The minimalist and spacious Alban cycling roll top backpack is perfect for the autumn/winter season

A mixture of everything you ever want from a stylish cycling backpack

alban cycling backpack
(Image credit: Alban)

• Buy the Roll Top Backpack in Olive Green directly from Alban

Roll top cycling backpacks are dime a dozen nowadays. Just go up on Amazon and you'll find thousands of pages filled with roll top bags in varying quality, good luck with trying to find one that does worth more than two seconds of your time.

Alban offers a different experience for their customers. They are a London based independent, artisan brand creating high quality, versatile, robust, weatherproof bags, designed for people who are equally as keen of a cyclist as they are keen on being stylish – under all circumstances.

Their roll top cycling backpacks combine high functionality with minimalist aesthetics. And, not surprisingly, this combination works, no wonder the Alban Roll top backpack sits on the top of T3's best cycling backpack list.

  • Best bicycle: because you'll need a bicycle to go with your cycling backpack
  • Best road bike: many of which are good for getting around the city too

Minimalist aesthetics married with high functionality

(Image credit: Alban)

Why do we recommend the Alban Roll Top cycling backpack

The Olive Green roll top cycling backpack – in fact, all roll top Alban backpacks – have been constructed from a technical marine-grade 1100D nylon. This is a durable, waterproof fabric, with high tensile strength as well as being highly abrasive resistant, strong and lightweight.

Even the leather strap at the top is made out of high-quality, single-piece Italian bridle leather. The metal elements are also top-notch, including the nickel plated solid brass and stainless steel hardware.

One of the biggest advantage of the Alban Roll Top bag – apart from its quality, of course – is how deceptively spacious it is. The internal padded laptop compartment can house a 17" MacBook easily but you can throw a lot of other items in the 18-litre bag too.

There is a hidden rear zip pocket for keys, phone, wallet. Or even for loose change, when you can't be bothered to undo the leather strap to find your wallet in the main compartment.

Comfortable, stylish, weatherproof, spacious and high-quality – what else can possibly ask from a cycling backpack?

Matt Kollat
Section Editor | Active

Matt Kollat is a journalist and content creator who works for T3.com and its magazine counterpart as an Active Editor. His areas of expertise include wearables, drones, fitness equipment, nutrition and outdoor gear. He joined T3 in 2019. His byline appears in several publications, including Techradar and Fit&Well, and more. Matt also collaborated with other content creators (e.g. Garage Gym Reviews) and judged many awards, such as the European Specialist Sports Nutrition Alliance's ESSNawards. When he isn't working out, running or cycling, you'll find him roaming the countryside and trying out new podcasting and content creation equipment.