nun

I’ve moved into the world of disc brakes and now have a Specialized Diverge. I upgraded the wheels to 32 hole Belgium plus with White Industries hubs. I’ve also recently replaced an old Tarptent Contrail with the Protrail which turns out to be a bit more packable which has allowed my to go from the Carradice Camper saddlebag to the smaller Nelson Longflap saddlebag. I don’t think I’ll ever find a better or simpler solution to the front bag than the Ortlieb Classic

Tourist in MSN

Nice. Thanks for posting. I am surprised you do not have more water capacity on the frame.

I decided that I did not like my legs hitting my Carradice bags, I added a stem with appropriate shim on the seat post to hold the saddle bag further back. I do not want to hijack your thread by posting a photo. If you are curious, let me know if you would like to see a photo.

nun

Please hijack away. I'm sure people will love to see your set up.

I haven't toured with the Specialized yet, Covid got in the way, and so have just one cage installed...the Diverge can take three. This is half way through a 60 mile shake down loop I do from my house, it was cold and there are lots of places to stop for refreshments on the route so a single small bottle was all I took. On tour I have at least two one liter bottles in the cages. I've always used the traditionally mounted Carradice and I don't notice if my legs touch the bag. One good thing about going to the Nelson is now I have lots of clearance between the wheel and the bag, with the Camper it was always close.

Tourist in MSN

When I pedaled, my legs would hit my bag at the bottom of the pedal stroke, it was not a problem but it was a distraction. Thus, I wanted to push my bag further back to clear my legs better. I was not looking for anything sizeable like a rear rack, just looking for something to hold the bag further back.

My Carradice Pendle on my light touring bike in photo below. Bike was not fitted for touring at the time of the photo, I use four panniers for that, the bag is nice for longer one day rides and brevets for extra layers, food, etc. There is a shim between the stem and seatpost, standard 27.2 seat post. And a short piece of one inch dowel in the stem, sprayed black. Later I put some inner tube rubber over the dowel so that it does not abrade the bag fabric. An old toe clip strap holds the bag to the stem and dowel. And a couple toe clip straps on top of the bag so I can strap a light jacket on top.




Same bag on my rando bike. I have Brooks Conquest saddles on a number of bikes. It lacks saddle bag loops, but it is easy to run the straps around a loop in the saddle springs.




I am sure when you tour with your Carradice it is packed full enough that it does not sag. But since my bag is often less than half full, I put a sheet of Coroplast in it to act as a stiffener so that the bag does not look like a wet pillowcase when it is mostly empty. Initially I used cardboard, that worked well until it got damp, so later used Coroplast instead. At the time of the photo, just one water bottle, some wind pants that I already shed, and a plastic case to protect my banana. The Coroplast is loose in the bag, not physically attached.




I also have a Nelson Longflap, but have not used it for a few years for anything. Nice bag.

Back to the topic of the thread, do you plan to add fenders to your new bike or just keep the bike as minimalist as possible?

nun

I like the use of the stem on the seatpost to space the bag away from the back of your legs and the plastic to give it some rigidity. That's essentially what the "Bagman" support does, but I've never liked that and I don't think it's very well engineered. The addition of D-rings on the saddlebags by Carradice is good, it's a hack that many owners did themselves and I did it to my Camper to help carrying the bag when off the bike.

For day rides I use the Barley saddlebag as it's just the right size for some tools, a rain jacket, lock etc

You are right that I avoid saddlebag sag by having a full bag. The Nelson Longflap is quite a bit smaller than the Camper and so I was surprised when I managed to fit all my gear and clothes into it. I think that's mostly thanks to the new Protrail tent and the smaller poles and I think smaller amount of fly material. My sleeping bag is a Montbell Down Hugger which is only a 3 season bag so that helps as well. My setup would not work in the winter. I've actually thought about leaving all the camping and cooking gear behind and just using the Barley and the Ortlieb and going full credit card as I quite often use hotels, but I like the security of knowing I have a tent and bag and usually find myself camping some nights. I have no plans to use fenders.

djb

Nun, I recently picked up a used small frame bag, not the ones that fill up the entire triangle, but the narrow ones that are maybe 4inches high, so still allow smaller water bottles in the cages. I haven't really used it yet, but can see how it would be useful for putting my pump, repair stuff and heavier odds and sods in, to free up a bit of space and weight from the rear seatbag I have.
Like all bikepacking stuff nowadays, there is a wide range of qualities and prices for these sort of bags, but there certainly are good quality, reasonably priced ones out there that there.

nun

One of the best things about the development of "bikepacking" is that it has made a wide range of bag options available. I've looked at the long skinny frame bags to hang from the top tube, but haven't gone with them for a couple of reasons

1) I use large 1L water bottles and even the small frame bags would get in the way of the bottle I mount on the seat tube.

2) I constrain myself to 2 bags so that I'm not tempted to take extra stuff...it's a way of forcing me to stay lightweight.

3) I like being able to carry all my gear when not on the bike and it makes travel easier for me. I can actually take both bags on as hand luggage on trains and planes, the saddle bag as a carry on and the Ortlieb as a hand bag. That's not really an argument against having other bags as they could be packed with the bike, but I just like to be tidy ;-) and well under any luggage weight restrictions.

Miele Man

I like the look of your bike and gear = nice clean look - uncluttered.

I too have used a threadless stem on a seatpost to move a bag further back. In my case it was a large handelbar bag that had a fair bit of weighting it. The setup I used meant that the handlebar bag didn't affect the steering.

Cheers

Tourist in MSN

Yeah, I added D rings too, you can see them in my photos. I used a short piece of nylon strap on each one, hand sewn to the inside of the lid. Can use a shoulder strap to carry it.

I have not been very impressed from what I saw on line about the bag mounting systems that Carradice offers. Thus have not tried them.

Several months ago I decided to order a Camper too. Have not used it yet, but if I ever want to do a credit card trip, I think it would work well for me. I pack heavier than you do, so I think the Camper would work best for me for credit card tripping. I was tempted to buy green, but in the end stuck with black. I think it would work nice on my road bike or rando bike.

The fabric on my new Camper appears to be treated differently than on my older Carradice bags. I do not recall when I bought my Nelson Longflap or Pendle, my bike tour photos tell me that I used one of them on a tour in 2014, so my older ones are at least nine years old.

Tourist in MSN

I recall recently seeing a handlebar bag on a stem that was aft of the seatpost on this forum, probably yours. That was creative.

nun

I think that so many owners added those D rings that Caradice decided to do it themselves. I use them sometimes, but I usually find myself using the nylon straps I attach to the top of my saddle bags as a handle.

nun

The development of bikepacking has given people a lot of choices between bicycle bags and ways to carry things. However, people sometimes go "bag crazy" and strap and hang stuff all over their bikes. When that starts to happen it might be an idea just to go back to a few panniers and a handlebar bag. I find keeping my gear to a minimum and using two bags makes it easier for me to find things and pack and unpack quickly.

I use the Ortlieb because the Klickfix mount holds the bag clear of the handlebars and the bag itself is pretty solid. It allows me to use all the handlebar positions and I can also hide my hands behind the bag when its cold to reduce wind chill. The Kickfix mount is a bit annoying to set up as the cable support isn't very convenient, but once mounted it's solid and yet I can take the bag off in a second to take with me into stores.

djb

Ya, totally get all your reasons. I got this bag this winter, so haven't really put it on and used it yet. The water thing is an important one, although I could get around this fairly easily.
As I bought it used, at a very reasonable price, it will be a fun tryout and see how it works. It fits perfectly on my fatbike, but really I see using it on my cross bike, my faster, lighter bike. As I mentioned, I'd use it for some of the ever present stuff, repair kit, pump, and free up some space in the seatbag.
I figure I could always strap some stuff onto my rear rack if I need space for food or whatever.
This shot was from this summer, Montreal to Quebec city.
ps, the seatbag is only 8 or 10 litres, I forget

robow

A stem mounted on a seat post, who would have thought ? I swear tourists are the most creative cyclists.

Tourist in MSN

I make no claim for inventing it, I think I saw a photo of one a dozen years ago that was used to hang a Carradice bag. And some tandem bikes have the stoker handlebar mounted that way.

My road bike lacks saddle bag loops on the Brooks Pro saddle, and also lacks springs that I have used for Carradice bag straps. So, I got creative, photo below. This is my Pendle bag, the aluminum rod that I bent for it is 5/16 inch diameter, that is strong enough for the weight I put in that bag which is not very much. The fender washers are to keep the straps from sliding off the ends of the dowel.




But on this bike there is not a lot of clearance above the tire. Photo below, I have the SKS Race Blade XL fenders which are pretty close to the bag.

tcs

Ah, the wonders of the modern age.

Miele Man

Just in case anyone reading this thread is interested in how a threadless handlebar stem can be adapted to fit on a seatpost and carry a handlebar bag, here is a link to a step by step photo layout of how I did mine.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/738325...57662865565180

Cheers

nun

Nice, yes people have been strapping things to bikes for a long time. I like the frame bag; Carradice once made frame bags, but I think they stopped in the 1950s, they have recently reintroduced the old style “top tube panniers” and make a few “bikepacking” bags as well so some frames bags will probably appear some time. So there’s lots of companies making lots of bags today, rather than the few that dominated the pannier scene.

FYI here is another shot of my Diverge with Ortlieb and Nelson Longflap that shows the tire clearance a bit better and also shows the water bottles I use which make frame bags a bit of a none starter, I mount a second one when I'm touring.

djb

So, first time ever putting this thing on a bike properly and riding with it. Had some smaller water bottles kicking around, and was able to fit this one in. If the frame bag was really full, it would be annoying.