I've always been a tinkerer at heart so I wanted to see if I could make my own. I had most of the stuff lying around and only had to buy a few things. Mainly the skewer mount. After thinking about what I wanted for a bit I put it together and this is what I ended up with. I wrapped it with orange tape for visibility.

http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r152/Hastyman/tray%20bien/IMG_0711.jpg

http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r152/Hastyman/tray%20bien/IMG_0709.jpg

http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r152/Hastyman/tray%20bien/IMG_0712.jpg

http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r152/Hastyman/tray%20bien/IMG_0713.jpg

http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r152/Hastyman/tray%20bien/IMG_0714.jpg

It rides nice. Really can't even tell the bike is back there. Only strange part is getting off and on the bike as the balance is a bit off. Overall I'm pleased with it though.

Cool! What are those aluminum elbows?

My idea at the moment is to use two quill to threadless adapters. I've got an old yakima tray laying around, the yakima bars about 1 1/8" (exactly? i only have yellow gas pipe that's a little small but works). The quill stem is 7/8". Should work if the adapters are long enough.

P.S. That big pannier looks great.

Thanks.

The elbows are just 90 degree conduit elbows. Much better choice than bending for me.

I made the bags out of cotton duck and waterproofed them with linseed oil. While I liked the xtracycle bags, there is no flap. I made these for less than 20 bucks for both of them. I added grommets to each end and laced them up makes it like 2 giant messenger bags that also open up on the ends. That way I could carry bigger things if I wanted to.

Great, but you should post it in the "sticky homeuilt extracycle" or it is going to "disappear into history" in a few weeks from now. Soo cool if we could find them all in one place:D:D

Kudos, now you've got me thinking of building one instead of buying one...you bastid!

Kudos, now you've got me thinking of building one instead of buying one...you bastid!

Hey, think of it as 30-40 bucks well spent.

If you do, I can pass on a few tips I learned along the way.

Nice work. Thanks for the info, pics and inspiration!

Nice work. I really like the conduit elbows, I bent some wideloaders with my bender and the rounded corners seemed like too much wasted space. Your bags are also cool, very similar in looks to the ones I made, but I like the option to open the ends if needed. :D

Noice!
Choice!
Some Other Clever Hipster Exclamation Of Approval!

Nice work. I really like the conduit elbows, I bent some wideloaders with my bender and the rounded corners seemed like too much wasted space. Your bags are also cool, very similar in looks to the ones I made, but I like the option to open the ends if needed. :D


I agree about the wasted space on bent tubing. I went through the same. That's why I went with the elbows for the bike tray.

When I was making my own bags, I looked at your bags for ideas. A great design IMO, with a few tweaks to make it my own.

Thanks.

The elbows are just 90 degree conduit elbows. Much better choice than bending for me.

I made the bags out of cotton duck and waterproofed them with linseed oil. While I liked the xtracycle bags, there is no flap. I made these for less than 20 bucks for both of them. I added grommets to each end and laced them up makes it like 2 giant messenger bags that also open up on the ends. That way I could carry bigger things if I wanted to.


Nice job Chris. I was wondering how you waterproofed the canvas with linseed oil? Did you warm it up first? Did you brush it on? Was it boiled linseed oil? Did you apply mutiple coats? Did you apply it to the inside and outside?

I'm thinking of making something like a large saddle bag from a canvas backpack from the army/navy store. I want something I can put a full day's worth of supplies in, as well as some art equipment.

Nice job Chris. I was wondering how you waterproofed the canvas with linseed oil? Did you warm it up first? Did you brush it on? Was it boiled linseed oil? Did you apply mutiple coats? Did you apply it to the inside and outside?

I'm thinking of making something like a large saddle bag from a canvas backpack from the army/navy store. I want something I can put a full day's worth of supplies in, as well as some art equipment.

I waterproofed the canvas with boiled linseed oil. I only did one coat, that was applied with a brush.

I will tell you, do it outside. Boiled linseed oil, while initially sort of pleasant smelling, really gets on your nerves after a while. Then it just flat out stinks. It took about a week to 10 days to dry. There is still a bit of oily residue in the bottom parts of the bag. Nothing bad, I just wouldn't put a nice white shirt in the bag unprotected. I know it will completely dry at some point though.

Also, another word of caution. When the Linseed oil is drying it heats up a bit, which means it can be spontaneously combustible. Odds of that happening are pretty slim, but I'd rather let you know now than to hear that your house burned down next month. Another reason to do it outside. Just hang it on a clothes line and turn it once a day or so. Helps air it out to dry and keeps the oils from pooling on any one part of the fabric more than others.

Thanks for the info Chris!