REVIEW: Henty Wingman – cycling suit carrier

My first impressions were that it was a quality piece of kit. Even the fancy hexagonal tube that it comes in is rather smart looking. It is the sort of box that you’d keep in the loft should you, in the future, have something large and hexagonal to put in it.

Anyhow, to the bag. There are some instructions. Go against your every instinct and read them or you will spend the next 10 minutes muttering “where’s the bloody rain cover?” whilst searching every nook and cranny. There is a secret cranny containing the rain cover. It tells you this in the instructions. The bag itself is very nicely put together with sturdy materials, solid fasteners and chunky zips. It sort of makes you want to touch it. When I first saw the price I thought ”How much? Has this been designed to separate gullible city types with beards from their money?” But having handled the thing I can appreciate that, whilst it is quite expensive, it isn’t what a cynical Northern tightwad like myself would class as a rip off.

The bag consists of a suit carrier with an internal removable hanger and a separate heavy duty bag with a massive zip, that wouldn’t look out of place on a space suit, for shoes, grooming products, or in my case a bulky butty box. The bag locks to the suit carrier then the whole lot rolls up and is fastened closed with Velcro and a couple of sizeable clips. The carrier has an internal stiffener to stop it bending and messing up your clothes. There is also a loop so that you can hang it on a peg. The outside of the bag has rucksack style shoulder, chest and waist straps but, if you prefer, it is available like a courier bag with a shoulder and waist stabilisation strap. There is a cushioned back-pad incorporating a laptop pocket, a separate large compartment that includes a removable pouch for phones, keys, wallets and smaller odds and ends, and another pocket that contains the rain cover.

The rucksack model sits quite high off your back, but it can catch on your helmet when you sit up in the saddle. Also it is relatively narrow so it doesn’t impede too much on your over-the-shoulder vision in traffic. My commute is largely off-road and the bag stays put whilst bimbling over the humps and bumps with the rain cover doing a good job of keeping the mud and other assorted detritus off. It is relatively comfortable due to the padding and the wide shoulder and waist straps. I’m not sure I’d want to wear it all day, but for my 40 minute commute it is fine. However, sticking a laptop in the pocket will reduce the ability of the padding to mould to the shape of your back. Also, the chest strap isn’t very long. I’ve got a 40in chest and there isn’t a great deal more adjustment. If you could categorise your physique as “difficult to kidnap” you may have issue with this.

In conclusion this is a very well thought out bit of kit. It isn’t often that I have picked up something as mundane as a bag and thought “oooh… that’s quite clever”. Most importantly it does what it is supposed to do and keeps whatever clothes you have in it looking presentable. In a previous life I used to frequently travel for a couple of days at a time. This would have been considerably more convenient for airports and overhead luggage lockers than a more traditional suit carrier and it does a better job, in my opinion, of not creasing your shirt.

So, if you need a bag to keep your clothes crumple free whilst commuting, going to the gym, or for general overnight duties and you don’t mind parting with a few quid I’d have a look at this. You get what you pay for.

Price: £119

From Henty

Review Info