Backpacks
Product 2020
Woman, Man
This small Osprey Syncro 5 backpack is a versatile product that can be used both for mountain bike and hiking trips. It is a pack fitted with a semi-rigid frame capable of distributing a heavy load and quite unusual for this volume. The combination of the semi-rigid structure and the stretched mesh back ensures good back support distribution. Even if you carry tools, a pump and other rigid objects, they don’t cause any pressure points (as is the case with certain packs). So the part between the person’s back and the pack’s contents is particularly effective. It also has great breathability due to excellent ventilation.
There are downsides to this carrying efficiency. The first is its relative stifness when leaning forwards while mountain biking, especially when the waist belt is done up tight. The second concerns a slight squeak on the bottom of the bag due to the fabric sliding around the frame. These two remarks are less noticeable when hiking where your back is generally more upright curved, and you bend forward less.
If the price seems relatively high (without the water bag), as always with Osprey, great care has been taken in the choice of materials and details. It is a beautiful, efficient object that has a good balance between practicality, solidity and volume weight. The Osprey Syncro 5 weighs 585g, size S.
There are many secure storage spaces, in the sense that most of them are inside, with zipped accesses. Pump, tools, food, inner tubes, air cartridges, water, etc. are held in mesh compartments. Too bad that in the central compartment, the mesh pocket gets stuck a little bit too often in the zip. So don’t lower the double zip too much sideways, keep it just above the mesh pocket.
The zip sliders have strong tags that are very handy to grip, even with MTB gloves on. Be careful however going through undergrowth that a branch doesn’t sneak in (you have to be pretty unlucky for that to happen). Brightly colored, these tips are immediately identifiable.
Thank you for the dedicated smartphone pocket at the top of the bag, which is easily accessible. You can find your keys on a handy red key fob.
Osprey kits out several packs intended for bike use with what is called: “Lidlock”. This large semi rigid tip attached to an elastic band (length adjustment and blocking is inside the pack) goes inside the helmet and lets you carry it on the Osprey Syncro 5. It is very practical when you have a helmet, which lets you slip the the Lidlock through it, but this is less and less the case now with the development of MIPs technology helmets.
The waist strap is narrow and not necessarily comfortable on an MTB when you’re only wearing a T-shirt. But difficult to have a light pack if you oversize certain elements.
All the strap closure tips are perfect models of the genre, both in terms of (futuristic) design and practicality. They snap in very easily and the little “click” they deliver bodes well in terms of perceived quality.
The straps don’t have a lot of padding but they are enough for the pack’s volume and have the great idea of remaining laterally flexible: they don’t cause friction when in motion, especially on a bike.
In hiking mode, hip support can be uncomfortable after a while. Depending on your morphology, you can feel the reinforcements on both sides. You need to adjust the height of the pack with great care. With this in mind for short people the straps are very long. Should we cut them?
The Osprey developers put two small holes to drain water, in the night reflective strips. But we think it misses a safety whistle, which is an easy accessory to integrate on the chest strap. The magnetic clips are a very precise attachment because the magnet guides the two ends together and two small tips provide the traction support: we loved them.
The water bladder is not supplied with the pack, even if Osprey has provided a storage space with a small hanging strap. You can get a bladder from the same brand (Hydraulics) or opt for a different product.
The Osprey Syncro 5 pack for mountain biking and hiking provides excellent breathability thanks to its mesh back. The weight displacement is very well-distributed. The semi-rigid structure makes a little squeaky noise and limits significant bending. For the rest, the benefits of this versatile pack are high-class.
We used this equipment over a long period of time
These are our thoughts after intensive use:
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