Conclusion
If most of your rides are quick laps after work, and you prefer to ride with a pack than without, then a small pack with a 2L reservoir and a few pockets for tools is all you need. The Fox Utility Hydration Small is fine for this, but it’s not the best small hydration pack because it doesn’t make the greatest use of space – it’s cramped and hard to access.
The Ergon BE2 Enduro is the next size up but it does have a singular purpose, and that’s to carry a load of gear during an event. It’s excellent at this, but splitting the storage limits capacity, and during a race we just think you’re going to burn through that 1.5L of fluid in no time.
If you want more storage for water and gear (and maybe a pair of skis) then the Evoc FR Day Protector is one of the biggest here. Unfortunately, it’s weighty, and with a full reservoir (which costs extra) it becomes even heavier. To us the FR Day Protector feels like the sort of pack you take to a riding spot and leave under a tree, rather than something you’d pedal around wearing all day. But that sort of negates it as a Protector pack.
Even though the Thule Rail 12L Pro isn’t quite as meaty as the Evoc, it feels like a big pack too when you’ve got it on. It has a high-level spine protector and a ton of features, but you do pay for them. That’s the same criticism we levelled at the Leatt DBX Cargo – you literally get the whole kit and caboodle, but you are paying a premium for the spine protector. We really think having spine protection is a sensible idea, but it adds weight, bulk and cost to the pack and it’s also not that versatile, because the only option here is just to remove it. A better choice option might be to have a standalone spine protector that you just use when you need it, like when visiting a bike park. To be fair to both Leatt and Thule, they do offer cheaper packs without protection, and they’re definitely worth checking out.
If you want a lighter mid-size trail pack there are four great options in this grouptest, and one of the cheapest is the Decathlon Rockrider. This feels like a Camelbak from 8-9 years ago but there is absolutely nothing wrong with that because it has all you need for a rockbottom price.
The Deuter Compact Explorer 14 is good value too, but that’s skewed slightly because it doesn’t come with a reservoir and you’d be looking at around