Andrew R Stewart 

This is a project I started to think about about 4 decades ago when I first came across the new "tensioned support" (or whatever was the tag line then) design of the Eclipse handle bar bags. The bar mount always seemed nice for access but poor for handling. Eclipse had an answer in their Seat Post Thing and my bags moved behind the seat ever since. But my frame size was a problem for easy access when riding and I sometimes rubbed the bag's corners with my legs. So I made my own SPT, adding length and height to the bag's placement. Next were the Madeden bags, may the company RIP, and my rack to hold them behind the seat off the post too. The last in this trip of different brand HB bags are the Arkels with their own bracket system that I also converted to a behind the seat location with a return to what is a version of a SPT.

All of these had their issues. Noise over bumps, ease of access, volume, weight, sway and bounce. The whole time I thought there was a better way and with my sort of retirement I have time to ride, contemplate and design in my head. Here's the recent end result as it is being made. This is version two with "improvements" and dimensional tweaks from the prototype. I'll add more history and photos as I get to them, riding is the first priority these days... Andy


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Andrew R Stewart 

This story starts with my being a "kitchen sinker". From the beginning of my riding derailleur bikes I seem to want to carry more than the average clubbie. Early on basic barrel shaped seat bags (Bellwether was the brand of choice for us) hanging from our B17s ruled. The thigh bump/rub bothered me, the bag's freely swaying aspect and my wanting to be different had me trying what were the same basic idea but now strapped to the handle bars. More room, maybe less sway but lost a hand position on the bars.

My job at the area's better bike shop (Geo. Rennies Bicycle Shop) exposed me to a variety of bags. I tried a Franch made touring bag for the handlebars, TA maybe? It also strapped directly to the bars and rested on one of the TA brake caliper mounted mini racks. I did like the less sway and more room but that against the handle bar attachment sucked. (Now in hindsight I should have kept that bag and could sell it for 2 or 3x what I paid for it...) The wave of nylon bag material was taking over and the brown cotton and leather just was so old school. USA based brands were just coming to the market, Cannondale, Eclipse, Kirkland, Bellwether to name a few. Being a design focused guy the Tensioned Skin aspect of the Eclipse bags caught my eye and soon I had one.

They made a couple of versions of their early handle bar bags, sharing the same support rack and central "compartment". The Pro was the one with the added pockets and my choice. Volume was great, no hand position limitations but that sway was worse with the rack's flexibility. It may have been that first year I used one or the year after that Eclipse offered their Seat Post Thing (SPT), a cast Al stem like thing that allowed the bag to be positioned off the seat post and just over the rear wheel. Lights and rockets went off and this became my bag location of choice ever since. One cool aspect of the SPT and the bag's support rack is that one can remove the bag/rack from the SPT very easily. One not so cool aspect on my small sized bike was the bag's contacting the tire when loaded and riding over big bumps. So a conventional rear rack was added and helped support a heavily loaded bag. Here's a shot of this set up but using a self made SPT on one of my "station wagon" bikes. Andy

Andrew R Stewart 

In my personal world the SPT is one of the better "inventions". Here's a shot of my 9th frame built to what I ran in 1980ish with an Eclipse SPT supporting the bag. (There's a lot going on with this bike and it's silver Rust-Oleum painted fork as well as the Imron brown on the rest).

Eclipse initially made a SPT with a lighter casting, then after some broke they beefed up the casting's thicknesses. But it positioned the bag too close to the seat for the leg length I have so I began to make my own. When I fell in love to an even smaller woman the ability to make a long and highly angled SPT was appreciated by someone else.

Over the years I have made, maybe, 6 or 7 SPTs of varying dimensions. All with a 1.125" x .035" post clamp tube and bag support rack tube/stub. The extension was usually .875" or 1" by .035". What changed was the clamp and fasteners. The one below is an early version with a slim/short length binder bolt not contained in a counter bored barrel, as would come later.


Next up is my turning away from the light and being swayed by the young and trim Madden. But at the expense of the support device's weight and complexity. Andy

Andrew R Stewart 

By the later 1980s Eclipse had pretty much left the scene and I had found Madden's line of touring bags. I felt it as a suitable replacement for the Eclipse bar bags but a tad smaller overall, for a bar bag not a bad thing. Soon I was planning a SPT like rack that the Madden bag would hang at.
The Madden bag was different in structure from the Eclipse in that the Madden had an Al and plastic internal "frame", so the OEM bent rod support tack only provided a flat horizontal portion for the bag's pannier like hooks and a verticalish something to support that back wall. So this was #2 of my few attempts.



That shot is taken recently because I no longer have the #1. Note the M5 binder bolt barrels, a self designed and out sourced bit of mine. This one was for the wife and had a greater "reach" down and away to the post clamp, relative to the bag, then mine needed. Here's a shot of mine on the then version of my "perfect" Sunday ride bike.



Besides the bag and the rack there's a lot going on with this bike too. My first time with SS rear drop outs, premade carbon fork, pinch bolt crank and threadless HS. With it's fairly thin walled tubes and Al steerer it never felt solid to the road and while I did put a few thousand miles on it I pretty much always knew this bike was not my future. Were it was a long term bike I would have made another rack at some point with the bag slightly rocked forward and about an inch higher.
Fun other details are the rear view mirror, rear brake cable routing, TA bar cage and little mid seat stay loops made from spokes for the bag's cords. IIRC this bike was the first of the Sunday Ride ones of mine without sew ups from the build up since high school. Andy

Andrew R Stewart 

My bag/rack exploration sort of stopped for quite a few years about now, after the Madden bag racks. Loosing a wife, moving back to the home town, taking care of elder parents, buying and later selling houses and getting use to the 4 seasons of my growing up all took their tolls.

To mimic this slow period this post has some shots of previous rack making and a shot of the clamping bolt barrels I have made/used.


This is one of the racks for the Madden bags. Once the "jig" was established and the rack/post clamp geometry understood it wasn't too hard to do the rest. The post clamp tube has the second bike's rack binder bolts (the M5 ones contracted out) in place already.


Here's a seed for the next design family. Made for Earl Y, a member of the CR list. He wanted a vertical support for his Eclipse bag which could be easily removed. While I think this achieved that I wasn't happy with it for my needs.


Some binder bolt barrels. Top is a common M6 bolt type, available from a few suppliers in one form or another. Middle is a self designed and contracted out fabrication M5 version. While I do like this, being about 85% as large as the M6 one, it is still a bit bulky for some applications. Bottom is what I might call an "in line" M5 version. Much less bulky than the middle and better for binders that are on the sides of post clamps. These are home made.

Next will be where this thread started, Andy