Bellroy Transit Plus Review
Bellroy has taken one of its hit backpacks and turned it into a travel pack - let’s see how it holds up in this crowded space.
Bellroy Transit Plus Review Introduction
Bellroy is a brand that has been around for a while now but actually got their start in wallets. Really slim wallets. Really travel friendly wallets. Really NICE wallets, I might add. I’ve actually been a Bellroy wallet user for around 12 years. So I guess as they grew it made sense for them to expand into the world of bags and backpacks, keeping up with that EDC/on-the-go vibe. While this began with those smaller, every day backpacks, they’ve since also added a few travel packs and bags to their line ups. They are known for their “professional” aesthetics (vs. outdoors looks), higher end build quality, and commitment to sustainable production and products.
That brings us to our article today where we look at the Transit Plus backpack - the biggest member of their Transit line. This line is one of their original backpack lines for every day carry and the big fella keeps those design aesthetics and consistencies. I took the bag on both a weekend car trip away, as well as an 8 day trip to Italy.
This is my review of the Bellroy Transit Plus backpack. For full transparency, I was sent this bag for review after reaching out to Bellroy directly, but I have not been paid or sponsored in any way for this article. The views and opinions are my own.
This page does use affiliate links. If you click to make a purchase, I do make a small commission which helps to keep this site running. There is no cost to you, and you're under no obligation to use my links. With that out of the way, let's dig in!
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Bellroy Transit Plus Backpack Overview
The Transit Plus is the biggest pack in the line at 38L and is designed as a true travel pack. It’s made with the “professional” or “business” user in mind with an understated look and feel and more neutral colors. That said, it’s still got a more design leaning nature vs. some of the ultra minimalist bags in today’s indie space. So people will still notice it - but in a good way. It’s that kind of design without the “loudness”.
Made from highly water resistant materials that are also recycled. All the leather on it is environmentally certified (won’t satisfy you Vegans out there, but at the very least it’s got the highest level of cert that it can in the space for a better manufacturing process).
All the clips and strap management pieces are metal - no skimping here. Aluminum (I believe) on the strap adjusters.
The weight comes in just over 3 pounds which I think is reasonable for a bag of this size and build. It’s not the lightest ever, but it’s not really heavy either.
The bag retails for $289 USD which is on the high side, but you pay for quality in these cases. It comes in 4 low key colors (including a Ranger Green that really caught my eye) and we’re looking at the Lunar color today (also pretty smart looking).
Bellroy Transit Plus Backpack Features
The Bellroy Transit Plus comes with pretty much all the features it should being a travel backpack. And frankly, at this price point it would be a major miss to fall short on the basics.
On the outside, there are a few different pockets and what not. A front organizational pocket that has its own volume which is important to me. This means you can stick a tech pouch or headphones in here quite comfortably. Within this pocket there are also little slip pockets to place items as any organizational pocket would have.
Other pockets include a top slash/quick grab pocket with a soft liner, a nicely padded laptop compartment with additional pocket for computer stuff (this does take internal volume if you use it), and two hidden water bottle pockets (also take internal volume if you use them).
On the inside of the front flap when you get into the main packing area there are some mesh, zippered compartments. You can use these like packing cubes if you want. But again, whatever you put in here will affect the physics of what you can put in the front. Main compartment itself is an open space ready for you to Tetris-ize it, with a small zippered pouch on the side for extra storage and segmentation.
Inside the main compartment, there are two traditional compression straps to hold your loose clothing or your packing cubes in place. These are secured with metal fidlocks which are awesome, and continue to speak to the overall quality of the bag.
Rounding it out with the harness system you can see below. The straps are nice and curved, have soft foam and a soft mesh backing without being too beefy, and to me were quite comfortable to use.
The Good
As we should expect from Bellroy, the design and build quality are top notch on this bag. You can see tight seams and reinforced stitching all over the bag. The bag comes off with a pretty classic and quiet design, that again, is very professional in its presentation.
I did like the organization on this bag as well. I like clamshell style in my travel packs, which this has. But it’s a nice big open compartment and the straps inside are a nice touch. The internal mesh pockets are also nice and allow you to segment without using packing cubes if that’s not your thing.
Speaking of the front pocket, it’s always a win for me when bag makers put these in with their own volume. I don’t use organizational panels because I like to take my stuff with me to my seat or whatever. So I use a tech kit or pouch. (In fact, I use both sizes of the Bellroy Tech Kit, depending on my need for that trip).
The harness in general was nice to use and wasn’t over the top. The bag also had handles and straps on the side and top (more on that later), which I think is a must. These were well designed and not intrusive at all.
The metal trimmings, magnets, and YKK usage all add to the premium feel on the bag and were good choices for quality.
Lastly, I love the bright color of the inside of the bag. I really dig when companies do this - either for aesthetic purposes or to help you see things better against the bright background. Gold star for this one as it also adds character. Like the contrast under-collar of a nice suit.
The Bad
I didn’t find a lot of gripes with this bag but there were a few in my usage. I found the zippers on the bag to be quite tight. Now, like with a lot of bags, this can sometimes be a consequence of the water sealing. So, we need to decide if water sealing or buttery smooth zippers are more important to you. These are also known to loosen up over time and continued usage. But just one thing I noted.
Also, while I know I also praised the front pocket, I think it also misses the mark in some ways. As an organizational pocket, it was a weird design choice to me. The sideways orientation of it meant that a lot of the things you put into a slip pocket, will fall out. I also didn’t find it as intuitive to be taking things out of that pocket and having to rotate the bag onto its side vs. just putting the bag down and coming at it from a top down method. Ultimately, it’s really not any level of issue that would stop me using it, or recommending it. I think they could be a bit more traditional here though in an easy enough design change.
The Improvement Requests for the Bellroy Transit Plus Backpack
Every bag known to man has something to work on. If that wasn’t the case, there would be no one searching for the “perfect bag”. For the Transit Plus, I’d suggest one minor improvement and one major.
The minor suggestion, would be to add one more handle on the side. There is one located only on one side - which honestly does look cool from a design perspective. But if your bag is facing that way into the cargo hold or trunk or back of the car, whatever, then it will make it a little harder to grab it and pull it out.
The second one would be to verticalize the front pocket and make it a more traditional up and down layout. Again, the lines look cool from a design standpoint, but I don’t think it keeps the same functionality. I’m sure the purpose is for when you slide the bag off your shoulder and around to your front, it’s oriented so that pocket is looking up at you. I tend to find in practice, this happens very little (to me). So, I’d axe that and make this a little more traditional.
Packing the Bellroy Transit Plus Backpack
Fits nicely in the back of an Audi A2
As usual, this is my pretty standard list for a 3-4 night trip. But, what should be more than enough for most people. Experienced or not. This does not take into account seasonal or climate items. I'm assuming you will be wearing your climate appropriate jacket in this example.
I packed: 2 travel button downs (Limitless Merino Review and Bluffworks Meridian 2.0); wearing 1 pair of Aviator Travel Jeans (Review); 1 pair of trainers; 3 daily t-shirts (Air Dry Merino T Review); 1 sleep t-shirt (to not dirty the dailies, Session T review); 4 underwear (Merino and Airisms); 3 Airism undershirts; 2 pair merino socks; Bellroy Tech Pouch Compact; Gravel Explorer Slim toiletry kit (Review); Laptop; In this scenario I'd considered the pants, shirt, and socks that I was wearing as part of my kit. So a pretty straight forward pack-job in this case. Nothing too frivolous, nothing too bare bones either. The shirts, pants, underwear, and socks I brought all were travel focused to allow for more wears and less items if I needed. As you can see, there was no issue with this packing list.
I'm 5'6 for reference. I had camera gear in it for my actual trip to Italy as well as clothes. It was not my primary bag as we had a checked bag (we were there for a wedding so we had some specialized outfits and just decided to take one checked for most of our clothes combined). Even with camera equipment, it was quite comfortable and usable.
Final Thoughts On My Bellroy Transit Plus Backpack Review
There goes our first write up of a Bellroy bag. This particular one was high on my target list for bags I wanted to review this year (much like the Tortuga Outbreaker 35 I reviewed earlier). Always nice to cross something of the list!
In short, for people that are looking for a more cleanly designed, professional look that’s not TOO fancy but nothing like the outdoorsy looking travel packs - there’s no better answer than Bellroy. I recommend them all the time in general, and can certainly recommend this backpack to anyone looking for that kind of aesthetic, or really anyone just looking for nice bag in general. This bag is going to last you a long time due to build quality. And hey, for those ultra minimalists, it still does have a black version, so you’re good to go there.
In particular, I loved the look and the build quality of this one. But I also really liked the organization ability and the touches like metal accents and the use of magnets instead of push clips. The internal pockets were great, and the internal color added some flair.
I’ve been buying and recommending Bellroy for years - and the Transit Plus backpack is going to be no different. Make sure to put this on your list if you’re in the market for a new travel backpack. Or, just check their site out for any of their other products like their pouches, tech kits, or of course - wallets. (If it adds additional weight, my wife has been using one of their Compact commuter bags for the past year in NYC and loves it. They make good stuff.)
Thanks for reading everyone. Remember to wander more, and wander smarter.
Head on over to our Travel Bag Reviews page for more reviews on bags like the Bellroy Weekender Plus review, or the Tortuga Outbreaker 35 Review. Or, check out our Travel Accessories reviews, Travel Clothing reviews, or Best of Travel pages as well!
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