Hi,
I’ve been looking at transition bags and I’d be interested in your advice and opinions.
Most important for me is a big capacity. I’m often traveling to races with public transportation and riding my bike between places so can only travel with 1 bag pack and need a bag that not only fit my race gear but also all my stuff for a 2-3 day weekend my stuff for the weekend (change of clothes, etc.). Based on my search, I’m tempted to go with the DeSoto V7 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IepTJZgCZmA) that seems big and well engineered. If anyone has experience with this bag (durability, convenience, quality, etc.) I’d be interested in your feedback otherwise I’m happy to hear about other suggestions.
Thanks!
i can’t really offer you a full review yet, but i just bought the desoto transition pack v7. it’s f’ing huge… i bought it intending to use it as a daily gym bag/ race bag, but its way too big to use as an every day gym bag. i feel confident i could fit my race gear and a weeks worth of clothing in there. it actually may be too big for me to bother carrying to non wetsuit events.
I had always used an old, faded race goody bag as my transition bag, but I was given the TYR transition bag as a gift. It’s not too ridiculously large (a little larger than a normal backpack) but it can hold everything I need. I like that it has a detachable wetsuit bag and also a separate shoe compartment. I also can fold it up so it doesn’t hog a bunch of valuable real estate in transition.
Have it and love it http://triathlon.competitor.com/2014/04/triathlete-buyers-guide/2014-triathlete-buyers-guide-transition-bags_97417/4
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I got this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WsHDfSONBYM
Massive, well organised and great pockets and compartments
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I have a Zoot ultra tri bag which gets used for basically everything. When I race i normally just take it and a bike box and manage to fit everything in it for long weekend/week trips. Durability wise it seems ok so far I use it daily for carting swimming kit and shopping about and nothings broken yet. Downsides are the helmet storage won’t fit a large aero lid and it is heavy even with nothing in.
Iain
Transition bags need-
-Place for 2 pairs of shoes
-Separate wetsuit compartment
-Place to strap in your helmet
-Main compartment to toss in a bunch of other optional crap
-Water bottle capabilities
-Shoulder straps with a buckle
The more features than above are nice. But, the typical bloke (like me) would just fill the extra pockets and spaces with a bunch of stuff for imagined emergencies (seriously, you might need a pedal wrench just before a race, right?) and the bag becomes bloated and bulky.
I got the one on clearance at the LBS. No bells or whistles. Had it for years and I’ve never felt the need for something more.
Picked up the De Sota when I was taking advantage of their discount on Tri shorts. It was on sale at the end of my checkout if I wanted to add it to my cart…which I gladly did. Don’t have it yet, but already happy with the price point since it was on sale, and everything I’ve read on their quality and customer service!
Do you guys normally leave your transition bag in transition?
Cuz the last big tri I did (Chicago 2014), there was no way in heck I could fit my transition bag + lay out my running shoes without ramming peoples bikes off the racks. I just had a little running event goddie bag sack thing, and it was fine… flattened it on the mud, and used it to rest my running shoes on.
Do you guys normally leave your transition bag in transition?
No. I give the bag to raceday Sherpa. Or leave it in the car or hotel room for races no one wanted to get up that early with me. After the race I can bring back the T1/T2 gear in my pockets and hanging off the bike.
Edit: to answer the original question, I prefer the bag to be a backpack as small as possible so it isn’t a pain when flying, and so I can ride with it in the morning. I use the Ironman brand bag they sell at expos. It is quite small but everything fits perfectly. I only wish it had bottle holders. It doesn’t. 
There’s room in the main compartment for bottles though.
No. I give the bag to raceday Sherpa. Or leave it in the car or hotel room for races no one wanted to get up that early with me. After the race I can bring back the T1/T2 gear in my pockets and hanging off the bike.
K that makes more sense on why they are so freaking gigantic 
I have a Desoto Transition Bag V7 and my wife has a Nathan Mission Control Bag. Both are big and both are nice, but, between the two I would recommend the Nathan. Just my 2 cents. Ryan
One thing to take into consideration is if you’ll be wearing an aero helmet while riding your bike with a transition bag/backpack. Different types of helmets will hit the top of the backpack and make it hard to ride your bike.
I have a huge Zoot transition bag that basically holds everything but the bike for an IM. It’s a great bag and very well organized.
I leave the Zoot bag at the hotel and take my stuff to the race in a cheap kids Jansport backpack. The backpack fits in the Zoot bag and fold up small for transition.
Hi,
I’ve been looking at transition bags and I’d be interested in your advice and opinions.
Most important for me is a big capacity. I’m often traveling to races with public transportation and riding my bike between places so can only travel with 1 bag pack and need a bag that not only fit my race gear but also all my stuff for a 2-3 day weekend my stuff for the weekend (change of clothes, etc.). Based on my search, I’m tempted to go with the DeSoto V7 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IepTJZgCZmA) that seems big and well engineered. If anyone has experience with this bag (durability, convenience, quality, etc.) I’d be interested in your feedback otherwise I’m happy to hear about other suggestions.
Thanks!
I have the Blue Seventy bag. http://triathlon.competitor.com/2014/04/triathlete-buyers-guide/2014-triathlete-buyers-guide-transition-bags_97417/2 But if you want a bag to fit **all your race gear AND 2-3 days worth of stuff for the weekend **…I mean…I suppose that’s doable but I don’t think the Desoto V7 will get you there unless you’re the lightest packer ever. I’m just thinking bike shoes, running shoes, bike helmet, wetsuit, nutrition, water bottles. Right there is a lot starts to fill up a bag pretty quickly. My blueseventy can hold pretty much all my race gear (with a little work) but adding in 2-3 days of stuff for the weekend that’s a lot and that would be super heavy I imagine. I will say the quality of the blue seventy back is great. The zippers are really good quality. They are big and well made so no worries about them ripping when the bag is packed. Good luck in your search. It would be great, if you come back when you find your bag and do a review.
$130 for a pack?! Triathletes really love spending money. These things are not going to see rigorous use - from the parking lot to transition and back. As long as it has a few exterior straps and bottle storage what more does one need? I use a generic pack which cost $30.
I had always used an old, faded race goody bag as my transition bag, but I was given the TYR transition bag as a gift. It’s not too ridiculously large (a little larger than a normal backpack) but it can hold everything I need. I like that it has a detachable wetsuit bag and also a separate shoe compartment. I also can fold it up so it doesn’t hog a bunch of valuable real estate in transition.
another vote for the TYR transition. It’s free if you fly with it since it is a backpack which is allowed as a personal item vs. some others that would be considered a carryon and cost $. But please be courteous to your neighbors and don’t leave it in race transition.
Thanks all for your feedback!!!
Very helpful. To date I’ve used a big simple big backpack not specifically meant for tri but it would get really messy and now that it’s falling apart and I need to replace it I’d like something a little more organized and such that I can separate dirty/wet stuff from the rest and these bags you all mentioned look great in this respect. To clarify my post, I’m not using that bag in the transition area for which I just have a little swag bag. I don’t have a car and usually travel to races (I do tri but mostly bike and cx races) taking buses and trains and riding in between so need all my gear and regular stuff to fit in one bag that I can ride with and that actually does need to be very solid. I’ll look into all the options you mentioned!