Review: Craft Cadence Essentials Case

Craft Cadence essentials case

This is a very handy cycling wallet for essentials and valuables, like your phone, keys and money. It's from Craft Cadence, a London company that specialises in gear for cycling commuters. They asked me to review their essentials case, so I've been trying it out on my bike rides. 

My honest first impression of this cycling wallet is that I didn't immediately see the need for it. When I go out on my bike I carry my phone in a pocket, keys in another pocket, wallet in another pocket. I already had a place to put these things, so why do I need a case? But when I thought about it, the essentials case made perfect sense.

This case keeps all those things together instead of stashed all over the place where they are more likely to go missing. At the very least it removes that frustration of trying to locate your stuff every time you step off the bike. From day one of using this I became much more organised and didn't have to fumble around pockets or panniers for my essential belongings. I became a convert. The essentials case is genius! 

More organised
I loved that my prep for a bike ride was simply putting all my valuables in the case and slipping the case in the back pocket of my cycling jersey. Job done! When I got off the bike to visit a shop or cafe I only had to look in the case to get what I needed instead of searching through multiple pockets and bags.

Items inside the Craft Cadence essentials case, including a pen

The case is also surprisingly large so that there is plenty of room to fit in pretty much everything that you can think of. Even a pen, as you can see from my photo. In fact, you can fit a multi-tool and spare inner tube in here if you wanted to dispense with any sort of bags on your bike and still be able to do repairs on the road. The size of the case is also designed to accommodate larger models of smart phones.

Fits in a pocket
It is important to say that the large size of the case does not mean that it is unwieldy. It still feels compact and will easily fit in the back pockets of a cycling jersey. I would say that the size is the perfect balance between having enough space for your essentials, but not being too big as to be a pain to carry around.

Taking a closer look inside, you get lots of pockets, including one with a zip. There is  space for cards and straps to keep a phone in place. In short, there is a great variety of storage compartments to keep all your things nicely organised.

Inside the Craft Cadence essentials case

Waterproof
The essentials case is waterproof and this is the key feature that makes this ideal for cycling. When I carry a wallet on a bike ride and it rains heavily it always gets wet. Even if I stash the wallet deep into a pocket it still manages to get wet. Pulling out soggy banknotes or slippy bank cards to pay for coffee is never fun. The essentials case kept my bank cards and bank notes completely dry whenever I used it on rainy days. That included some days with very heavy downpours. 

The essentials case also gave water protection to my phone. In heavy downpours I previously had to pull over my bike and stash my phone deep into a panier to be sure it would not get damaged. With my phone cosy inside the essentials case I had no worries- the case always kept it dry.

Take a close look at the zip and seam. This is what is helping to keep the water out. You can tell that this is a very high quality construction.

A close up of the zip and seam on the Craft Cadence essentials case

Cost
The essentials case is currently £29.99. When you consider the amount of space that you get and the waterproof qualities this is good value for money.
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Summary
Initially I was not convinced that I needed a case, but I have loved being able to keep all my valuables in one place when I go on a bike ride. Not only that, but keep them safe from the rain.​ The case has made my bicycle journeys much more organised and it has now become one of my essential pieces of kit.​​

Review of Craft Cadence recycled cycling jersey

Craft Cadence website