Chrome Buran Review

Likes
The Buran is Chrome’s ultra classic bike messenger bag turned modern laptop taxi. The bag boasts some excellent features that our testers loved: waterproof, indestructible construction, copious storage, easy access front pockets, and a strap that’s easy to adjust. The Buran’s wide and generously padded single strap also makes the bag one of the most comfortable messengers we tested- at least when biking.

Of the eight messenger bags reviewed here the Buran is most similar to the Mission Workshop Rummy. Both are made of similar materials, have lots of storage and exceptionally comfortable straps. The Buran differs from the Rummy in its storage for smaller items, which consists of one medium zippered pocket, one velcro compartment, and several small velcro pockets. The Buran also has a built-in zippered laptop sleeve made of thin black neoprene. This case has its pros and cons, too: we like how unobtrusive it is when closed, but the thin neoprene offers little padding from accidentally drops and bumps. Other cases, such as those in the Timbuk2 Swig and Osprey Elroy, offer both excellent protection and an unobtrusive design. Consequently, we don’t view the Buran’s built-in laptop as a significant benefit.

Dislikes
Unfortunately, most of the Buran’s smaller features would benefit from a significant revision. The bag’s “hipster look” may turn you on, or turn you off, depending on what you like to look at. (The majority of our testers did not like the Buran’s look. On several occasions random people called them hipsters and one random person came up and unbuckled the bag’s shoulder strap.) Although the majority of our eight testers commute to work via bicycle only one of them found the bag’s seatbelt style buckle, which allows you to unbuckle the strap, to be of useful. “Every time I unbuckled it I felt as if I was going to drop the bag,” said Jen, one of our testers.

Although there’s plenty of large item storage, the Buran falls short when it comes to organizing smaller items. For one, there’s only one zippered pocket (a drawback that’s shared with the company’s Soyuz). Two, the medium pockets in the organizational area (see photos) are bottomless sleeves, NOT pockets. We found that pens, pencils, phones, etc would fall right through to the bottom of the larger compartment- making it difficult to find them. Kirsten, another tester, thought she forgot her phone at work before she discovered, by calling her phone, that it had slipped through one of the “pockets”.

Despite it’s tremendously comfortable shoulder strap the Buran is disappointingly poky when walking. The problem lies in the upper right corner, which jabs into your side when walking. The Buran is a dream come true for biking, but quite poor for walking. What do you do more of?

Several other problems. First, the orientation of the main flap’s velcro needs to be reversed. Currently the rigid velcro hooks lie on top and catch the bottom velcro and everything else in between. After a couple of weeks of use we noticed some abrasion on the seams that lie in harm’s way (see photos). We don’t want to imagine what the bag would look like a year from now. This is a simple, but significant design flaw. (All other messenger bags reviewed here placed velcro hooks on the bottom and loops on the top.)

Finally, the bag weighs 3.8 pounds!! (We’ve used fully featured 60 Liter alpine climbing backpacks that weigh the same amount.) Other messenger bags and backpacks tested here weigh up to two pounds less than the Buran. Think about how much happier your body would be if you didn’t have to carry those extra two pounds on your back. Day after day, year after year…
The Buran is a well made bag in need or refinement.

Value
The Buran is made of high quality materials, but some aspects of its design make it harder to use than other bags that cost less. The Mission Workshop Rummy is a better value even though it cost $25 more.