Hermespan

Day 2 bag maker street, Hanoi

I'm determined to not make the same mistake of three years ago - hiring an old man who didn't know what he was doing combined with not having a translator present. Five years ago I found a businesswoman who subbed out the job to someone she knew would do a good job (or was just lucky). The artisan street runs the gamut from poor to excellent.

I spent over an hour scouting craftsmen and craftswomen, PVC, canvass, rubber etc. This is what I do. I like it. Other people go to Ho Chi Minh's relic. I go to hardware stores.

Step 1 in finding someone to make my bags - repair Flamingo front bag. It fits *very* tight, so tight it makes me wonder whether I was given a second-hand bag that had been soaked in the Singapore monsoon then dried in the brutal heat mid-day so that it shrunk. Either that or GG makes second-rate bags (that take two people to separate from the frame - I kid you not). Or I am the proud owner of a reject bag/frame. Another possibility it's a mismatch - a Flamingo bag on a Brompton frame. Is this a Brompton frame, a Flamingo frame or a third party one? It feels light but it sounds like hollow steel, not aluminum. What's more, the welding looks pretty good to me.

Here are photos of the frame...

fietsbob

I have one .. it looks like an early generation Brompton .. (or a copy of same. since you are in copy right ignoring piracy Asia.)

I just finished getting mine modified brazing on 3 tubes to the bottom . so as to extend out 9"

and now have a cargo carrying capacity .. (as long as the box is not too tall)

on the front end of my 3 tubes is a threaded bottle boss ,, the cross piece can thus be wood or as I have done a piece of Aluminum Flat bar ,

I got from the hardware store .. I then put reflective tape on the front of that flat piece.. Surly 'Junk Straps' work well to lash stuff down ..

No its plain steel I think they got them plated Zn most likely , its certainly not Stainless or Chromed or Nickel plated

Hermespan

Frame dimensions are...

thickness, stainless (?) tubing =12 mm

width, frame = 38.5 cm

height, lowest point = 29 cm

height, highest point to average point = 33 cm

height, including slight extra from bottom piece = 331 mm

depth of support piece= 87 cm

width of support piece = 158 mm

I won't bore you with the other structural dimensions. My idea is to give you the facts so you can make your own, all you Girlpower Flashdance welders.

Hey, examining this piece and feeling the non-cold temperature I suspect it is chrome (plastic?) coated. Doesn't feel like normal steel. Suspended in the right way and struck it rings. Ny metallurgical detective skills are now exhausted.

Since my crime scene photos don't do justice to the piece I give you many to examine...

Hermespan

I bow down again and again to the holy tradition of bicyclist masters. That didn't take long to unearth the esoteric secrets did it?

Fietsbob, your answer explains a lot. MBS in Singapore said he could rustle up a transport bag (doesn't fit), a front bag (the frame of which doesn't fit). Funny he didn't just tell me it was a patchwork .

I wait for others to put in their two cents in order to get a consensus. One opinion is not conclusive. I thank you very much but would also like to hear from Flamingo owners.

fietsbob

World wide web ..

Hermespan

So why I am here? To get several custom bags made. Start with baby steps - for me and the artisans - see if we are a good match. First job is Flamingo bag - simply to lengthen the hole where the handle extends. It's way too small. I demonstrate the problem with gestures. With those who let me get that far I use google translator.

Materials: Most popular materials are what looks like PVC, the same kinds as sold in Phnom Penh hardware district where I lived for a year. *Many* colours and textures - basically fake leather. Sold by the meter from 1.4M rolls for about VND80,000 (USD4). Shorter rolls of Russian (!) canvass of only an dark green or an ugly mustard. Same.

Artisans: Took me six or so enquiries before I could find anyone wanting to take the ten minute job on. A lot of old ladies told me to bugger off. A young guy offered to fix the bag but I didn't trust his youth. I don't want someone green (under 35) or half-demented like me (over 60). The very agreeable sellers who liked my bike (who doesn't? first question from every man: 'How much did you pay?' I have learned to tell white lies - "It was a gift, so I don't know") doesn't do piddly jobs. This is motorcycle country. I think making something for a bike is declasse. Or local's price is so low it's not worth setting up the machine, especially someone who can communicate with them via his computer but Viet to English typing in without dialectrical mark keyboard is much less accurate. What do I know, maybe what I thought was 'The bag does not fit. What is the price to expand the hole?' was mistranslated as something obscene. A couple people actually started on the bag and I screamed in horror when they wanted to mark the spots with permanent market instead of chalk or started on it with rusty scissors the size of barnyard animals. I finally found someone keen who had a razor and the rapport was good. Fiftyish - good age for an artisan.
'Bring your bike inside, someone might steal it' he gestured.

Prices: Slit, cut and stitch with new webbing VND50,000 ($2.35) Others wanted 80, 60, 90K. I shop around. Actually I chose his shop for the orderliness and his vibe - not the price. I realized I had broken a rivet and his helper replaced that for free.

Satisfaction: Perfection and I told him so which delighted him. I like his work and price and speed so much I left another organizing pocket repair which we discussed. I didn't ask the price. I'll pay whatever he asks within reason for local prices. It will be fair because I told him there will be more work. I've got plans... As another test I will ask him to expand the width slightly with elastic so it's less of a girdle fit.

BTW, do similar Brompton bags have such a stiff sort of 'L'-shaped inner bag piece? While I understand the value of a bottom and in this case a side pocket created for magazines or an Airbook, does it have to be *so* thick? What's more when it is riveted in four places at the bottom and the bend is so inflexible - well, it doesn't work well for packing away the empty bag. A BLACK interior isn't ideal either. The front zipper pocket is OK but even a little room for expansion would be better. Double-stitched so can't fault seam workmanship. Zippers a wee bit stiff. Maybe they will loosen up. Not YTK brand. Feels like cordura. Velcro fasteners underneath so wide they are overkill. Bag and frame were included in sale by My Bike Shop, Singapore, bless their hearts.

fietsbob

My Frame didn't have the 2 holes on either side of the receiver. , I suspect its a Copy ..

My Brompton Touring Bag has a stiffener panel on the back and the bottom , and the velcro strap under it is there
so you can lift the bag by the shoulder strap and the support frame stays with it , and wont bounce off on the road, Etc.

the New Brompton Touring Bag adds a yellow PVC coated fabric liner ..

the Even Nicer Brompton-Ortlieb O bag uses a light grey liner , though the outside is black..


I think you have Obsession issues ..

Hermespan

My Obsession is better than his paranoia or her depression.

It's also a perfume. Which if I had Aspergers (highly functioning autism lacking social skills) I would lecture you to sleep with the chemical formula thereof...

Anyway, away from personal comments of lay psychoanalysis, here is the bag fabric I like: 34% flax, 66% cotton, very thick. The rolls look like they were woven before Putin.

Does anyone want a front bag made from this ugly duckling textile? Looks appropriate for Soviet tank covers. 100% natural fabric means it can be dyed. I saw some rectangular bags made from this industrial-looking natural fabric. He told me they are used to crush ice. Good, durable. Photo makes it look a beautiful golden raw silk. It's actually more like a vomit green canvass. Quite in line with the most popular fabric for bags on the street - basic Viet Cong green material.

BTW, that's not a bandaid. It's webbing sample.

Hermespan

Anyone want to speculate what these holes are for? I speculate that the two on the vertical axis are to fasten the frame to a stem without a block, but the slot and three others on the horizontal axis perplex me.

No, I will not lose any sleep over it. BTW, Dr. Fietsbob Freud, did you hear about the dyslexic devil-worshipping insomniac with Alzheimers who stayed up all night trying to remember whether he had sold his soul to Santa?

fietsbob

No.

But internal heat in brazing bike frames need vent holes .. and mass production jugs and fixtures benefit from locating pins, on the Jig..

Hermespan

Yeah, I just discovered there's a whole world out there, more on topic for me than this forum. Why didn't you just send me the link by private message Fietsbob? Is it considered rude or is it a violation of the terms of this forum? YES, there are multiple blogs and websites on luggage and accessories - stuff this forum seens disinterested in by comparison. So, I won't be boring you!

Thanks for enlightening me. Bye yall...