Sometimes, in my head, I picture bike idylls. Mostly they involve riding as bike camping. We've upped the trip numbers this year, and have more in the works (J being big enough to come out of the trailer and grip a bar reliably has made a big difference) . D and I will be slipping out on Friday evenings for some s24o rides now that he is the willing and cheerful offroad powerhouse he is becoming. Bike camping by necessity involves toting lots of stuff. And when you add freeloaders ( by which I mean kids unable to pack it in) to the mix, it balloons. As with most things, the toting of stuff is best done stylishly.
Here are some things one could use for toting stuff by bike:
acorn
Nice looking bags made in the US, and super reasonably priced. Haven't dealt with them, can't say.cetma
Versatile, intelligently designed racks. A little clunky. Love the back plate, the optional fence and the big area. Haven't dealt with them, can't say.pass and stow
Saw these racks at the handmade show, and they were nice. Nice finish, love the large area. Classic porteur styling. No pricing on the website?
berthoud, at peter white cycles
Super f(r)ancy, and you pay for it. I covet this bag.And what do we covet, Clarice?rivendell
Nice styling, and giant size! Rivendell has a good selection of bags 
and racks (dang the silver hupe is elegant). Plus they're easy and knowledgeable. And, plus they kicked off this renascent wellbred scene in cycling. Recognize.velo orange
Velo Orange keeps coming. Lots of stylish racks! Now they're stocking the Nitto Campee rack...rack n roll
Seems like nice stuff. Love the weave, and great size. Fixedwheel uses one, and if anyone would,uh, break it and tell us- it'd be him.
frost river
Those folks have bike stuff, and it has a nicely drawn appearance (did they make stuff for Rivendell? Looks like it) and is extremely reasonable. I had a rotten time ordering some panniers from them. I ended up cancelling the order after getting a bad attitude from them upon calling to find out where the _uck my bags were, as they ignored emails. Consider yourselfs warned.
your local bike shop
You can shop your lbs to find alternatives to this high falutin' stuff. Your local can order super reasonably priced notsoflashy products to make your hauling experience useful and kickass.
Like Wald baskets, for example. Or, Surly racks- which are reasonable and sturdy as hell, and very adjustable, though the painted finish is inelegant. These work well, and are a great value.
So , yes there's a bias towards natural materials and an old school aesthetic. But y'all knew that. Don't give me no plastic breakable crap. I will bivy in a repurposed piece of Tyvek though...
Having said that, in spite of the fact that they look real space age...here are these from Epic Bags:
Epic also offers seat bags, but they have no support, and it looks like a Bad Idea to me. That's a lot for a seat post to hold when you have an ass like mine.Finally, get a load of these jackasses:
1 comment:
as a sponsored rider of rack n roll industries it's in my contract to talk highly of said product with 20 lashes as my punishment should the number of casualties see the light of day. i'm not the first fxdwhl....
frost river made riv bags and pretty much dissed them too.
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