The metropolis will carry a case (24) of beer, a few books books and some clothes all at once and still properly close so that it will be rain-proof, but that's getting close to it's limit. I regularly use it to carry the bike gear like a lock, multi-tool, co2 inflater plus a full change of clothes, a towel, shoes and a 6 pack or a couple bottles of wine. I've never felt like it was getting too close to full for that, but if I switched the 6 pack to a 12 pack, it would get tight.