nine

Anyone have any experience with these? it seems like a great idea. my only concern is that my frame might be too small (49cm).

https://www.jandd.com/detail.asp?PRODUCT_ID=FFP

late

Call Jandd and see what they say.

spokenword

a friend of mine tried it out on a brevet series last year and said that the bag bulged in such a way that it excacerbated his IT band issues because he kept on swinging his knees out to avoid brushing up against the bag. Also said that he had to swap out his bottle cages since the bag makes it impossible to mount a cage on the down tube and it's difficult to pick up a bottle on the seat tube. He wound up going with two bottle holders behind the saddle.

thebulls

I have one, but have only used it a modest amount. Maybe a total of 1000 miles of riding. I bought it because the combination of luggage items that I was using just didn't have quite enough room for what I needed (I was using an Arkel tailrider and a hydration pack).

My frame is a 58, which is big enough that the JandD doesn't interfere with a water bottle. What I carried in the JandD was my wallet, brevet card, and cell phone, innertube, multitool, and "50 miles worth" of food. With that load all pushed up toward the front, and the zipper tabs pulled to the front of their tracks, I didn't have any interference with my knees. Standing on hills I would brush the JandD, but not in a bothersome way.

Ultimately, I've settled on my preferred luggage, which is a Carradice saddle bag, LonePeak handlebar bag, and a Bento box. Given that I have plenty of storage space in the two bags, the JandD isn't all that much useful to justify its 5 ounces of extra weight. It's handy in the back of the tandem, though, as a ditty bag for the stoker.

Nick

nine

FYI, it is too small for my frame (49 cm)

stefank

I own the Jandd frame pack, model FFP. I like it a lot, it is much less troublesome than
either a rear pack or a handlebar pack for day commuting. It is long so it will hold things
like a spare spoke for example. Leg interference is not a problem. Some bottle mounts
on the downtube interfere, some don't. I found my very secure wire mount was hard to
remove a long bottle from but the other plastic mount was not much affected.

My big beef with this thing is that it's not big enough to carry all the stuff I need: an office
lunch, wallet, cell phone, tool kit, spare inner tube, etc., which is a pity since I would like to
ditch the handlebar bag. I don't like seat packs or anything where stuff can come out and
fall off without my seeing it. I wish the manufacturer would get on it and make a bigger
model that could better exploit the space available. I have a 58 cm road frame. Jandd
says the volume is 188 in^3 but I think it is about half that.

Other manufacturers I have found are: Deuter, Inertia, Lone Peak. Every time I do a search
another manufacturer pops up I had never heard of; there must be scores hiding in the
woodwork. Most of the frame pack products look unimpressive. (Where are the Germans
when you need them?) One exception is Relevate Designs whose proprietor seems to
be applying some serious brain power to the problem.

bmike

i've used one. like it, but am careful to not overstuff.

if you want a large size frame pack, look into revelate designs.
you can get the 'tangle' bag, which is non custom in several sizes, or send in measurements / templates from your frame...