The BLS VeloRacing bag is designed, manufactured, and distributed by Cape Town based company Black Line Sprinting. The bag is an all-in-one cycling travel bag and manages to hit the nail on the head with its convenient design.
The main features include a helmet compartment, a handy removable nutrition storage box, divisions for shoes, two bottles and kit, and two waterproof drawstring bags for storing dirty, wet kit and shoes, so that the bag itself does not get too dirty inside.
As someone who travels to races and riding weekends regularly, I have fought an ongoing battle with my own disorganisation. I have tried various ways of transporting my riding gear: stuffed into shopping bags, in my main travel bag along with all my other clothes, or in a separate tog bag. Each of these methods eventually leads to confusion, annoyance, and me emptying items onto the floor in disgust as I seek that elusive lost glove, sunglasses, or in the worst case scenario: end up with gels leaking all over my clothes.
The VeloRacing bag provides the perfect solution: separate, neat, organised transport for all riding gear. Helmet, shoes, gloves, nutrition, kit, bike computer, shammy cream, bottles, and tools each have their place and are easily packed and accessed. The kit section just manages to squeeze in two sets of lycra plus baggies, and so can be used for a weekend away as well as a one-day event like a race.
I used the supplements compartment for both nutrition and tools storage, packing my sunglasses and Garmin inside my helmet in the helmet compartment. A big benefit of the helmet compartment is that the semi-rigid structure and padding of the bag protects the helmet from knocks during transport- something that has always been a concern for me.
The shoe section fitted my size 5 shoes easily, but I also checked with chunky size 11 trail shoes: just to make sure that all shoe sizes are covered. One issue I picked up was that although my Specialized Propero II road helmet fitted in the helmet compartment comfortably enough, a large Specialized Ambush trail helmet does not. The peak simply means there is not enough space. There are two possible solutions here, either one could remove the peak for transport, or remove the nutrition compartment, in which case the helmet will fit in easily. Neither of these options are ideal, but they do mean it is not impossible to use the bag with a bigger coverage helmet and peak.
The only other downside I can foresee for some is that the bag does not fold up for storage when not in use, and therefore requires a fair chunk of cupboard space. It is not obtrusive, however, and I was quite happy to stash it out of the way under a desk. It comes in black, with red trim, and the BLS branding in prominent red, white and blue lettering. Empty, the bag weighs 2 kilograms, and it is light enough to move around fairly comfortably when crammed with gear.
The VeloRacing bag retails online for R1399.00 including free delivery via the PostNet to PostNet service. Delivery is 2-4 days.
Pros
- Gives you organisational superpowers
- You’ll never forget your shoes
Cons
- You’ll never be able to use the excuse “I forgot my shoes”
- Storage might be an issue
- Trail helmets are a squeeze
In short
The more I use the VeloRacing bag, the more I wonder how I ever lived without it. It provides a convenient, simple solution to the problem of transporting riding gear. If you travel a lot, have trouble keeping your ducks in a row, or just want to simplify the way you store and transport your essentials, this is a product well worth considering.
Full face is impossible I guess...