Rocket Science Sports Elite Triathlon Bag–Final Review

Back in March, we started a small series of triathlon gear bag reviews.  One of our first bags was the RSS Elite Triathlon bag.  You can check our our initial review of the Elite Triathlon bag.

Rocket Science Sports:

Rocket Science Sports manufactures many different products for the triathlon industry, including gear bags, wetsuits, race suits, swim gear, and accessories.  Founded by Marcin Sochacki, RSS is based in Austin, Texas.

Rocket Science Sports Elite Bag Details:

In addition to the 600 denier fabric used in the Real Joe/Real Jane bag, the Elite bag features 1680 denier nylon, a seriously heavyweight fabric that can really take a beating.  The Elite bag appears larger and heavier than the Real Joe/Jane bag.  

The Elite bag looks much more like a hiking pack, basically the size and design of a weekend sized hiking pack.  There are a few features that the Elite and the Real Joe bag share, basically the standard features for Rocket Science Sports products.  You’ll find a glasses holder and reflective strips to increase viability.  However, the Elite bag adds quite a few neat features.  I was surprised to find a transition mat in the base of the bag, a neat extra.  The bag features a special raised feature on the back of the back, where the bag contacts your body, called Air Flight.  Air Flight is similar to features we’ve found on CamelBak packs before and is designed to increase airflow between your body and the bag.  The Elite triathlon bag also features a built in rain cover and a really nice removable pouch to store your wet clothes or wetsuit.

Final Thoughts:

We’ve had the opportunity to use this bag for several months during training and in the transition area.  This bag is comfortable and can pack all of your running, swimming, and cycling gear in one place.  The padded back straps are extremely comfortable.  The bag has a waist strap as well, similar to large camping backpacks.  While this is a nice ‘extra’, we’ve never used gear that was so heavy that the strap was necessary.

In terms of space, the separate mesh compartments for running and cycling are great.  The most useful compartment is the separate, plastic-coated, removable swim bag.  Since training sometimes requires you to carry around wet swim gear for an entire day, this compartment is a real lifesaver.  This compartment kept our shoes and other items from getting soaked and it’s a nice feature that you can remove this compartment when you’re not planning to swim.

There are several other compartments in the front of the bag that can be used to carry other items like sunblock, nutrition, and deodorant.  There is even a small zip pouch that contains a plastic sheet to protect the bag in the transition area.  It seems that these designers have thought of everything.  Our only serious criticism is that the mesh pouches on the sides can only accommodate small items; keys, protein bars, etc.  The pouches would be much more useful if they could hold standard sized water bottles.

Overall, we have found this bag very useful.  Carrying all your training gear can be such a hassle when using a standard gym bag.  This bag helped us stay more organized both in training and in the transition area.