Birzman’s Packman range is designed for travel and offers a range of bags for various parts of the bike that can be mixed and matched to your individual needs. The Packman Handlebar bag does a great job of being versatile and waterproof but like many bar bags, it isn’t the most stable on rough ground.
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The handlebar pack is similar to the saddle pack and comes with a removable roll top dry bag forming the storage compartment. This is secured to the handlebar with a wrap-around sleeve and straps. The carrier is made from 420D/600D fabric which is water-repellent and abrasion-resistant and the roll top bag is made from 250D tarpaulin which is IPX5 waterproof.
The pack is fixed to the handlebars with two straps. Birzman have also included some hard foam spacers to adjust where the bag sits. There is also a third strap to hold the weight of the bag and secure it further.
The waterproof roll top bag allows flexibility with a maximum volume of 8L but can be rolled down smaller and cinched securely into the carrier when less space is required. The bag is also easily mobile. At the end of a long day in the saddle simply release the two buckles and the bag can be pulled out and taken with you – a nice feature when fatigue has set in.
A gripe that I have with many bar bags is their tendency to rattle around whilst riding. Unfortunately, this falls into this category and I found it would move around whilst on all but the smoothest surfaces. I played around with how much weight was in the bag, the spacing on the bar, and using the third strap to try and fix it as well as I could but nothing I did fixed it securely. This isn’t a reason to fully disregard this bag as this issue is common on many bar bags, the Birzman Packman Handlebar pack still has many good things going for it.
The waterproof qualities of the roll top bag are impressive, my dry clothes stayed dry in some very wet Scottish weather. Just be sure not to overfill the bag as you need a good couple of rolls to make sure it is sealed. I found myself packing the bag to be as short as possible to give my hands room between the drop bar hoods. However, the flexibility of the roll top bag allowed this to be tweaked easily. It’s also worth noting the roll top makes for easy access to store or pull out extra layers as needed which is handy when you’re on the move.
At £80, the Packman Handlebar bag does have a healthy price tag. The durability and 100% waterproof qualities do go some way to justifying this, but there is some strong competition. The Outer Shell Adventure Drawcord Handlebar Bag comes in at £72 and got a very strong review from Benedict which you can see here. The Wildcat Lion Handlebar Harness also comes in at £72 and is similar to the Birzman. Our Matt rated this highly in his review here.
The Birzman Handlebar pack is a durable and well-made piece of kit that proved to be reliable and 100% waterproof during testing. The roll top bag stayed secure throughout but there was a fair amount of movement which didn’t cause any issues, but was annoying. This is the same for many bar bags and Birzman have done a good job of minimising this as much as possible. The price is justifiable for the quality on offer but there are other options worth considering.