BROOKS SPARKHILL BACKPACK

£145

Space exploration

Brooks’ Sparkhill offers up 15 litres of space for commuters and travellers who don’t need to carry the kitchen sink.

A 13in laptop gets its own zipped compartment between the padded back panel and main compartment. That main compartment is divided in two with a sleeve that’s around half the depth of the bag. There’s a zipped pocket on the side for valuables, another zipped compartment with a stretch mesh that’ll take a water bottle, a zipped mesh pocket on top for small items and a final stretch compartment on the front that is designed for a helmet but can be used for other awkward loads.

Straps for cash

The Sparkhill features a chest strap, which helps give a very secure feel on the bike. The strap is secured with a machined aluminium clip, and the length of the shoulder straps are adjusted with equally attractive alloy accessories. We did find these a little fiddly to use, so instant adjustment wasn’t always possible. Slimmer testers also found that with the straps cinched tight there was an excess of material to flap around.

Bags of potential

The Sparkhill doesn’t boast the reflectivity of the Rapha pack, but the black fabric underneath the alloy Brooks badge does shine in headlights. The fabric is waterproof-coated nylon and cordura and the zips are sealed against water ingress. The Brooks is slightly larger than the Rapha but only a couple of centimetres width, height and depthwise. If weight is important the Rapha shades the Brooks by just shy of 200g.