The Aqua Evo Adventure Handlebar Pack is a spacious handlebar bag with a waterproof design but its good performance is compromised by a sub-bar attachment system. This makes using the bag a rather frustrating experience and prevents the bag from being amongst the best handlebar bags for bikepacking.
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Oxford Aqua Evo Adventure Handlebar Pack - Technical details
The Oxford Aqua Evo Adventure Handlebar Pack is part of the brand's all-inclusive bikepacking bag range and offers nine litres of cargo carrying capacity and a max weight limit of four kilograms.
The bag is made of lightweight 400D Ripstop TPU material throughout and features welded seams and a reinforced panel that extends from the back to the bottom of the bag. The bag has an IPX6 waterproof rating to keep your kit dry and it mounts directly on the handlebars with two straps.
The two mounting straps are integrated into the bag and there is an additional, removable strap for securing the bag onto the bike’s headtube.
In terms of storing your things, you get the main compartment that has a dual-ended roll closure that allows adjusting of the capacity. There is a bungee cord at the front of the bag for stashing away a jacket or such, and a small zipped pocket for easy access storage for small items.
There is only one nine-litre size in black colour with orange highlights available. The bag’s claimed weight is 450g but weighed an additional 2g on my scales - which is negligible.
Oxford Aqua Evo Adventure Handlebar Pack - Performance
The Oxford Aqua Evo Adventure Handlebar Pack is a neat-looking and lightweight bikepacking bag that I was excited to try. Bikepacking bags are getting ever more expensive and with a £30 price tag, this bag could make an excellent budget-friendly option for bikepackers if it performed well.
The construction of the bag itself is good and the ripstop material feels durable but lightweight. It sits pretty much bang on your cables, which is an issue with most bar bags, and due to the lack of any foam blocks supplied, you might need to check that the rubbing is not excessive on longer trips as this will ruin the bar/stem and the front end of the headtube.
It was mainly the straps, however, which were a bit of a letdown with this bag. The stitching attaching the straps to the bag is quite light, making me question how long they will hold (I had no issues during the testing period). Not to mention that in case you ever needed to replace the straps you simply can’t, because they’re stitched on the bag.
These two nylon straps that loop through a buckle are essential to attach the bag on the handlebars - and resemble a style that many other bikepacking bags share. But the issue this bag has is that although the buckle held the strap well with the right load, when riding on anything bumpy the strap kept slipping off the buckle and in the process, the bag started to rub on the front tyre.
This issue was quite frustrating because when I put the bag on the bars and pull on it, the buckle held, but when the bag moved around during a ride the strap started slipping. On some of my test rides, I had to resort to riding with my hand over the strap buckle to keep the bag in place - and the only way I could fix the issue was to double-loop the strap, which means taking the bag off the bike is much more of a faff.
The strap situation on this bag is far from ideal but if that got improved, the bag itself would make a great bikepacking companion. It is very waterproof which I had the misfortune of witnessing on multiple downpours, and the nine-litre capacity is plenty for a multiday bikepacking trip. The dual-way roll closure is great for altering the width of the bag, too, and the wee zipped pocket at the top was great for stashing away train tickets.
When looking at the overall performance though, I think it’s worth a mention that with this bag design, you need to accept that it simply doesn’t match the stability of a more expensive holster and drybag combo despite the third strap preventing back-and-forth movement.
I ride a very small bike and frequently have issues with the handlebar/wheel/clearance with handlebar bags and this bag was no exception in being rather tall for the small space that my bike size offers. Luckily Oxford has placed the reinforced panel to the bottom and back of the bag so the rub didn’t actually get through to the actual bag - but unlike on some other bags you have no way of cinching down the bag to reduce its circumference.
Oxford Aqua Evo Adventure Handlebar Pack - Verdict
As good value as this bag could be, the slipping issue with the attachment straps bumps down the overall score - and because the straps are integrated you can’t simply change them. But the straps aside, the bag itself is of good quality and it performs especially well on the weatherproofing front.
Costing only £30, the Oxford Aqua Evo Adventure Handlebar Pack is very affordable when compared to similar products such as the Bontrager Adventure Handlebar Bag (£95), the Altura Vortex 2 Waterproof Front Roll (£60). The closest competitor, however, is the LifeLine Adventure Handlebar Bag (£25) which Matt said is cumbersome to fit on drop bar bikes but praised for its waterproofing and strong buckles.
Had the straps been better, I would’ve said that the Oxford Aqua Evo Adventure Handlebar Pack is a great product, but because they are not, the overall performance of the bag suffers. After all, you need to be able to attach it to the bike to use it. If you don’t mind the double-looping of the straps, though, I would not completely rule this bag out if you’re after a very budget-friendly and spacious handlebar bag.
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