Via Instagram I came in contact with Craft Cadence. An UK based company that is producing all kind of waterproof cycling products:
- CRAFT CADENCE BACKPACK
- CRAFT CADENCE ESSENTIALS CASE | CYCLING PHONE WALLET
- CRAFT CADENCE HANDLEBAR BAG
In this review I will focus on the handlebar bag (see below) and a little bit on the essentials case. But who is Craft Cadence?
Craft Cadence is London based and are dedicated to the cycling commuting community with a focus to evolve with the community and its needs over time.
Their ethos:
Their ethos with their products is to continually evolve them over time, taking feedback from the community to update and continually innovate. At time of writing, Cadence is in its third iteration. All customers that purchase our products are asked for their feedback and have a direct line of contact to our designers, and we take their comments and experiences extremely seriously.
Personally I think this is so cool!
The products
Like mentioned in the introduction my focus for this review is the handlebar bag. The handlebar bag holds 3 litres to 3.5 litres at a stretch. It will fit most of your daily riding essentials such as
- Phones
- External battery packs
- Sunglasses
- Sandwiches and snacks
- Tools, inner tubes, repair kits, tyre levers, mini pump
- A spare windproof jacket
With plenty of room to spare. The handlebar bag is rated waterproof to the IPX5 Standard which makes it fully waterproof and you do not have to worry about your expensive stuff. This is all kept neatly dry. It fits nicely on your handlebar. You probably do need to remount your computer or camera mount as the bar is fitting on top instead of below your bar, in my case that wasn’t a problem but be aware of this!
First experience
The first ride with the Craft Cadence was a sunny ride. I loaded the bag pretty full to see if this would impact the balance of the bike or the effect the steering. And my conclusion is it didn’t have any effect on riding. The bag is balanced out well, doesn’t make any sound will riding and you can really store a lot of content in it. Here are some pictures of the fitting and ride:
Riding in the rain
My second ride was quite different, where it started sunny as the day before soon it changed into a ride in pouring rain. This was of course the ultimate test for this waterproof bag. All my stuff was as dry as when I stored it into the bag. so I can state this bag does it’s job very well!
Comparison to my Rapha bag and rating
As you maybe have read in an earlier blog, I am using a Rapha bag for smaller gravel rides. The big difference between the Rapha and the Craft cadence is the fitting: on top vs below the bar. This is not a biggie for me but you need to adjust your camera/computer mount.
Next is the pockets. The Rapha has a front pocket, very easy for a wallet and keys. Furthermore inside an extra divider to split your content. In the Craft Cadence the amount of content you can store is much more and I really like the mesh stretch pocket in the bag, very useful for your phone and keys.
The absolute difference is that the Craft Cadence is real waterproof and the Rapha not (that is a biggie). Especially in current summer (do we have summer?) conditions, where unexpected heavy rain storms can surprise you.
What can be improved?
I think if you could roll the top (you see this with other waterproof bags) I could also use it while peddle boarding (opening up to non cycling public). And adding some loops to connect lights, or other stuff.
Rating
If this was just about waterproof they would absolutely get 5 stars but as a handlebar bag it can be improved a little. But as their ethos, see above, is evolving the products I am pretty sure they will blow this bag out of the water pretty soon!
The essentials case
A quick comparison of this case versus the one reviewed earlier from The Pack.
The Craft Cadence is slightly bigger (fitting it in an older jerseys back pocket will be a little more difficult) but has a lot more options inside. You can fit more cards etc and I really like the little clip for a key, which makes the use more preferable.
The material of The Pack phone case feels more waterproof and also when I look at material used I think this is a right assumption, but I didn’t dare to submerge them both so I cannot state this with confidence. But according both websites The Pack is fully waterproof where the Craft Cadence is waterresitant.
So if you are looking for a water resistant phone case the Craft Cadence is for sure a good option. When they also would make this fully waterproof I don’t think there is a better one on the market. So a challenge set for Craft Cadence 🙂
