This bag crushes the competition (timbuk2)! It's tough, beautifully made, great zippers and belts, it gets compliments from others and it holds a ton. As a former bike messenger from the 80s (GoodRush) this one reminds me of the old bags we used to get. I suspect it will outlive me!!
worth it. Yeah, I delayed buying the XL for quite some time due to the $250 price tag which I thought was insane. I found a used Timbuk2 XL on Ebay and I bought that for $25. I liked it but the Timbuk2 has no form, meaning it constantly collapses upon itself, as in no rigidity to sides or fabric and that sort of drove me nuts. And it was not as big as the Manhattan Portage XL by a lot. The MP-XL is much larger in all dimensions. So I bit the bullet and plunked down the $250 for the MP-XL. Well worth it. Love the way the bag does not collapse in on itself and it holds much more than the TBK2 - XL. The Timbuk2 I had to carefully pack my sh*t, with the Manhattan Portage that's a non-issue, I just throw sh*t in it and it takes ALL of it. So, yeah at $250 I still think it a bit pricey but if your carrying a lot of crap, it's worth it.
Excellent experience