Originally Posted by
hokiefyd
@
Skipjacks, your Crosstrail looks great! I'm sorry if I missed it earlier, but it looks like you have a super small pannier bag setup at the front of the rack -- does it straddle the rack mount and have a compartment on both sides? Could you perhaps take a closer picture of how that's setup? Thanks.
Yeah I do! It's my own little creation.
It's where I put my phone / keys / wallet / cash / whatever else might be in my pockets / etc. I like having it because 1) it keeps that stuff organized and separate from anything else and 2) I don't always want to take my full sized panniers or a trunk bag. Sometimes I just want to go for a joy ride with little gear. But I still want my basic stuff protected.
First off I used this bag (Type 1 in the options)
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00PRRHI92
The right bag for your bike will vary based on how much room you have to work with.
I removed the cell phone case in the middle. (It was just velcro'ed on)
It's supported by the forward arms of my rear rack. I got lucky in that the arms for my rack are relatively horizontal on my bike. Different rack or different bike and those forward arms could be sitting at a very steep angle. If you look at the post above this one of a different Crosstrail with a different rear rack, you'll see different support arms for the rack that my mini pannier set up wouldn't work with. So I lucked out with a set up that was conducive to this. (This was NOT pre-planned. I set up the rack THEN realized the tiny pannier would fit there)
Anyway it's supported by the rack's forward arms. And it's kept off the rear tire by the bike frame. It took some patience to get to properly strapped down and stable but after some trial and error I got it to work.
The left side pouch is just an empty pouch. That's where I put my keys and wallet and stuff.
The right side pouch is a dedicated smartphone bag. I took an block of foam rubber and cut it to the size of the bag's interior then sliced it down the middle. Then I wrapped the foam in a piece of self adhesive felt for softness. So I can just toss my phone in there and it's nice and protected from bumps on both sides. Behind the foam I store a zip lock baggy too in case it rains. I can toss my phone in the zip lock bag for extra protection.
And I keep a shower cap tucked under my seat that I can pull out and cover the whole set up with in under 10 seconds if I suddenly get caught in the rain. It balls up really small under the seat and stays out of my way. Again, it's by dumb luck that a shower cap my wife happened to have is the perfect size to fit over this.
Also I don't have it pictured here but I have my spare tire tube folded up and wrapped in a velcro strap and then I just sit it on top of the mini panniers where the velcro felt from the cell phone case used to be. It sticks to it like glue but is easy to access and remove.
The front of the bags sit about even with the seat post so the back of my upper pegs bumps them if I straighten my legs on the down stroke of pedaling, but that serves as a reminder to me not to fully extend my leg and lock my knees out. As long as I don't lock out my knees I don't hit the bags.
If you ask why I would go to all this trouble instead of just using it on the top tube as this kind of bag was designed for the reason is because I didn't want to
First off I didn't like how it looked. I liked it on my last bike. But I thought it looked bad sitting up front on the Crosstrail.
Second it didn't fit right on the Crosstrail because of the gap between the tubes. It's designed for a smaller frame bike.
Third it was in my way of reaching forward to lock/unlock the suspension fork.