Things I Like
As everyone notes, Arkel bags are made of tough materials and are very, very well sewn. I don't expect this thing will ever have a loose seam or tear. After three months of daily, pretty hard use, the bag looks new. I also like the waterproof zippers (though they are a bit tougher to close) and assorted pockets. The handle at the top is sturdy and actually works - some panniers have a strap that is more like a tourniquet than a handle. And I love being able to carry the bag around with the shoulder strap instead of walking around with a pannier in my hand, heeling to one side like a baggage porter.
Nonetheless, there are some things that I don't like that I haven't seen mentioned in other reviews. They are not "deal killers," but they are things I wish I knew before I decided to buy this bag.
Attaching & Removing
This is heresy, but I find the Arkel attachment system a real pain.
I have been using an Arkel Commuter bag for about three months. Before that I used (and still use for overflow) a low-end set of REI panniers.
On my main commuter I have a Blackburn EX-1 Expedition Rack - a common, standard rack. As Arkel's website says "the Blackburn Expedition has been on the market for a long time, and has been copied time and again. Probably one of the best designs ever, with incredible lateral rigidity paired with low cost. . . it is still the rack we use most here at Arkel."
Though the EX-1 may be the rack most used at Arkel, it is not the rack shown in the next two pictures from the Arkel website. The photos are of something more like the Blackburn Mountain Rack. That's important because the "v" at the bottom of the EX-1 rack - where the stabilizing hook goes - is narrower than on the Mountain Rack. This causes some of the attachment problems described below.
Attaching the bag is not merely a matter of dropping the two top hooks over the top of the bar on the rack, letting go of the bag, and rotating the latch. The bar on the rack needs to placed between the bottom edge of the hooks and the top of the latch. This "opening" is about a half inch tall. Since the rack's bar is about 3/8ths of an inch in diameter, attaching the bag is not something I can do without paying some attention. Moreover, the Arkel's stabilizing hook (the one at the end of the elastic cords) must be put in place first, so one is also fighting the elastic cords a bit while getting the hooks and latch aligned with the rack's bar.
Getting the stabilizing hook placed correctly in the rack's "v" when attaching the bag requires some thought. (This is even more complicated on my bike, because the hook can only go on one side of the rack -- a fender strut is on the other side and if I get the hook on the wrong side, I need to bend the strut to get the hook detached. I suspect many others have a similar setup.)
Worse, though, is that the stabilizing hook gets stuck in the "v" at the bottom of my rack. I often need to grab the hook and wiggle and twist it to get if out of the "v." This wrassling has already resulted in chipped paint.
The (very solid) aluminum hooks and attachment latch at the top slide a bit on the rack. This wouldn't be bad except that the hooks are not quite long enough to bump solidly against the rack's forward crossbar, so the front hook gets a bit wedged against the crossbar. This makes it difficult to get the bag unhooked.
I don't think it's a problem for all Arkel bags, but the top of the Commuter bag extends a couple inches above the rack. When the bag is loaded, the backplate at the top bends a little. This deformation changes the angle of the top hooks and latch (they are attached to the backplate) to the rack just enough to solidly wedge the hooks and latch onto the rack. When this happens, it is very, very hard to get the latch undone and the bag off the rack.
The REI bag is much easier to remove (and attach.) It has simple plastic hooks at the top. They can be tightened with a screwdriver. The other attachment point is a horizontal plastic hook about three quarters of the way down the bag. (There is also a velcro loop at the top, but the only time I have used it is on single track.) A sharp tug at the top releases the bag from the rack.
Shoulder Strap
The shoulder strap and the computer pocket are two things I really like about this bag, but those things have some aspects that I wish I had known before I bought it.
The shoulder strap attaches with clips that must go through small holes in the attachment point on the bag side. The attachment point on the bag side is unusual. It's not really a loop. The "loop" is largely filled with a flat plastic. Clipping the strap on requires more attention than it should to get the clip through the little hole, particularly in dim light.
loop.jpg hook.jpg
The clip part of the attachment is also a bit unusual. The end of the hook part of the clip (usually a smooth curved shape) has a smaller little "mini-hook" molded into it. Frequently when detaching (and sometimes when attaching) the strap, this little hook gets caught on the edge of the hole in the loop. It takes some wiggling and tugging to get the thing unhooked.
My daughter has a clip of similar design on the stabilization strap of her Timbuk2 bag. But the "diameter" of the mini-hook is too small to snare on the bag's loop. The loop on the Timbuk2 bag is also open and metal, so the clip pops on and off smoothly and easily.
Putting standard hooks on the end of the strap and standard loops on the bag would make the whole thing easier and intuitive. It's a bit of a puzzle that Arkel chose the design it did.
Also, the strap needs to be detached before the bag can be completely zipped up. and there's no good place to store the strap on the outside of the bag. (The side and top pockets are too short to get the strap in conveniently, though the top is slightly larger than those on the sides.) I haven't found a good spot to stow the strap in the bag either. I end up packing the strap on one side or another on the inside of the bag, and the strap inevitably migrates to the very bottom of the bag. To retrieve it I must unpack the bag.
I've taken to leaving one side of the strap attached and the bag slightly open. This lets me stow the strap on the inside while avoiding the need searching for the strap or unpack the bag to get to the strap when I want to use it. Packing the strap this way also means I only have to deal with the "clipping" issue on one side.
Computer Pocket, & Capacity Number
The computer pocket is convenient, soft, suspended, and made of a springy sort of material. (I have some doubts about the need for protection, since I carried my laptop for years in the REI bag without any padding and without any problems.) It is indeed suspended from the top, but you should be aware that the back of the pocket rests against the backplate of the pannier. If your laptop is big enough, the rivets that hold the attachment plate may bump against the pocket.
I like being able to pop the computer into it's own protected spot in the bag. It's also easy to get out because the bag opens wide in the front and top.
But if you are thinking about this bag, you should recognize that the computer pocket is permanently a part of the bag. If you are not carrying a computer, the pocket is always in the way. I think it would be worth considering another pannier and using a separate padded pocket for the computer - a padded pocket like Timbuk2 sells, for example.
Also, to "suspend" the computer pocket, Arkel has designed the pocket to stop several inches short of the bottom of the bag. This is a good thing if you think suspension is important, but be aware that if you are comparing bags, it throws off the bag's capacity measurement. The space below the pocket isn't usable. If you want suspension, that space must remain empty.
On the top side, because the pocket is sewn in, you cannot adjust the pocket to eliminate the space above the computer. You can, of course, of course store something small on top of the computer, but unless you have something that is just the right size, there is likely to be a vacant spot on top, too.
There's some pockets sewn on the computer pocket. The biggest is not big enough for my power adapter, and the smallest - pencil width - are too short to securely hold full-size pencils.
The Flapping Flap
Finally, though it does not affect the bag's function, the back flap that covers the top attachment hooks (and makes carrying the bag with the shoulder strap possible) doesn't have a place to go when the bag is on the bike. It just sort of sits there, weirdly, on the top of the rack. Why couldn't Arkel have made the flap fold over the handle and cover the top pocket?
Side Pockets
These are pretty small. I put a hex wrench in one and a fiberfix spoke in the other. I can't figure out how else to use them. If one pocket were just a bit bigger, it would hold a U-lock perfectly. As it is, the compression strap is the perfect width for a U-lock -- all that's missing is a second strap a bit higher on the bag and a guy could store a U-lock on the outside of the bag beautifully.
All In All
I like the Commuter bag, but if I had not yet purchased the bag, I think would wait for the next iteration. With the problems and Arkel's dedication to quality, I wouldn't be surprised to see a redesign one of these days. If I had to do it again, I'd wait until then.