-deep pocket with a waterproof zip (17cm opening), which is pretty handy if you don’t want to unroll the whole thing. 

The shoulder straps are well padded (and mesh-backed for ventilation), and you get webbing chest and waist straps which are easily adjustable for a comfy, secure fit, as are the buckles for securing the opening. 

The Proviz Reflect 360 Backpack is a stunning way of boosting your visibility when riding at night. During the day the backpack is a subtle grey, but when a car’s headlights fall on it, the entire bag reflects back the light.

As a backpack, the Reflect 360 fulfils its task well. It’s spacious with a 30 litre capacity which is more than enough for a change of clothes, sandwiches and any other stuff you need to transport. There’s a laptop sleeve too and the fabric has good waterproofing keeping your belongings dry in all but the very heaviest of downpours.

The Sundried 50L Triathlon Backpack is a huge event weekender bag with so many useful pockets including four bottle holders, plus handy shoe and helmet compartments which standard rucksacks don’t cater for very well. The Sundried helpfully separates these essentials for safe and easy-access storage.

Sundried’s backpack measures 75 x 45 x 26cm with – as you might have guessed from the name – a capacity of 50 litres. That’s a lot. With a bag so spacious that you can pack a serious amount of weight into it, it’s great that it has a padded back and supportive straps that can be adjusted easily for a secure and comfortable fit.

While not strictly designed for commuting, reflective piping extends across all sides for visibility, so you could use the backpack for early morning or evening commutes, and 15-inch laptop sleeve made of mesh is also included.