Lightning Review: Timbuk2 Messenger with Specialty Fabrics [Review]

The Product: Timbuk 2 is famous for their trendy, customizable messenger bags with rock solid construction. You can pick different colors for each of the three panels of your bag to create a personalized product. Now Timbuk2 has added specialty (premium) fabrics to their designs.

The Price: A custom medium sized laptop messenger runs $140, plus $23 per specialty fabric panel.
The Verdict:
As you can see, my test subject (aka wife) stuffed the bag to the brim with lady-themed folders, various tiny containers and her Macbook. The Timbuk2s expand a ton and their shape holds up pretty well considering the load.
And while the new premium fabrics look and feel nice enough, it's Timbuk2's staple internal corduroy laptop liner that sells the bag. It simply feels safe to when your laptop slips in, and a Velcro strap wraps over the top to make sure that your computer can't come loose.
The only real downside to the new fabrics are their price—$23 is a pretty steep upsell if multiplied out to three panels—and a fairly limited pattern selection with only eight choices. Sure, you can still mix and match your standard colors for no additional fee, but we really like the idea of these specialty patterns and wish there were more styles.
Either way, the new fabrics are only adding more options to the Timbuk2 line. It seems like a good thing just got a little bit better. [Timbuk2]


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