Ridge is a company whose first mainstream product was a metal slim wallet. They’re sleek but in my past reviews have noted the Ridge wallet is just a bit bulky and rigid to fit comfortably in some pockets, especially in jeans. Recently though Ridge have introduced the Biflex, a slim wallet made of leather a soft elastic that aims to be the flexible version of their flagship product.
Biflex Basics
The Biflex has two folds for mostly cards (up to 8) and maybe a few bills but there isn’t a lot of space for both. Ridge use an elastic band that’s held together with leather to create the fold style which is very reminiscent of the Trove Swift wallets. There’s a small half circle cut out on the front you use to push your cards up and out and on the back an oval cutout to slide the top card.
The front cutout works better, ideally when you keep at most 3 of your most frequently used cards in that front pocket. The back cutout on the Biflex doesn’t work as well because it gives you only access to push one card out at a time so you end up just grabbing all of your cards at once. It’s here where the Biflex might be a bit too minimal even for minimalist wallet enthusiasts and where some of the design features of a Trove (like a Swift tab) would come in handy.
Lack Of Color Options
It’s a bit obvious that Ridge are venturing into the soft slim wallet market (which is notably smaller than the hard-backed options) cautiously. Ridge currently only off the Biflex in three color options whereas their flagship Ridge wallet has dozens of color, logo, and customization choices available. The Biflex is also pricey for a fabric and leather based slim wallet compared to the competition. At $85 the Biflex is thin but the price a bit heavy compared to the competition. Unless you want the most minimal (and self-priced premium) soft slim wallet, the Biflex has a lot of competition that makes better wallets with more options.
