Kevin Girkins, one of our fantastic employees and an accomplished cyclist was kind enough to write a review of the Chrome bag he has been using for the past year. Now, I’m not saying that you’ll be as fast as Kevin, if you buy one of these. But I’m not saying you won’t be either. Chrome has recently discontinued this unique bag, and we just have a few in stock at a marked down price. If you’re interested, this may be your last opportunity.
Click here to view or purchase the bag on our online store, or keep reading for his review.
To start, the reason I purchased this bag is for a weekly criterium series we have here in Austin called “The Driveway”, and the wheels I race on are tubulars. The race is here in town and easy enough for me to ride to, so why take the car to a bicycle race that only lasts an hour and is 10 miles down the road? With this and my equipment in mind, it was time to make a purchase. But who makes a bag I can actually strap wheels to? Knowing Chrome’s purpose built bags and lifetime warranty I decided to give them a shot when I saw the Sherman, a bag specifically built for carrying a wheelset and other items. Plus, it just looks good and not too goofy for what it’s meant to do. No big logos and neutral coloring considering you’re going to be carrying some potentially dirty equipment.
The bag is built heavy, and I mean that in a good way. Cassettes, bladed spokes, skewers are a few of the concerns. Luckily, Chrome thought of comfort as well and put a very thick tear resistant patch inside the bag on the center of the back panel so your wheel axle doesn’t dig into your back. It works!
When opening it up for the first time I was surprised to see how much storage there was, but after some use I was unhappy to see there were no outside pockets on the bag. Once your wheels are stowed away and properly secured in the upright position there is no way to reach the pockets of the bag without taking them back out and rearranging. Since my initial impression I have been able to reach behind the wheels to inner pockets, but would still recommend one of Chromes small phone bags that fit directly onto the shoulder strap. Regardless, my wheels are held extremely well and Chrome even thought to make the bag a tri-fold so that the wheels don’t have to lay directly on top of each other and have a buffer layer so as to not scratch them or ding up spokes, which is a big deal depending on how nice your wheels are.
I typically carry a change of clothes, a snack or sandwich, cassette tools and allens, extra tube, sealant, a few varying extras and 2, 80mm deep carbon wheels in this bag with comfort and confidence that none of it will get damaged or fall out. When I do the wheel swap at the races everything is conveniently organized with the layout of this bag and easy to access. There is still additional space in the bag too, so don’t think you’re going to be leaving other necessities at home.
After a good season of hauling wheels back and forth, the Driveway bag has held up extremely well and still looks brand new except for a few grease marks on the inside of the bag. Overall I give it a 5 stars out of 5 rating to the Sherman because I’m happy about every dollar I spent on it and the gas I’ll be saving by riding my bike to the races.
Come get one!
