Going Flat: The Bag

Used Velo Orange Campagne Bag

 I was able to finally complete my vision I had for the Velo Orange Utility Bar/Handlebar and the Karate Monkey recently. This post will detail what I had to do to make it all work. 

The former owner of this bag, a Velo Orange branded handle bar bag, offered me a ridiculously low price for it. In fact, I ended up doubling his offer and at that I still think I came away with a bargain. Most decent handle bar bags like this that I can find are well over $100.00 and I paid less than half of $100.00 for this bag which I cannot hardly tell has been used. 

So, with that score I came home and tried to figure out just how to attach this thing to the Utility Rack. This bag is meant to be held by a decaleur and I did not buy that since the decaleur would not have worked with the Utility Rack. The good thing was that the bag was drilled, or had holes, for the decaleur mount. I was able to kind of make my own mount which came out pretty well. 

Warning: If you are offended by roughed out fixtures and bits, please skip the next section.

If you like tinkering and finding parts to repurpose for other means, as I do, then read on....

Doing a bit of fab work

I searched around for a suitable material or bit to make a set of hooks. I also kept an eye out for something to use as a "backbone" across the back end of the bag to give it some place to be attached to as well. In the end I found an old steel fender brace for a cruiser style bike that gave me inspiration. 

The steel was rigid for sure, and the ends already had holes, which I could use. My mind went to work, and using a hack saw, a hammer, some drift punches, a bench vise, and some files I was able to fashion a brace and hooks from the old fender brace. 

And there ya go!

I won't bore you all with the nitty-gritty details of drilling holes, deburring, filing, and attaching the bits to the bag with hardware I had saved over the years. Suffice it to say that the plan worked out and the bag isn't going to randomly come off the bike now. I'll show you why in a bit here.

It's uncanny. This bag is perfect for this rack in terms of size. It fits the base like a glove. No overhanging at all, and comes up high enough on the Utility Rack's backstop that the lid opens and closes on the bag with no interference from the rack. It was as if these two items were designed for each other, in a way. Well, besides the fact that the rearward facing pockets are next to unusable and that I had to pretty much invent a way to attach the bag to the Utility Rack! 

A look underneath.

The bag originally had a sewn in leather bit with a slot that ran perpendicular to the bike's centerline. The old owner had two plastic cable ties through this slot loosely enough that I could run an old toe strap through them and then through the slotted tabs on the Utility Rack. This will keep the bag from bouncing off the deck of the rack. 

And here you can see what is going on up top.

The hooks and "backbone" I fashioned out of the old fender brace bolted to the bag with water bottle bolts and Nylock nuts and washers. Then I toe strapped the "backbone with downward pressure toward the lower brace of the Utility Bar, drawing the bag down which puts pressure downward on the hooks which are gripping the rack. 

By the way, that's a sleeping bag in a dry bag inside the handlebar bag. Lots of "bag" talk there. Sorry! I may put some Presta Valve caps over the ends of the exposed water bottle bolts just to ward off any possibility for those threads to tear something up, but for now, it's not a concern. 

Loaded up for a test ride.

I loaded up the handle bar bag and went for a ramble around the neighborhood. I rode on gravel, in alleys, on pavement, and across some grassy spaces. Nothing seemed to upset the bag on the rack, so I think this is a go for the time being. 

The next test will be a run somewhere to make coffee and then back again. I want to go by gravel to a place I have in mind, but if time gets short I can always run the Green Belt route. We will see. It may not happen right away and if it doesn't next week is a busy week so it would end up getting pushed back into June. 

Dang! Half the year gone already!

Going Flat: The Bag

Used Velo Orange Campagne Bag

 I was able to finally complete my vision I had for the Velo Orange Utility Bar/Handlebar and the Karate Monkey recently. This post will detail what I had to do to make it all work. 

The former owner of this bag, a Velo Orange branded handle bar bag, offered me a ridiculously low price for it. In fact, I ended up doubling his offer and at that I still think I came away with a bargain. Most decent handle bar bags like this that I can find are well over $100.00 and I paid less than half of $100.00 for this bag which I cannot hardly tell has been used. 

So, with that score I came home and tried to figure out just how to attach this thing to the Utility Rack. This bag is meant to be held by a decaleur and I did not buy that since the decaleur would not have worked with the Utility Rack. The good thing was that the bag was drilled, or had holes, for the decaleur mount. I was able to kind of make my own mount which came out pretty well. 

Warning: If you are offended by roughed out fixtures and bits, please skip the next section.

If you like tinkering and finding parts to repurpose for other means, as I do, then read on....

Doing a bit of fab work

I searched around for a suitable material or bit to make a set of hooks. I also kept an eye out for something to use as a "backbone" across the back end of the bag to give it some place to be attached to as well. In the end I found an old steel fender brace for a cruiser style bike that gave me inspiration. 

The steel was rigid for sure, and the ends already had holes, which I could use. My mind went to work, and using a hack saw, a hammer, some drift punches, a bench vise, and some files I was able to fashion a brace and hooks from the old fender brace. 

And there ya go!

I won't bore you all with the nitty-gritty details of drilling holes, deburring, filing, and attaching the bits to the bag with hardware I had saved over the years. Suffice it to say that the plan worked out and the bag isn't going to randomly come off the bike now. I'll show you why in a bit here.

It's uncanny. This bag is perfect for this rack in terms of size. It fits the base like a glove. No overhanging at all, and comes up high enough on the Utility Rack's backstop that the lid opens and closes on the bag with no interference from the rack. It was as if these two items were designed for each other, in a way. Well, besides the fact that the rearward facing pockets are next to unusable and that I had to pretty much invent a way to attach the bag to the Utility Rack! 

A look underneath.

The bag originally had a sewn in leather bit with a slot that ran perpendicular to the bike's centerline. The old owner had two plastic cable ties through this slot loosely enough that I could run an old toe strap through them and then through the slotted tabs on the Utility Rack. This will keep the bag from bouncing off the deck of the rack. 

And here you can see what is going on up top.

The hooks and "backbone" I fashioned out of the old fender brace bolted to the bag with water bottle bolts and Nylock nuts and washers. Then I toe strapped the "backbone with downward pressure toward the lower brace of the Utility Bar, drawing the bag down which puts pressure downward on the hooks which are gripping the rack. 

By the way, that's a sleeping bag in a dry bag inside the handlebar bag. Lots of "bag" talk there. Sorry! I may put some Presta Valve caps over the ends of the exposed water bottle bolts just to ward off any possibility for those threads to tear something up, but for now, it's not a concern. 

Loaded up for a test ride.

I loaded up the handle bar bag and went for a ramble around the neighborhood. I rode on gravel, in alleys, on pavement, and across some grassy spaces. Nothing seemed to upset the bag on the rack, so I think this is a go for the time being. 

The next test will be a run somewhere to make coffee and then back again. I want to go by gravel to a place I have in mind, but if time gets short I can always run the Green Belt route. We will see. It may not happen right away and if it doesn't next week is a busy week so it would end up getting pushed back into June. 

Dang! Half the year gone already!

Friday News And Views

WTB Adds 40mm Vulpine gravel tire range. (Image courtesy of WTB)

WTB Adds Wider Vulpine To Gravel Tire Range:

 Late last year I was able to review the WTB Vulpine 700 X 36mm tires for Riding Gravel. (HERE) I really liked them, but I was so hoping that WTB would make a wider version, because our gravel here really demands a 40+ size tire, maybe up to a 47mm tire. Anything in that range would be best here, and honestly, most riders want a 40-42mm tire. It is the "sweet-spot" for width on a 700c diameter wheel. 

In the linked review I mention, I had this to say about the 36mm Vulpine: "The Vulpine is- by far– WTB’s best riding tire for gravel yet." I can only imagine that this wider version will not only ride as well, but handle a whole lot better than the 36mm one did. 

And maybe I'll be getting the chance to find out. Stay tuned on that one.....

For now all you need to know is that the 700 X 40mm is available in a 60TPI folding skin wall and the 120TPI black wall SG2 puncture protected version. Available now at WTB.com 

Redshift Sports Announces The Kitchen Sink Handle Bar Bag:

If you have paid attention to my bike set up and read thoroughly here you already know I use a Redshift Sports Kitchen Sink Handle Bar.  One of the comments I made about it back then was that it might make sense to have the space the loop outlines from the front of  the handle bar be a space for a bag.

Well, I am not going to say that I had any influence here, but that is exactly what Redshift Sports has done. They call it- not surprisingly- the Redshift Sports Kitchen Sink handle bar bag. 

Redshift sent me one to try out a while back and I have a review of it on Riding Gravel here. I will say that it is about perfect for this handle bar. Not too big, but not so small it might have been not useful. There are two magnets for the 'flip-top' lid or you can zip it up. I unzipped the top and just used the magnetic closure. It is very secure, very easy to use, and well made. The loops on top can be used to lash another bag, or a jacket to the bag top, or there is an accessory computer mount that wedges into the webbing that might be of interest. 

Anyway, I like it. Standard Disclaimer applies. 

Need A Loop But Want Carbon?   

The new Merit Rodla carbon fiber flared drop bar might be a good choice if you like a Kitchen Sink bar type of idea, but want a lightweight version of that. Merit claims this one is about 365 grams, which is around 200 less than an aluminum Kitchen Sink bar. 

The price is not terrible either at about $220.00 direct from Merit. That seems pretty reasonable for a carbon fiber drop bar. It's got a claimed 25° flare and 110mm of drop with 75mm of reach, so it is pretty spot on with the geometry. 

Comments: Question: Would the Kitchen Sink Handle Bar bag work? Maybe..... Probably not perfectly, if at all. It'd be cool if it did though. Anyway, how about that angle to the extensions? That's the thing though, right? Any of these loop extension drop bars, or with any handle bar that predetermines stem/bar relationships for you, you get what you get. There is no adjustability once the pieces are fixed permanently in space. Might agree with you, might not.

While the bar is reasonably priced, that experimentation with fit is not possible, so it is a big risk to try bars like this when they are this expensive. Get it wrong and good luck getting anywhere close to your money back on it. Plus, you'd have the hassle of hawking it on the innerwebs. Fun!

Otherwise this is a cool idea, and I like the flattened tops too. It would be interesting to try one out.

Riding Gravel Radio Ranch Podcast Episode #101:

The latest podcast is up and ready for you to listen to. As of now I am still working on Apple podcast service but you can access this from Google Podcast, Spotify, or Anchor.fm for now. 

Here's the Link

Thanks for listening, if you do, and for your support!

That's it for this week's "FN&V"! Have a fun weekend and get in some riding!

Friday News And Views

WTB Adds 40mm Vulpine gravel tire range. (Image courtesy of WTB)

WTB Adds Wider Vulpine To Gravel Tire Range:

 Late last year I was able to review the WTB Vulpine 700 X 36mm tires for Riding Gravel. (HERE) I really liked them, but I was so hoping that WTB would make a wider version, because our gravel here really demands a 40+ size tire, maybe up to a 47mm tire. Anything in that range would be best here, and honestly, most riders want a 40-42mm tire. It is the "sweet-spot" for width on a 700c diameter wheel. 

In the linked review I mention, I had this to say about the 36mm Vulpine: "The Vulpine is- by far– WTB’s best riding tire for gravel yet." I can only imagine that this wider version will not only ride as well, but handle a whole lot better than the 36mm one did. 

And maybe I'll be getting the chance to find out. Stay tuned on that one.....

For now all you need to know is that the 700 X 40mm is available in a 60TPI folding skin wall and the 120TPI black wall SG2 puncture protected version. Available now at WTB.com 

Redshift Sports Announces The Kitchen Sink Handle Bar Bag:

If you have paid attention to my bike set up and read thoroughly here you already know I use a Redshift Sports Kitchen Sink Handle Bar.  One of the comments I made about it back then was that it might make sense to have the space the loop outlines from the front of  the handle bar be a space for a bag.

Well, I am not going to say that I had any influence here, but that is exactly what Redshift Sports has done. They call it- not surprisingly- the Redshift Sports Kitchen Sink handle bar bag. 

Redshift sent me one to try out a while back and I have a review of it on Riding Gravel here. I will say that it is about perfect for this handle bar. Not too big, but not so small it might have been not useful. There are two magnets for the 'flip-top' lid or you can zip it up. I unzipped the top and just used the magnetic closure. It is very secure, very easy to use, and well made. The loops on top can be used to lash another bag, or a jacket to the bag top, or there is an accessory computer mount that wedges into the webbing that might be of interest. 

Anyway, I like it. Standard Disclaimer applies. 

Need A Loop But Want Carbon?   

The new Merit Rodla carbon fiber flared drop bar might be a good choice if you like a Kitchen Sink bar type of idea, but want a lightweight version of that. Merit claims this one is about 365 grams, which is around 200 less than an aluminum Kitchen Sink bar. 

The price is not terrible either at about $220.00 direct from Merit. That seems pretty reasonable for a carbon fiber drop bar. It's got a claimed 25° flare and 110mm of drop with 75mm of reach, so it is pretty spot on with the geometry. 

Comments: Question: Would the Kitchen Sink Handle Bar bag work? Maybe..... Probably not perfectly, if at all. It'd be cool if it did though. Anyway, how about that angle to the extensions? That's the thing though, right? Any of these loop extension drop bars, or with any handle bar that predetermines stem/bar relationships for you, you get what you get. There is no adjustability once the pieces are fixed permanently in space. Might agree with you, might not.

While the bar is reasonably priced, that experimentation with fit is not possible, so it is a big risk to try bars like this when they are this expensive. Get it wrong and good luck getting anywhere close to your money back on it. Plus, you'd have the hassle of hawking it on the innerwebs. Fun!

Otherwise this is a cool idea, and I like the flattened tops too. It would be interesting to try one out.

Riding Gravel Radio Ranch Podcast Episode #101:

The latest podcast is up and ready for you to listen to. As of now I am still working on Apple podcast service but you can access this from Google Podcast, Spotify, or Anchor.fm for now. 

Here's the Link

Thanks for listening, if you do, and for your support!

That's it for this week's "FN&V"! Have a fun weekend and get in some riding!