Tag: frame bag

Blessed

Today I was reminded by my wife to get out and go for a ride for myself.  This place is about a mile from home, sometimes I stop.  Most of the time it is a bridge to and from the other rides.  This is one of the many reasons my family works so hard to live here.  The beauty of our immediate surroundings is a blessing. 

Grabbing the coffee and heading out to enjoy a few minutes of the morning to myself, I made it to the bridge and decided it was a good day to just enjoy the view.  With all of the challenges of every day life it is easy to lose track of how fortunate we may actually be.  I have an incredible wife, a healthy 9 month old baby girl, extended family for support, food, shelter, and my own wits about me to keep things going.  Things are good, I am always striving to make it better, but things are always good.

Happy Friday, Play outside and enjoy your family!

Roadeo Grocery Ride – Fjord Flannel Review

Another incredible day, and I had an hour and a half window for Opie(grandpa) to baby sit.  I decided to combine errands with the workout.  I have a 15 mile loop that lets me hit two grocery stores.  Total load and therefore spending are limited by taking the Roadeo.  Temps were in the low to mid 50s and wind was crazy, one of the days where you have a headwind more than 3/4 of the ride. 

The layering system for errands is pretty different from what I wear for my morning or non-errand rides.  Most of the time I am layered up in some combination of merino wool and polyester to fend off the morning chill.  When I know that there is going to be more stop and go, time in stores etc. I wear what most would consider normal street clothes.  Flannel being one of my favorite of layers for the cooler months.  Today I busted out my new Patagonia Fjord Flannel Shirt in Fusion Orange that the wife picked out for me as a Christmas gift.  This is their heavier flannel, and just happens to be a great color combo for playing in traffic.  I ride most of the year in long sleeves for sun protection.  In the winter, flannel provides a great top layer with just a little wind resistance and the ability to quickly adjust buttons or roll up sleeves as needed.   Today there were more than a few adjustments as I had everything from a 15mph tail wind to shady cross winds and then a tail wind home.  This shirt ROCKS, it is the first heavyweight flannel I have added to the rotation in years.  I have three older ones in the closet, one 8 years old, like silk and covered in patches.  I can only hope that this shirt goes the distance as well

Two stops and about 35 lbs of groceries later I was on my way home.  As discovered this past weekend, judicious placement of the load has had little detrimental effect on the performance of the Roadeo.  This time I was pushing the limit up front with 10lbs, a gallon of tangerine juice, up front in the acorn bag.  Another 15 -20lbs in the rear and the frame bag stuffed with rice pasta, yogurt and salsa.

One thing that really helps with the loading, comfort and stability is getting the Rivendell Jack  Brown 33.3mm wide tires back on the bike.  The added cush soaks up absolutely everything between the crappy roads and the rim. 

I have been pushing the limits of how I ride this bike loaded.  Rivendell states that they will not put you on a roadeo if you are over 250lbs.  I would likely agree that around that weight load the bike becomes compliant to a point where you really need to be paying attention to what you are doing.  At the moment I weigh in at about 220lbs.  I am working to get that down another 10 lbs and use this as a nimble allroad touring bike for the summer. 

Have fun, and get outside!

Update: The shirt is gone for the saeson, What is left in flannel is going fast at the winter sale, time to buy your AC cotton, review coming soon

Loadeo the Roadeo

I could not resist the title with all the love the Roadeo has had with its model name. 

Today was much nicer out than last weekend’s ride across town to the Channel Islands Harbor farmer’s market.  Partly cloudy, light breeze and in the upper 50’s not quite shorts weather.

With fair weather for the forecast and working out some touring ideas for the spring I spent some time in the morning putting the Jack Browns back on, pulling the fenders and Roughy Toughys off and rotating the Carradice Nelson longflap back on.  I have been dropping a little weight and figure that gives me more loading room on the bike without fear of overload and wonky handling. 

Market was a success with the dry weather the farmers are able to get more out of the field and not have as bad of mud to contend with.  All three bags, Acorn Hobo, the Frame Bag and Nelson were all stuffed to the max.

It would be a lie if I said there was NO change in handling, but nothing went terrible in any way, no wobbles, shimmy, weird pulling or such as can happen when the load is bigger than rider and bike were meant to transport.  Cruising speed through the fields was about the same loaded or not.

Riding no hands was easy as always.  All of the above needs to be considered in light of the fact that this bicycle is designed and intended to be a lightweight club racer.  I am not advocating that you all ditch the heavier touring bikes to load up the club racer, but knowing how and what you bike is made of and can do is a good thin in my opinion.

The Bounty: 2 Dozen eggs, 2 onions, 3 cloves of garlic, 3 heads of brocoli, 1 cauliflower, a bunch of carrots, bag of beet greens, bunch of collard greens, 7 avocados and a large bag of vegetable chips.  Not bad for a lightweight steed burdened with my 215 lb self and all that produce.

Next up is to work out some gear lists and see if I can get it in the bags for some quick S24O spring rides.

Frame Bag No. 01 Details

I can not belive I waited this long to make one of these. It has exceeded my expectations and taught me what I would do to make some minor tweaks for a final product.

Bag Specifications: Frame bag with No.8 Canvas duck side panels, Jr Ballistic perimeter strip for abrasion resistance, multi point reinforced hook and loop connections, waterproof zipper with double pull and storm flap.  Port for rear tail light battery wire.

Dimensions: 22″ long x 6″ high x 2″ wide (56cm x 15cm x 5cm)

Volume: 264 in³ (4.333 L)

The inspiration for this bag came from a synergy of the designs used on Swiss Army bikes, the designs coming out of the ultralight bikepacking work, and the traditional designs of the french touring bags.  While the volume is not particularly large, the design and placement make use of the previously empty space to carry things that might not fit as easily in traditional bags, e.g. hydration bladders, tripod or tent poles. 

On this weekend’s mixed terrain ride I carried a 2L Platypus water bag, Gorillapod mini tripod for the camera, wind breaker, knee warmers and a spare hat with room left over in the bag.  The centralization of the load had little detrimental affect on handling.  Both steep climbs and descents were not different from when riding with similar loads in larger bags at the front and rear, if any thing this was an improvement.  The largest gain was in the increased capacity and ability to better arrange gear for access during the ride.  The multiple attachment points kept the bag stable with no sway of the bag.  The bulk of the load is supported by the canvas reinforced 2″ hook and loop closure at the top tube:

The overall carrying capacity has even shocked me, as the water bag measured out at 7″ wide and 3″ thick when full, but was easily swallowed and zipped into the bag

Detail of the wiring port for my tail light battery pack. 

Details like this can be customized to suit different lighting arrangements, ports for hydration hoses, etc.  Likewise location and number of zippers or internal pockets and dividers could also be added.

I see these bags filling a niche for the self supported distance road rider, light weight touring, and transportational cyclists looking for that extra bit of space without having to resort to resort to full rack and panniers. 

It is my intent to offer frame bags of a similar design for sale by custom order in the near future.  If interested please contact me through the Contact page with the “Custom Frame Bag” in the subject line.

Frame Bag No. 01 DONE

I finished it, the one in the middle, tonight in time for tomorrow’s Dirt Mullholand ride, lets hope it holds together 😉 just kidding

More detailed report and description to follow, but a big thank you to Ron at Acorn for pointers here and there, the guys at bikepacking,net and backpackinglight.com MYOG forums.

In Short for those who have never seen a bag like this, it is my take on the what the ultra light bikepacking guys are doing with a twist of Rivendell and Acorn.  It just happens to match the front and rear Acorn bags near perfectly.