Originally Posted by
Ridefreemc
...
I'm sorting out what I'd like the bike to look like and how I want it to feel while riding. Ortlieb Sport Packers look appealing, as does a Carradice style seat bag. I've had a Dill Pickle in the past, but that particular one needed a little more support (it got a bit too loose for my tastes).
....
A few notes on a Carradice bag:
.- They used to be expensive, and that was before tariffs. Now if you can find someone in UK to ship one to you, probably even more expensive.
- I do not like the way the bag hits my legs as I pedal, I used a stem with appropriate shim on the seatpost and a wood dowel (sprayed black) to push the bag further back, see photo below.
- I tried a piece of cardboard inside the bag to give it more structure, worked great, so I later replaced that with a piece of coroplast to be more permanent if it gets wet. I put several creases in it. The coroplast is not attached to the bag, just in it loose, see photo, disregard the banana case.
With the Coroplast above, the bag has plenty of structure, does not sag like a wet pillow case.
The bag shown above is a Carradice Pendle, too small for bike touring. Photos below show a Nelson Long Flap. In this case the bag was supported from the bottom with the two panniers.
The only thing that I do not like about the Carradice bag is that it is the opposite of quick release, it takes several minutes to attach it and several minutes to detach it every day.
Someone on this forum has done extremely light weight touring with a large Carradice bag, his name on this forum is Nun. With a search you might find some of his past posts. I just did a quick search, here is one post:
Who here likes Carradice bags?
And another:
Touring with a Saddlebag Instead of Panniers?