BaileyWorks ⚠️ With reservations

BaileyWorks comes from the streets, not from marketing. Every bag is sewn to survive the worst bike delivery conditions, rain, snow, traffic. The Super Pro is a work tool turned object of devotion.

Jon Bailey was a bike courier in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. In 1993, he started sewing messenger bags. Like Bagjack in Berlin, like Chrome in San Francisco, the story is the same everywhere: a courier tired of bad bags who decides to make his own. BaileyWorks later moved to Newmarket, New Hampshire.

The reputation was built on durability. Among enthusiasts, testimonials pile up: a 2010 XL "it's doing OK", bags bought secondhand a decade ago "pretty bulletproof", a Super Pro "first one lasted over a decade and I see no reason my second one won't last just as long." A non-courier user summarized: "Was not a messenger. It was big and carried shit well and was much lighter than a Chrome bag while better constructed."

But things got complicated. Around 2024, the brand nearly closed. Communications stopped. Among enthusiasts, an "Out of Business?" thread appeared in September 2024.

In January 2025, Bo Shilkey, a Montserrat College of Art graduate, acquired BaileyWorks. It's a one-person operation. She set up at the Brickyard Collaborative Makerspace in Lynn, Massachusetts, and is rebuilding the brand from scratch. A les passionnés user visited the new production site in late 2025 and documented the artisanal process. Bags are still handmade in the USA.

The "reservations" rating reflects this: historical quality is legendary, but the transition is ongoing. One person rebuilding a thirty-year brand. The future depends on Bo Shilkey.