Chrome MXD Segment Sling Bag

The Chrome MXD Segment Sling Bag can carry a lot of kit considering its size, and is very well made – which goes a long way to justifying its price tag. From a purely cycling point of view there are a couple of niggles though: it can shift around on your back a fair bit when the pace is high, and it's not very waterproof.

Sling bags are a popular means of carrying around your daily essentials, and this MXD Segment version with its 5.25 litres of carrying space is one of the larger offerings.

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It comes with two front pockets, and because of the 3D design they can carry plenty of stuff. It's not just the volume that is impressive though, it is also the amount of organisation. The left-hand one gets a mesh inner pocket while the right-hand one is fleece-lined to protect a mobile phone, sunglasses and those kind of things, with an inner pouch to keep things separate.

On top of that are three other pockets. The one situated near the front is padded, making it suitable for carrying a tablet. Chrome says it will fit an iPad Mini – I haven't got one of those but my 10in tablet slotted in with ease.

The central pocket just opens along the top of the bag unlike the front and rear of the three which open around the sides too. Inside the central one are two pouches for yet more organisation, while the rear pocket is just one cavernous storage pouch.

For a short ride around town, or longer but steady jaunts out into the lanes with the kids I could carry all of the tools I needed for a range of bikes, plus snacks, phone, wallet and first aid kit, and still had plenty of room to spare to stuff in a showerproof jacket with ease.

You can wear it either as a bum bag-style kit carrier or, as I preferred, over your shoulder. You can also carry it so the pockets are at the front on the chest, which certainly works for security in urban areas and will keep it out of the rain when you are on the bike.

The 840D nylon fabric used for the outer shell is pretty water resistant, with light rain and quick showers beading off, but there is no sealing behind the zips, so if it is in the firing line of heavy rain then the water gets into the bag quite quickly. It takes a long time to dry out, as well.

The straps are joined together by a bulky buckle and I found it very secure; you have to be careful as you undo it because it unclips with quite a bit of force, dropping the heavy section of the bag quickly, and the strap can flick out and whack someone who is standing close by – not really an issue with the current social distancing measures in place.

There is a lot of adjustment for chest or waist sizes and with a 40in chest I had to draw the strap in quite close to the bottom limit to get a solid fit. That does leave a big loop of excess strap with nowhere to really tuck it away, which can be a bit irritating.

Riding around on my fixed (well, you've got to when testing a bag like this) in civvies at a decent lick, I found that the MXD stayed relatively well seated, only moving around when I got out of the saddle for an effort uphill or a bit of a sprint to beat the traffic. It's no worse than most courier bags I've used, to be honest. A sternum strap might help, but that would detract from the style of bag that Chrome has designed.

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At £100 it's at the upper end of the price range but that is backed up by the quality of the overall build. All the stitching is impeccable throughout and the fabric is a very good choice as it is just so durable. I've been using it for the best part of eight weeks and it has been dropped on the ground, flung into the boot of the car and generally treated with little in the way of respect, and still looks immaculate.

It's quite difficult to gauge the value of the MXD Segment, as most bags we test on road.cc are cycling-specific, but you can get a lot more storage space for the same or less if you go for a backpack or messenger bag. For this sort of money you could get a 25-litre Rapha Roll Top Backpack for commuting or just carrying your stuff around – or for £10 less, the fully waterproof 17-litre Ortlieb Velocity.

That said, if the design appeals, and you need a bag to use daily for a mixture of walking around and cycling, the Chrome MXD Segment might be a big outlay but it's certainly going to last.

Verdict

High-end bag that carries a lot of kit for its size and works well for riding around town