Originally Posted by
gugie
Oof! That's a sweet setup. I like that you're biased towards front loading. I've got one of those Zimbale saddle bags, great value and construction.
That's a pretty dang tall handlebar bag, would be interested to know where you got that and the low rider bags from. Looks like you've got your tent stakes in that blue bag?
Great pic as well!
The saddlebag is actually from “Cardiff”, which is a Merry Sales brand that seems to mostly rebrand other products. I’m not sure who the OEM was, but the Zimbale bags are actually a bit nicer. I can’t complain, I picked it for for $5, though it needed some repair.
I made the rando and low rider bags. The rando bag is basically GB28 dimensions. I’d suggest Ruthworks for something very similar. Ely’s bags are thoughtfully designed, constructed with high quality materials and offered at a very fair price.
The low riders don’t have any commercial peer I know of. I built them for this specific bike and rack. Their profile matches the Koga Miyata racks they’re attached to, though they also perfectly fit classic Jim Blackburn racks. The blue bag indeed holds tent poles, it’s tucked into the bottle pocket of the pannier and held in place by the shock cord lacing. The fronts are also laced and often used for drying laundry.
I call the setup “Comfortably light touring”. Good for mostly fair weather, but with a tent, mat, sleeping bag and stove. Three days worth of clothes, slack space for one day worth of food.
I wouldn’t want to tour for a month with this setup, but it’s nice for a few days, especially if they’re long days.