bikebikebike

I am looking to update my luggage/bags as I go more to foldies from trikes.
I have panniers that work well on 20", but not so much on 16" , modded Moto tank bag rears
The Front bags add balance
The factory Brompton stuff looks good but are $$, Many Asian bags abound and I don't seem to be able eto locate reviews.
I am aware of the thriving counterfiet (sp pun) world and was wondering if AGEKUSL ACEOFFIX 3SIXTY and the Aliexpress badged Brompton gear has been reviewed or vetted at some level.

Same with stuff like Brompton fitting racks and hardware.

The metal front racks look good , but the plastic ones may be "fuseable", i.e. like the Factory Easywheels, set to break before the screws strip or frame is bent.
I don't mind paying for quality, but like to get a chance to see it demonstrated , beforehand.
Dropping ones stuff in the street , is not an ideal initial endpoint.

mlau

I can only comment in what I tried.

Home made commuter bag = Brompton bag frame + free bag + 1 hour time stitching

Works great.


Valeria Barcelona shopping basket

Works great, and just as comfortable hanging off the shoulder.



If you're going for a Brompton front luggage, bear in mind that most are devised with a narrow depth at the base to prevent sagging into your front wheel.

fietsbob

Can you Sew, or know someone that does ?

Brompton bags slip over a bag frame, so you can buy just the frame .. and have a DIY bag sewn to fit,

a velcro strap across the bottom has the whole thing come off together..
(Carridice UK, has some bags, frame not included)

People, also, have modified the racks, which are molded nylon & aluminum tubing , pop riveted together.

so pop-rivets can be drilled out , to modify the aluminum tubing , and make it compatible with other people's bags..


I found one of the earlier steel tubing racks and had it modified to functionally be a cargo rack,

to carry boxes ..

it is shown here:

mlau

+10 on sewing

Essential skill in life.

bikebikebike

Agree on all counts I come from a family of quilters where sewing is an essential skill.

The racks are also sourced for the same vendors that sell bags and there is wide variety in pricing without clear differentiation as to quality. There is a bag side component for the front carrier that runs about $20 and could either be a well cast piece of ABS or a cheap fragile piece.

The Asian sourced, Brompton labeled, bags run about $90 with frame and it would be helpful to if I could get an idea of what gods would be either offended or appeased by the $70 Price difference on the US vendors' offerings.

I am not an advocate of cutthroat pricing but it is not easy to do side-by-side comparisons.

If the difference is there, it is being marketed more by assumption than demonstration.

I had seen Bob's adaptive rack in other threads. It seems to be easily overloaded. Is it up to the loads? Tern has its own take on that kind of a modification and it looks like something that could be easily overloaded and distort the head tube.
There is an Asian metal replacement for the front carrier that looks like it could present the possibility of a similar overload, presenting the risk of easy damage , where a plastic Front carrier would serve as a self-sacrificing connector to the bag frame.

2_i 

We bought few Vincita products in the past and they have been reasonable. Maybe one point to note is that the bags carrying Brompton logo in the market do not generally need to be made by Brompton, but by may be made by independent companies that got Brompton to lend them the logo. From what I heard Brompton is capricious - getting the logo can be a good sign, but some companies may find dealing with Brompton too much of bother. I would say that the latest (don't know who makes it, maybe Brompton on their own actually) is Vincita inspired - not the other way around.

berlinonaut

The bags with the Brompton logo on them are official Brompton products as part of their line of accessories. The making is outsourced to third party companies, I do not think Brompton ever sew a bag themselves. So production is outsourced to suppliers, the design is done by Brompton or collaboratively thogether with the producer, the business risk as well as the sales channel are on Brompton. In opposite to that third party bags are created, produced and sold completely independently. The original Brompton bags have initially been made by Carradice (UK) and later by Radical Design (NL), which in both cases put their logo on the bag along with Brompton. The older models like the S-, C- and T-bag are as to my knowledge still made by Radical whereas the newer models like the Tote bag, the Rolltop and so on do not have an additional makers logo on them. They may still be made by Radical or not - don't know. The Game Bag as part of Brompton's regular lineup of bags is made by John Chapman, another traditional British company. The O-bag and mini-O-bag are done by Ortlieb (and a derivate of their regular bags just made for Brompton with the main difference being a mount for the Brompton carrier block). Apart from that there have been temporary collaborations with other British traditional companies like the Barbour Brompton bag and the Cambridge Satchel, available for a short time only and in conjunction with a special edition bike. Carradice still makes Brompton bags, but not as part of the official Brompton accessory program.
So it is not like anyone could license the Brompton logo for his bag as long as he follows certain standards and throws in enough money like i.e. Apple does it. I'd assume whenever Brompton think their lineup of bags needs an addition they look out who may be able to produce it.
This does not mean that 3rd party bags would be necessarily in any way worse than original ones. I own a Carradice along with several Brompton bags and love it - over time it became my most used Brompton bag. Still one can blindly trust in the original bags to be of good quality and endurance and well thought through whereas with 3rd party bags this may or may not be the case - you have to find out yourself. Like with many other tuning parts for the Brompton over the last years the number of independent bag makers has gone up massively along with the popularity of the bike. Obviously they have less experience than the longer term companies and do not cooperate with Brompton and this may inherit the risk that some of them overlook something, take a shortcut or have a different level of quality while others may be totally decent. Hard to judge on w/o seeing, touching and using the bags.

I'd rather say it is an (necessary) evolution from their B-bag which has been on the market for ages.

2_i 

A would-be manufacturer of bags for Brompton described the process as follows. (That description might explain why the design tends to be stuck in the ruts for a while.) Thus, you perfect your bag design. Then you roll back the perfection and introduce a significant flaw that is easy to spot. You submit the project to Brompton. They sit on the project, 'discover' the flaw and point it out to you. You fix the flaw, but now the design is co-owned by Brompton. They cede the production to you.

OK, but Vincita went first there and I still like their design better, particularly with my enhancement. Of course such preference can be personal.

berlinonaut

Interesting. Sounds like that would-be manufacturer does not like Brompton (any more?) and thinks they are a bunch of lazy, arrogant and incompetent morons. I do not know if this is true but definitively it sounds like a bad foundation for a god and successful business relationship. Both, the attitude of Brompton (if it is true) as well as the opinion and attitude of the would-be manufacturer (plus the fact that he is talking about it to third parties). Regarding the "stuck in the ruts" I am not so sure if this is the case - Brompton is in many ways a conservative company as are their products and the market seems to honor that fact. They released a bunch of new bags not too long ago (well, a couple of years) and I could not tell what I'd miss from their lineup desperately. On the other hand quite a few Brompton riders still miss the very old fashioned predecessor of the C-bag that was taken off the lineup in about 2008ish - ten years ago.

1nterceptor

Pretty happy with the Demano bag I bought in 2013. Made of waterproof recycled materials,
large enough to hold a 17/18" laptop, side pockets can hold waterbottles, comes in various colors/designs.

Still use mine almost everyday; commuting, carry-on bag when flying, shopping, etc.

Large pizza; tiny bike - challenge accepted by 1nterceptor, on Flickr

2_i 

I have no independent knowledge on that attitude, but it sounded plausible. My reason for communication there was on the bag design and what I learned was by the way of diversion in the discussion - possibly the would-be manufacturer is not interested in a collaboration with Brompton anymore. The tips on design were quite reasonable though. By "stuck in the ruts I meant keeping the design the same for some interval of years - in the bags you should be able to make updates more often than in the bike since no replacement parts are involved and if there are they can be made the same. At the more general level, I am myself in favor of gradual well thought through changes rather than frequent erratic and possibly misfiring.

berlinonaut

If we look i.e. at the S-Bag: It was invented in 2005 along with the S-Bars as the existing Bags would be too high. About two or three years later it got an overhaul, small changes on the bag design, an yellow inner liner (instead the original black) for easier spotting of bits and pieces in the bag, a via velcro exchangable flap (to change the design whenever you like) along with a couple of different flap versions and the rain cover became standard. At the same time the C-Bag was introduced, very much inspired from the experiences with and design changes on it's smaller sibling. The bag wasn't changed until 2015, just a bunch of different flaps came and went. In 2015 or 2016, both, S-bag and C-Bag received another overhaul, mainly a change in materials made them look more fluffy and modern. The flap colors were adjusted to reflect the newer frame colors of the bike, a couple of flaps for the S-Bag came and went. I own an S-Bag from 2010 or so and would not know a relevant thing to change. The O-bag was introduced in something like 2010 and never changed, apart from colors. The bag frame changed it's design from the original, full metal design to today's aluminium/plastic combo in about 2003. Long time ago. I do not miss a thing. Honestly, this is not in defense of Brompton. I just don't see value in changes to change something. I something is pretty well thought trough in the beginning there is not that much to be changed later. With the S-bag they obviously had some learnings in the beginning, those were reflected into production and that was that. The T-Bag had three different versions until today (including the original version in about 2000 or maybe even earlier). First revision in about 2009 (bags on the rear side changed as well as the logo, yeallow inner liner added), latest one in about 2016 (more modern optics, very slight design changes). So it is really not a fast pace Brompton changes something on existing bags but on the other hand the need seems not to be there. Why fix something that isn't broken? Maybe an attitude that does not fit our modern world full of yearly releases of expensive cell phones, but generally something I more like than dislike.

I'd asume the dealers are thankful for this attitude, too - they can stock bags and are less in danger needing to sell them off cheaper because of a yearly design change. with a dealer network as huge as Brompton's and the number of variants in bags alone this alone is an asset.

fietsbob

Working with Ortlieb , the O bag is one that integrates the docking clip for the frame mount on the bike's head tube..

Larger, a variation on the office bag, commuter hauling their laptop focused features..

mini O a design modification of their handlebar bags..


Carridice folder line also a commuter option , several products, use the Brommy's aluminum/nylon bag frame..


Just not as big a capacity as the touring bags....

BromptonINrio

here in argentina we only use aceoffix luggage stuff.
their carrier front block made out aluminium is simply mutch better quality than original bromptom carrier block!
for the bags, we use roswheel cheap chinese pannier sawed ont brompton frame bag!
we haul this combination over rocks ico, snow and mud in andes and it can hold preatty weel

fietsbob

Looks like all the pizza would be slumped.. in the bottom.. standing on edge ..


a rigid bottom version of the insulated delivery bags would be ideal.. Pie carried flat..

( I get take & bakes, on my bike friday, with a front pannier rack the bags have D rings
so the stretch net goes on that full width . pie mostly flat, I straighten it out before I put it in the oven..

Boxed cooked ones go under the stretch net just fine.....

mlau

Thanks for the tip.

I might get one sometime.

bikebikebike

Just got the AGEKUSL carrier block ($13ppd vs $25+shipping) looks ok
There is an Ebay S-bag that looks proper for $95ppd (vs $160+) from AGEKUSL out of Hong Kong
tempting
Badged as Brompton, but that just takes an embrodering machine, not a license
I pay Apple tax, but I get Apple oversight.
I have been victim of counterfiets , though.

So what I am hearing is that the aluminum mounting block is not going to overstress the steering tube?
I would rather lose a mounting block than a frame, though there are other places in the mounts
that might fail first, to protect the frame. There is a lot of leverage on the mount.

I'm with Bob, I like my pizza toppings randomly distributed, not all on one edge.
Though,admittedly, all the text in this post goes to one side.

berlinonaut

In the early nineties Brompton had two other accessories for the carrier block available in parallel to the well-known bag frame: A kind of universal mount that you could mount onto the back of your favorite bag using bolts. And this thing which enabled you to mount a big basket onto the Brompton like in the picture



Both pieces of accessories seem not to have sold well and they are gone from their lineup for a least 25 years now.

BromptonINrio

it will overstress if you put too much wheight on it.
but i really doubt, as steel is very compilant.

here the carrier blocks we use

aceoffix:


aceoffix alloy brompton carrier block

berlinonaut

It does. I know of one case where a rider had to cancel his holiday ride because he was using such a 3rd party carrier block and it damaged the mount on the steering tube during his tour. The difference is that with the original the weight of the luggage does not singularly rely on the bolts (as with the aluminum ones) but the carrier block also connects directly to the steerer tube and this way distributes the weight aside of the bolts. Furthermore even with one loose screw the original carrier block still works and does no harm whereas with the accessory block a loose bolt may sheer or damage the thread and furthermore there is a movement of block possible, i.e. through side forces on the luggage when riding. In opposite to the original this goes fully into the bolt and may loosen them. So while the accessor blocks look no doubt nicer I consider them to be technically far less good.

bikebikebike

AGEKUSEL carrier has ACEOFFIX cast into inside
There is a mount to attach to bags offered on eBay at 150%+ of the carrier block price and several home brews ,
none of which have post creation/installation follow up , that I have been able to find
Carrier racks, sans bag , coming from several vendors and at a narrow range of pricing (44-50+) all with similar pictures

Big piece in the wire service press on Asian counterfeits, today, discusses issues with safety
and NPR/Fresh Air discussing generic meds victim of the same issue, which makes discussions like this relevant , as it is our much needed QC.