Brompton C-Bag Review: Capacity & Visibility

Still no word yet from Brompton about my P6R-RL, but in the meantime I'll wax poetic about this pretty sweet messenger-type bag.

Brompton C-Bag.

Interior view of C-Bag.

Interior view of C-Bag with a DVD case for size reference.

Rear view of the C-Bag showing the two medium sized pockets that would straddle the stem post.  This is a cleaver way to increase capacity.  The pockets fit a normal sized water bottle and is a good place to stash your wallet and keys.

Small side pocket with pen slots.  This pocket is perfect for a cell phone.

The shoulder strap quickly cinches up so that it doesn't interfere while riding.

This is the larger Brompton messenger-type bag, with a capacity of 25 liters (the smaller S-Bag carries 20 liters).  How much is 25 liters?  Consider Exhibit A:

C-Bag with a change of clothes in a packing cube, shoes, rain cover for bag, body wipes and iPad with case.  The packing cube contains jeans, belt, a polo shirt, underwear and socks.

This is close to what I would carry with me on my typical commute to work, plus whatever is in my pocket (iPhone, wallet, keys, identification, etc.) stuffed into the back and side compartments.

Packed C-Bag.

Side view of packed C-Bag.

Even with the all of the above items jammed into the C-Bag, there was still some space left over for my footy jersey and shorts in case I was playing a game after work.

In the earlier photos you can see that the large interior compartment is has a sort of zippered pocket partition thingy.  It seems like a good place to put items that aren't need often (in my case it would be the rain cover).

The smaller inner partition perfectly holds my early 2011 13" Macbook Pro with protective sleeve case.

13" Macbook Pro with Tom Bihn Cache.

Macbook stuffed into smaller inner partition.

Another positive attribute of this bag is how incredibly reflective it is (and how visible you'll be at night).  Here are a couple of pictures of the C-Bag in my hallway:

C-Bag, no flash.

C-Bag lit up with the flash from my iPhone.  The trim is so bright that it actually created an artifact in the photo.

  

So far the initial impressions are positive.  I'll have more insights when I finally receive my brommie and a able to use the bag on a regular basis.  Hope you enjoyed this initial review!