Abneycat

I have personally owned a Timbuk2 medium messenger, a Chrome mini metro, and a PAC street small.

I would rank them as follows:

1. PAC street small ($190 CAD locally at BikeBike) - 95 / 100

Exceptionally good "feeling" bag when its on your back. Wraps around the body just right. Extremely simple, durable construction. Padded strap, main strap has a split buckle, nice big reflective strips, enough small pockets to have good organization. Primary benefit is the fit though, its not enough for a bag to be well made, it also has to feel good. The PAC delivers that in spades, to me.

There is only one thing I might consider adding to this bag, a small retention clip for the cross strap to keep it from dangling loose (the main strap has one). You can tuck it inside the ring it is attached to or velcro it to the bag in some cases (it has a velcro tip), but I find that it sometimes ends up loose. Very, very minor thing, and this bag is just about perfect.

I've owned my PAC for about 2 months now, and am quite happy with it.

2. Chrome mini metro ($150 CAD approx. including shipping, online at chromebagsstore.com) 85 / 100

Very good design, I like the shoulder strap and the construction is solid as well. The Chrome was a really well made bag, it just didn't seem to fit my body quite as well as the PAC bag did, but I personally believe it was an equal in features and quality. I returned the Chrome bag after trying out the PAC bag, but it was a good bag otherwise. The mini metro is very small, and in real world use it wouldn't be any good for carrying groceries and things like that. It is entirely possible that the fit issue could just be body type, but the Chrome fit well, the PAC fit great.

3. Timbuk2 medium messenger bag ($90 CAD at a local shop in 2008) 65 / 100%

This was a good first bag. For the price it has good solid construction and is extremely water resistant. It has the same basic shape and features as higher end bags like the Chrome and PAC, including a cross strap and several internal pockets for organization.

The Timbuk2 had a couple of downfalls that the other bags improved upon: the Timbuk2 has no padding on the shoulder strap (this is an extra add on, separately, for more $, that can slide around and is not attached to the main strap), and the main strap also does not open like on the Chrome and PAC, making it a more awkward bag to take on and off in some situations. Lastly, I did not like the plastic cam that was used for adjusting the strap length, it would occasionally open, and it also left a large loop of material lying off the side of the bag, whereas the Chrome and PAC were much more streamlined without extra straps dangling about. I feel that the Timbuk2 would be a good bag for someone with very casual requirements, but it does fall short of the other offerings.