Grams Light Bikes - Mountain Bike and Gear Reviews, and News: Vaude North Shore 20 Review

The pack is an excellent adventure pack, meant for the epic forays into the backcountry, when carrying large amounts of gear is a necessity, and its large capacity, useful pockets and outer attachments straps assist in that endeavor. It's tough and burly, yet simple and elegant, and includes many features that are useful and functional. The suspension system uses aluminum stays and thick back padding to work in synergy with the pack to carry heavier loads in a stable, comfortable and balanced manner.

Vaude North Shore 20
The North Shore 20 weighs in at 1156 grams, has a 20 liter capacity, and has a padded back, hip and shoulders, and is constructed with durable 600 D Polyester that has been coated with Polyurethane for water resistance. The flexible and well padded Proflex suspension system includes removable and adjustable aluminum stays, which provide additional stability and load carrying attributes. The back padding uses a thick molded viscoelastic foam, for the utmost in comfort and flexibility, and has air channels for ventilation. It has a large main compartment with one inner pocket and a hydration sleeve, two mesh side pockets, a front pocket, a hip pocket, and a top media pocket. It has a lower set of straps for armor, two side compression straps, and includes a detachable helmet holder, a 3 liter Hydrapak reservoir, and a rain cover which is stowed in a lower pocket.

Impressions
The Vaude North Shore 20 is one tough pack, and the burly 600 denier polyester material, large YKK #10 zippers, thick stitching, attention to detail and general over build, make for a pack that can take a beating and will last for many years. The material uses a polyurethane coating for water resistance and increased durability, and if needed there is a handy zippered compartment located on the bottom that has a rain cover for nastier inclement weather conditions. I am not used to having such large zippers on a mountain bike pack, and it was a welcome change to have fat pull tabs, and sliders that pulled smoothly along the teeth, and not catch on things. In addition, the zippers have webbing with metals snaps, so that the double zippers can be joined together to prevent the compartments and pockets from opening unexpectedly during a ride and dumping out their contents.

The main compartment is gigantic, and it was extremely easy to toss things into it and not have to worry about arranging items so that they would fit. The back of the compartment is where the hydration reservoir sleeve is located, and it was a simple task to toss the reservoir in, hang it from its hook, and route the tube through the top port. The compartment has only one accessible pocket, which resides on the upper front, and the zippered pocket was useful for special items that I needed on infrequent occasions, yet be handy enough when needed, and not buried deep in the bowels of the pack. I do wish the pack had a set of pump sleeves, as it would help with organizing those items, else they get haphazardly stashed into a deep corner. At the top of the pack is nicely sized padded pocket, which was useful for a phone, camera, music device and more fragile items, and it was large enough to stow multiple things. The front pocket was a decent size, and has two useful and wide stretchy slots, which were handy for tools, but the pocket needs a key clip? There are two side mesh pockets that have an elastic cord lock, and I found them handy for snacks, gloves, and sundry items, and they were easy to grab things from because of their location. You can also stuff armor into the mesh pockets, although it took some effort to coerce them into the slots. On the right hip belt is a small pocket that was just big enough for an iPhone, which was quite nice, since the iPhone's size and shape can make it notoriously tough to jam into spots like that.

For attaching armor and apparel the pack has a set of straps located at the bottom, or you can use the side compression straps, which I found especially handy for elbow and shin guards. I liked the big beefy hooks for the compression straps, as they were simple to drop into or pull out of their front loop slots, although tightening them down did require the proper technique. When the straps were cranked down, it pulled the load towards the center of the pack, which helped with stability and prevented the contents from jostling around.

The oval-shaped helmet holder system consists of 4 hooks connected to a tough and non compliant material with a section of stretchy webbing in the middle, and the hooks attached to their corresponding loops located on the pack outer circumference. It was effortless to install a helmet, and the hooks popped on without any issues onto their respective loops, and it held the helmet nicely in place, and if needed an elastic cord lock would tighten things down further. Unfortunately, when dismantling the helmet holder, the hooks snagged on the loops, and it was a royal pain extracting them, exacerbated by the strong gate on the hook, and made even worse when trying to coordinate the maneuver with gloves on. A simple tweak to the sharpness of the hook's slot might solve the issue?

The Proflex rear suspension system was a pretty cool, and consisted of two aluminum stays and a thickly padded and molded back, that was more like the designs used on multiday backpack. It was a simple affair to pull the aluminum stays out of the pack, and slowly bend them to the contours of your back, and return them to their slots. Trying the pack before and after the fine tuning, showed how much of a difference this fitting accomplished, and it made the pack more comfortable and stable, a better weight carrier and prevented undue swaying. It was nice to be able to have the choice of having the stays in or out of the pack, since either option gave a discernible change in the packs behavior and characteristics. Without the stays, the pack was more conformable, slightly lighter, and tended to bounce less on steep terrain, while with them installed, it was more stable, and had better load carrying capabilities. I rarely removed the stays, as I found they offered the best of both compromises.

The backs molded viscoelastic foam was really cushy, and the raised padding's thickness, shaping and strategic positioning hit the back in all the proper places, offering comfort and flexibility, without any pressure or hot spots. In addition, it had some well-placed air channeling, which gave good ventilation, and aided with decreasing and defusing sweat. The wraparound hip belt was wide, well padded and comfortable, and helped carry the pack on the hips, keeping things nicely centered. The shoulder's straps are contoured, with just enough padding for comfort, yet still have some stiffness for stability, and the edges are smoothly rounded to prevent irritation.

The 100 fl oz/3L Hydrapak reservoir uses a plastic slider closure for the top of the unit, and it allows easy fillings since the entire top opens wide. It can be turned inside out, which makes the cleaning and drying tasks a breeze, and it has a quick connector that attaches or detaches the drinking hose, so it makes it simpler to take the bladder out of the pack for cleaning and filling.

When you are ready to head out into the boonies and do an epic ride, this pack really shines, as it can bring everything that is required, including the kitchen sink. It lets you bring an array of armor, a full faced helmet if desired, and any necessary backcountry items, including apparel, tools and food. Even with all the useful straps for attaching items, everything is cleanly laid out and there aren't any extraneous accessories or straps to get in the way. When fully loaded the pack carries the load well, and it stays centered into your back and over your hips, with the weight tucked in tightly. Even when loaded with weight, the pack remained stable, even when hammering through rock gardens and heinous terrain. If you got into extremely steep terrain, with ledge drops and drop-offs, the pack had a slight amount of lift off the hips towards the head, but it was still better than most. It's not the lightest pack on the market, but the stability and weight carrying capabilities, along with its prodigious capacity to carry anything required more than make up for that deficit.

Measured Specs:

Pack w/ Stays - 1152 grams
Reservoir - 145 grams
Aluminum Stays - 68 grams

Bottom Line
The Vaude North shore 20 is an excellent pack, meant for those epic days in the backcountry, yet it still retains enough simplicity and functionality that it can be used for normal everyday excursions. You can stash everything you need into the pack, including the kitchen sink, and attach armor, apparel and a helmet on the outside if required. The build quality, attention to detail and toughness of this pack means it will last a long time. It has a plethora of nice features, including the large zippers and rain cover, and the unique compression straps hook and helmet holder. The Proflex suspension system utilizes aluminum stays and thickly molded back padding, which offers increased stability, comfort, ventilation and load carrying capabilities. The ability to fine-tune the fit by bending the stays to the contours of the back, accentuates the Proflex characteristics. The pack works in synergy with the Proflex system, hip pads and shoulder straps, for superb load balancing and flexibility, and centers the weight into the back and onto the hips. Even when heavily loaded, the pack retains stability, composure and anti-sway attributes while riding through rough terrain. The pack is heavy, and the helmet holder hooks can catch during detachment, and it needs a key clip on the front pocket, and pump sleeves in the main compartment.

The Vaude North shore 20 is a primo pack for epic adventures, and its tough and durable, has a slew of great features, highlighted by the Proflex suspension system.

Strengths