Birzman’s Packman series is designed for travel and offers a range of bags to attach to various parts of your bike. These can be mixed and matched to cater to your individual needs. The Satellite is one of a two-part frame carrying system. The smaller Satellite bag is a handy size, perfect for essentials, easy to fit, but isn’t completely waterproof.
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The Satellite bag is designed to sit at the bottom of the front triangle to allow you to use Birzman’s top tube bag above it. When bikepacking, I used the Satellite bag up against the head tube in order to make room for a water bottle and battery (when bikepacking on my e-bike). For this set-up, the shape of the Satellite bag fitted the bill perfectly.
The bag comes with four velcro straps of varying lengths and anchor points around the outer edge. This makes fitting this bag straightforward enough.
The bag is made from 420D/600D water repellent and abrasion-resistant fabric. Offering 2.5L of storage, I found this ample for items I wanted quick access to – mostly snacks and my phone.
Testing was carried out during my Badger Divide trip during the best and worst weather Scotland could throw at us. After four days on the road, the pros and cons really started to show.
Unlike the roll top used on other bags in the Birzman Packman range, the Satellite bag isn't completely waterproof. That said, it did a great job of keeping out the worst of the Scottish weather over multiple days, and dried out easily overnight. For items that need to stay dry, I would recommend some extra protection if the weather is looking dicey.
The durability of the fabric was impressive. Thanks to its fairly tough weave, it shrugged off some gritty conditions and after a good wash, I could see no signs of wear!
At £37, the Satellite bag represents good value for money. Other options with the same purpose (excluding full top tube bags) like the EVOC Multi Frame Pack offer less space but is a little more weatherproof. The Restrap Race Frame bag offers more room but is still not quite a full top tube bag and at £75, it still isn't waterproof.
The Birzman Satellite Frame Satellite pack offers great value. The overall quality and durability match the rest of the Packman series. It’s a simple pack but it's easy to fit and offers plenty of room to store essentials. Just be careful that anything water-sensitive is protected if you’re caught in a prolonged wet spell or riding in wet weather.