The Brea by Vaude is the perfect women’s bike bag for my 30 min. 6km commute to work. It’s stylish enough to pass for a normal messenger bag and practical enough to keep your laptop and stuff dry.

Vaude’s attachment system is so natural - perfect user experience

What’s in my bag?

A lot more than you think for 14 liters. Surprisingly a 15” macbook pro also fits in this 13.3” laptop bag. Good to know since I am looking to upgrade my macbook air as soon as Apple updates their laptop line.

• 13” macbook air.
• power adapter
• wallet
• notebook, calendar
• pens
• small bike pump
• bike lights
• compact bike tool
• rain pants (black)
• rain cover (orange - included with bag)
• Sometimes lunch (not shown)

Theres a few inside pockets smaller items like my wallet or keys. Even though it is a work bag, I have also biked to a beer garden and threw in my helmet. I have a backpack too, but sometimes I just don’t want to deal with sweating.

That’s a lot of bike gear you got there

Yep. I’ve been cycling in the city for over three years. And a helmet has saved my head from injury at least once in an accident involving a car. Lights are required and the Munich police have the time to ticket cyclists. A pump is always a must. Lastly I’ve experienced enough sudden storms to have invested in rain pants. I’ve had to buy new - and dry - clothes and shoes upon arriving at work totally soaked.

Attaches and detaches easy

I examined several bike bags and Vaude has the easiest attachment system that just feels so natural. When attaching it to your bike, just hang it on the rack and then push the bag from the front. Click! And locked. To detach, you don’t need to dig your fingers to the clips. Just pull the bag handle to detach. Click! And it’s off. It’s such a natural movement to just get off your bike and grab the bag by the handle and go. Perfect user experience.

Socially conscious

Admittedly I am sometimes a sucker for organic labels, etc. But this time, fair wages drew me in. 80 EUR is not cheap. But the bag is made in Germany and handcrafts like the tailor may be vanishing when it comes to clothing. But it’s nice that such an older handcraft can adapt and move into another branch. By the way, anyone who has ever had clothing, especially waterproof and windproof gear, tear at the seams knows tailoring is not as simple as you think.

So kudos to Vaude for making an awesome product.