Sad about the new Ristretto

[Sera]

I decided I wanted to get the new Ristretto, and pass my current bag on to my niece; but when I looked at the color choices I changed my mind. All the colors are dull or dark. With all the beautiful fabrics that are available... not one bright color. I love the design of Tom Bihn's bags. The ones I have are far and away my favorite bags. I'm disappointed bordering on crushed that the brighter colors seem to be gradually phasing out.

[deltagorno]

I'm with you on that. I've been disappointed that most of the new blacks have been Black/steel. I like the professional look of the black on the outside, but I'd much rather there be a party on the inside with Iberian, Ultraviolet, Wasabi, etc.

[gochicken]

Totally agree! I'd snap up anything in Black/UV. I'm thankful to have the Synapse in Black/UV, and just love it! A dream bag for me would be a Ballistic Black Little Swift with UV lining or a Medium Cafe Bag... Black outside, UV lining. Maybe one day.....

[JLE]

I love Black/UV in my Synapse too.

There are so many great colours in the line, it's a shame they can't make everything in every colour! For instance, I would love to see an olive ballistic for the travel bags. It would be chic and understated without being black. As a neutral, it would complement bags in other colours really well too - perfect! And if you like everything to match, imagine how good it would look paired with an olive Synapse or cafe bag as the personal item...

[backpack]

I loooooove bright colors too! We have to understand that Tom Bihn Inc factory is very small so the choices of colors for a new bag need to come from stock colors first which for the Ballistic and Dyneema seem to be/are Black and Steel.

All the other Ballistic and Dynneema color are custom ordered with months going into the development of just the right color.

It seems that in order to keep up with Apple's innovations and listening to customer feedback, Tom redesigned the Ristretto in record time, created the Breve while tweaking the Camera I/O and Quiver(s)...
And of course giving us the Citizen Canine, the Belt, the Travel Tray (trying to find something I don't have from Tom Bihn Inc is a fairly good indication of how new it is).

Right now, it seems that Tom Bihn Inc is getting ready for the outfitting of the tourist season, which means, making sure the bigger bags and traveling gear are in stock.

It is also the first batch of Ballistic Ristrettos, Ballistic colors are jewel colors, strong and classic for me, but it looks like they feel dull and dark to you. However, I have seen the Ballistic colors in person, Navy is on the lighter side, it has a summer sky, iceland sea, Crater Lake quality to it which is not the "typical" hem... dull navy. Cardinal looks just like the bird and those guys are hard to miss anywhere, a really striking color.


You can get a vibrant, clear color pseudo-Ristretto by buying a Large Cafe Bag or a Medium one as well as a Cache and/or a Breve that fits whatever electronic you want to place in there.

This way, you will get 2 or even 3 bags in one!

That is what I do.