Overview
The Powerslide UBC Commuter Backpack will surely make you stand out from the crowd, be it for its sleek black and grey matte finish, it's highly durable nylon construction, or the patented UBC clips that allow for quick attachment of approved UBC accessory bags. The backpack has two primary compartments - the first has a clipped divider for separating your belongings and the second has a zippered and padded pocket for valuables. Hidden beneath the rollover top there exists another zippered pocket that is ideal for glasses, money, keys, and other items you may want to keep hidden.
- Size: 20" Tall x 13" Wide x 6" Deep
- UBC Compatibility:
- Side: Wheel Covers
- Front: Solar Source, Wheel Bag, Go Bag, Phone Pouch, Pod
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Customer Reviews
Almost PerfectWhat I love:
- Side mount straps guarantee compatibility with pretty much any skates. My chunky FR1s didn't really fit in the RB backpack, especially with the brake, but that's not an issue here.
- Compact design. Not too thick, just enough to carry my pads and a couple essentials.
- Plenty of pockets. The main compartment has a padded laptop pouch with a velcro strap to keep anything from sliding out. The secondary compartment has an open top with a zippered pouch. The remaining space is divided by a thin, breathable fabric so you could throw in a pair of shoes or dirty clothes and not have direct contact with other items. There is a final, smaller pocket that is somewhat hidden on the top/ back where you could keep a phone, earbuds, or other small items. I hide my airtag here.
- Plenty of straps. There is a strap for both around the chest and waist to reduce movement from the bag and provide additional support.
- Neutral 2-tone black and gray design. Sleek and professional. I could easily see wearing this to the office if I lived in an urban area where I could skate to work.
What could be improved on:
- The skate straps are only a single strap per side. This means every time you take off or put on your skates you're going to have to readjust the straps to get a tight fit. Two separate straps would have been better.
- No water bottle pouch. An external one on the front would be ideal but failing that a section inside the bag would work too. Anything to keep it sliding around inside.
- Branding: Nitpicky but I hate the giant powerslide branding on the front. Every zipper says it too. There's also a giant logo on the back but at least that isn't really visible. The UBC logo doesn't bother me as it's somewhat abstract.
Not perfect but best of the bunchI've tried a number of other backpacks before this, and this is the only bag that gets it right.
FR / Seba Slim Bag: Great concept and just the right size, but poor construction / features. I loved the size and look (and it came with a free rain cover and tuck in pocket), but the entire zipper broke off with light use which made the bag nearly unusable (turns out the entire zipper was plastic). The bag also got super hot on your back - no mesh padding / venting.
Rollerblade Commuter Bag: Loved that you put your entire skate inside the bag and it still looks pretty streamlined. However, it's basically a giant pouch with pretty poor construction. The interior of the bag ripped with moderate usage, showing cheap foam inserts. The shoe pouch is also a non-feature. You can't actually fit normal sized shoes in there, even when the bag is empty. It also gets heavy when used, because it doesn't tuck the skates close to your center of gravity.
The Powerslide Commuter Bag fixes all of those issues. Really nice heavy duty buckles. High quality metal zippers. Vented back and nice straps. The skate attachment mechanism is a bit confusing at first, but you quickly figure it out - it's great, because it keeps your wheels close to your body.
The only thing I'd note is that the "UBC" system is a bit of a gimmick. I don't use half of the buckles. Do not buy the skate covers that attach to the buckles - they don't actually save you time because you still need to strap your skates normally, otherwise your skates flap around whenever you walk. Get some cheap covers instead.
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From: Jakob
Minneapolis, MN