Can anyone recommend a decent sack that will: take a professional size SLR + extra clobber; be wearable on the bike; and carry some food, clothes etc. I'm looking at a couple of lowepro ones but can anyone suggest other manufacturers?

any suggestions appreciated

Go on to Outdoorsmagic and look at reviews of lightweight rucksacks, Macpac, Osprey, Lowe Alpine (not Lowepro), kimmlite, Golite etc.
I get to say this for the second time tonight, sacks from bike brands tend to be crap.

eep, you wanna go riding with an slr on your back?!

Thanks for the advice. And yes i do want to ride with an SLR - I intended to get a teeny weeny digital that i could ride with easily but it kind of got blown out of proportion!

I have a Lowepro SLR pack for mine then stick that bag in a day pack (Deuter Cross Bike). That way, when my sh1t riding sees me sliding upside down through the trees, the camera's well padded and safe.

Obviously it takes about 10 minutes to extricate it from several bags full of buns and rain coats.

I use a LowePro D-Res 30AW for my Fuji FinePix S20Pro (the camera I replaced all my Nikon SLR stuff with).

The Fuji lives in the LowePro all the time.


When on my bike it will nicely fit in my Karrimor Pod Bag on my handlebars.

Dakine sequence - the best

Personally, I wouldn't go for a backpack for a camera, apart from being uncomfortable it takes far too long to get it out to take good pics.

The best solution (I say the best because every serious long distance biking photographer I know uses it) is to invest in an Ortlieb barbag. If you don't like barbags, there is a special mount that can allow you to fix it to your seatpost. Its very rigid, so its a surprisingly stable set up, and much more convenient. The ortliebs are very well padded and 100% waterproof, I know people who have taken SLR's on long term Himalayan biking expeditions in Ortliebs in all sorts of conditions, with no problems.