In mid-July I got an email from Peter Weigle with a photo that showed a wedge-shaped piece of cardboard standing on the rack of one of his recent bikes. Would I be interested in making a bag to this shape? Did I have any suggestions that might be useful in bringing this idea to reality? Peter’s aim was to have a shape that lightened up the front bag--both visually and in weight--, didn’t bury his lovely racks, and maintained the usefulness of the map case found on standard bags. His intention was to put lesser-used items like tools and a spare tube at the bottom of the bag, keeping the weight low and centered in the small footprint at the base. Jackets, food and other frequently needed stuff goes in the upper portion of the bag. I was immediately taken with the bold shape and wrote back saying I thought it was a great concept and it would be a pleasure to be a part of the project. The goal became to have it ready for use at D2R2. We had a great back and forth with sketches, mock-ups and refinements including working out the wedge-shaped front pocket that tapers to the bottom that provides an expandable yet svelte storage option. I fed-ex’d the finished bag down with just enough time to fit it before heading to Deerfield. The shakedown ride at D2R2 proved a great success. After riding it hard, he was pleased with how it handled the rigors of the ride and stayed in place well. Shortly afterwords he made a couple of changes: preferring the location of the hook for the cover elastic to be a bit higher than I placed it (its always a challenge to find the perfect location for this detail!) and adding two magnetic buttons to the top flap to act as a automatic closure system with the decaleur bracket. An additional feature that came a short time afterwords was a making a small pencil bag that mounts inside the the bag. It rests at the top of the back panel for quick access to small items while riding and is held in place by the decaleur mounting bracket mounting bolts.
I’m grateful Peter included me on this project and look forward to taking this design forward.
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D. CainCyclist and craftsman. Archives
January 2022
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