Found the perfect commuting pack...
 

This thing is awesome. It has enough space to hold my lunch, which is usually huge and my work clothes. It has enough room left over for a sweater and there's an expandable outer panel to hold a pair of sneakers or a 7 liter pot.
Best part is, the suspension. It has these aluminium stays in a "X" configuration that keeps almost the entire pack off my back. The only thing that touches is this really open foam pad at the bottom of the pack and my shoulder straps. Everything else is open mesh and the wind really wraps around and into that area on my back to keep everything cool.

http://img262.imageshack.us/img262/2126/img0860ur7.jpg
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http://img469.imageshack.us/img469/1023/img0863sb6.jpg
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that is a large pot


and if you are going to plug something at least tell us where you can get it or what brand it is

Oh yeah... doh. It's a marmot zephyr. 1600 cubic inches, which is the medium size, they also have a small and large.

I personally love my Tom Bihn Brain Bag (travel bag). It can literally handle anything you throw at it.. its huge and it is never awkward on your back, despite its potential weight. I use it everyday on my commute and its filled iwth my shoes, clothes, lunch, toilitries, etc.

I have gotten so used to riding with a pack of some sort that when i ride on teh weekends i am almost uncomfortable but i guess thats what a camelbak is for! :-D

I've been searching for a good hot weather backpack. I'm not looking forward to sweating it out with my Chrome Metropolis all summer.

Your pack looks almost perfect. I have an older Marmot backpack that isn't large enough for a tall guy like me to get any support from the waist strap. Plus all of the dangly straps from that waist band drive me crazy. Commuting, I tend to pick up and put my bag down all over the place throughout the course of a day. I couldn't stand getting straps from my older pack stuck in stuff periodically. Any issues like this for you? I suspect Marmot probably addressed the problem with my older design.

I've actually been commuting for the past year and a half with a chrome metro too. Except mine's all white so both layers are liner, very plasticky and doesn't absorb sweat at all like the nylon version. My back used to be soaked, cept clean up was a breeze.

The waist strap is designed to sit a bit high so it doesn't get in the way when I'm riding, even when spinning away at like, 150rpm on my fixie going down hills. The strap is like, freaking a foot long and I cinch it until the last 2 inches or so but its got a slot to tuck the excess into.

http://img340.imageshack.us/img340/1580/img0865jk1.jpg

I'm just doing this for now, once I get the fit dialed in, I'm gonna cut off the excess, seal the ends with a lighter, and leave about 2-3" behind that I can still tuck in. The straps for the panel on the back are almost a foot long each too but I just fold that into the panel and you never see it again. It comes in green/black/and bright if you hit me you're blind orange.

Is it waterproof?

Absolutely not. I predict it'll hold water like a sponge. It's mainly for hot dry weather.
I have a chrome citizen mess bag that's 100% waterproof, all vinyl (unlike the normal ones) on both layers. It only rains maybe 5-10% of the time so for the rest of the days, I'll use this backpack.

Make sure you do a good job with that lighter... those straps can and do unravel.

Also we wouldn't want you to start posting strange things because the fumes got to you. :)

Edit: nevermind...

Hey, nice marmot!

http://www.alansmind.com/marmot.jpg

If you can think of another way to get ahead in life.. :p

Wow! An extra large "stash pocket" for your pot.:D

I didn't know that Marmot made pots. Is 1,600 cubic inches going to be big enough for boiling a lobster? Maybe I should go for the larger one. Looks like it may have a non stick coating, a rounded bottom that allows for good spoon contact, sufficient metal content to allow good heat conducting, and metal handles that can withdstand being placed in the oven. I think M recommended on "Good Eats". Slvoid, is there any way you can get a photo of it with out that dam packpack in the way.

check out the Velocipak
I just got mine and I like it a lot ---so far...only rode once with 40LBs of groceries.
not so sure it compresses as small...
Much lighter than my old Bomb-proof Kozmo Chrome bag though

Where the hell do you work that you need to carry a pot for? They work you hard & long enough for you to need a pot to cook meals in?

It's bulletproof... kind of like a turtle.

They come with different names. I meant the same series has 3 different sizes.

Oh yeah you're right it is.
Gah, that large one is unridable, unless you have an inverted ice scream scoop for a head.

Overall, it's about 18" deep, 10" wide, and maybe 7-8" thick for the main compartment. There's a padded compartment on the top for storing your phone, wallet, etc, and a thin pocket along the compression flap, that's where I keep my minipump.

http://img407.imageshack.us/img407/4401/img0877bm0.jpg
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For pack geeks: 1600 cubic inches :)

That bag looks nicer the more I look at it.

*Furrows brow in concentration*

I do not need more gear, I do not need more gear, I do not need more gear

EDIT: Oh, God, I'm gonna go raid the college fund! So much stuff to buy!

The Big Lebowski is the single funniest movie ever made.

LMAO - too funny about the pot! When I read that I thought you meant pop....but sure enough, there was the pot.

That is a great looking pack and Marmot makes some solid equipment (I think there is only one thing from them I have tried and did not like). Where did you get the pack in that color? I have been looking around and most only offer it in the green/grey.

Oh yeah, and I generally don't leave my pot out in the open like that where the cops can see it.