Speedo Tri Clops Backpack (50L)

Let me preface my review--I am a stay-at-home mom of an active toddler. We spend full days out of the house. The car becomes our second home, and this is my new closet. (And this is a real review, our money bought it, and I'm writing this to help other active moms seeking an alternative bag!)For non-moms, I looked high and low trying to find info on how the inside of this bag worked, with little luck. It came with GREAT photos that helped me to understand what the interior components looked like. They are posted, I hope they can help you...I wish I had them when I was shopping!For moms (or compulsive packers): I wanted a gym bag for myself that would enable me to take everything I needed to cover any of my preferred workouts: spinning, running, or swimming. I needed a wet area for sweaty clothes, and a place to put shower shoes and wet towels without them getting stinky. It had to hold snacks and water bottles for me and my toddler for a full day. My cell phone and sunglasses had to be accessible and protected. And it needed to be backpack style, so my hands could be free to pick up my toddler when needed. Diaper bags have spoiled me. They are well organized, so now I expect the same from a gym bag.I never thought I would get a triathlon bag. I suppose raising a toddler is a triathlon of sorts! (All respect to formal triathletes!) My husband teases me for how huge this bag is, it's no joke...I'm 5'9" and it dwarfs me. But most importantly, it holds EVERYTHING I need to be completely independent for a whole day. I can spin at the gym and have my spinning shoes to clip in for a great ride. I have running shoes. My mp3 player, heart rate monitor, and headphones are safe. I have room for shower shoes and full shower gear to clean up after a swim. There's space for swimming gear (and shower clean-up) for me and a toddler -- the works...soap, brushes, snacks, towels, swimsuits, dry clothes, extra clothes.)I was hesitant to get this bag because it looked manly. It's black, but in person the red was less intense. It's worked great for us. A little unconventional use, but it fit the bill! There's a reason it received a design award, it's really well-thought out. (Something every mom can appreciate.) It holds a lot, but it's all very easy to get to.

Few a few quick redesigned items and this bag would be a 6 star! As it is it is a very well constructed bag made with top materials and has by far the best engineered carry (weight distribution) of any large, frameless, BP that I have had.I use the bag for Modern Pentathlon which is a 5 event competition of Equestrian show Jumping, a 3200 Meter Run and Shoot with a Laser Target Pistol, a 200 meter free style swim and a full out fencing tournament. Nothing else comes close to this bag in terms of capacity.HOWEVER (Speedo)1. Shoe pockets need to be fully enclosed. The current zipped pockets don't fit a pair of specialized shoes (eg. running, fencing, biking, paddock boots) and the meshed enclosures don't adequately protect your "clean" clothes in the main section from the soil of the last segment.2. The bag has to be more expandable by zippered sections. Not every event is a "full" competition event.You have this feature in the wet suit section only and as such if the bag is less then full because you are only doing a partial event or a training day, you have a big clunky 1/2 packed bag. Adding 1 move expanding section to the vertical and one to the width with help allot. I know that this is difficult engineering.3. You need to add an insulated, water resistant pocket. Right now I have to clip my "lunch box" to the outside or put it inside co-mingled with my extra clothing. The main use case for this bag involves food and drink as well as ice packs.4. Take a cue from MOLLE gear and add more anchor/compression straps top and sides. I use bungees now to add rolled yoga mat and trigger point roller for active recovery between events and a fully loaded back carries better compressed.

I have searched everywhere for a review on this back pack with no luck. So I decided to purchase one based on the specifications listed and the comparison I made to the other leading backpack reviews I've read. Overall it seems like a nice pack. It has lots of dedicated compartments for your gear as well as exterior straps to tighten everything up. However, the biggest complaint I have is with the "shoe compartments." there are two mesh bags on the either side of the interior side walls as well as two spots on the interior of the front of the pack. I wear a size 10.5 cycling shoe and an 11 running shoe. While I was reasonable able to fit either shoe in the mesh pockets, it was very difficult to get either one in the other set of pockets. The opening was too narrow and they are not long enough leaving the shoes sticking out. When I was able to get them in, it became difficult to zip the whole pack up due to interference between the two sets of shoes at the main zipper. The shoes seemed to sit on top of each other. If you have really small feet of very thin running flats then this might work for you. Otherwise you are limited to dedicating the mesh bags for one pair of shoes and finding another spot for the other pair (the wet suit location seems the best alternative). Although I would not consider this a deal breaker, it is disappointing. I purchased this pack almost solely for the shoes spots. I have yet to use this pack in a race environment but the arm straps seem comfortable and the majority of the compartments seem functional. I do really like the tri-zipper system. This allows you to open it like a top loader or as a duffle bag or side access. This pack is 50L and it resembles a hiking backpack. I'm not sure I would recommend it as a daily gear bag unless you were leaving it in your vehicle or training multiple sports in the same day. The "dirt bag" seems like it would work well for a wet kit. Overall the material seems durable. I am not sure how I feel about the mesh covered back pads or how well they'll do on concrete. We'll see how it holds up. Still undecided if I'll return it or not. Hope this helps.