So then that leads me to ask, how much did a French made TA bag, imported into the US in the early 70s cost?

[MENTION=465040]Joe Bikerider[/MENTION] should know, it appears he may have purchased his "back in the day".

Thanks for the tip...just ordered me one of the little Trifolds they have on special. Nice deal for $20 if you ask me!

1980 Mel Pinto Imports catalog, p.4 - "T.A. Front Bag, Nylon or Canvas, many pockets ... $23.00." The T.A. bag support for the Mafac front brake is listed below it at $3.50. Figure it would have been cheaper before the oil embargo, the recession, '70s inflation, etc. Unless Mel had a big supply he had gotten earlier in the decade ....

Maddening. For about $9.00 more than I paid for a crappy nylon Eclipse basic bag I coulda had a T.A. and a front rack ...

Those are dealer prices. Dealer would sell that bag for around a big whooping $35.

New canvas bags go for $200 on up.

That says "Dealer price". But double it and it's still a good investment.

Adjusted for inflation: $137 in 2017.

-Bandera

That would make it $46, which is $136.65 in 2017 dollars. I might be willing to pay that much, but not $200.


I love the style of the Acorn bags. The Dill pickle and Swift Industry bags don't appeal to me at all.


Bandera beat me to it.

I love the spec on the TA bag shown on the pricelist... "Front Bag, Nylon or Canvas, Many Pockets"

That's still cheap.

Does anyone here think Acorn's bags would be safe in the clothes washing machine? I have one of their saddle bags and it's a little crusty after this season's riding. I'd like to git 'er cleaned up.

DD

Hey Jeff, I've just brushed mine off with a stiff brush once the dirt/mud had dried. seems to work pretty well.

No doubt, by today's standards.
The retaliative tariff for quality cycling goods has opened a yawing price/value chasm from "back when" to now-abouts.

Still, it's a take-it-or-leave-it proposition to acquire an Acorn bag or Carradice or what have you for the proven quality & function.

-Bandera

Proven quality and function AND longevity are what keeps me biting the bullet and paying what I need to pay - my Carradice Nelson Longflap was $73 when I bought it from Rivendell in 1998, working out to around $3.85 a year. It looks like it's ready for another 19 years, too. If I pay $200 or so for a handlebar bag AND I get good service for it for a couple of decades, then it's worth it to me. When durable goods really are durable and good, they're worth it, at least to me.

The '70's English made canvas & leather seatbag that has been on one town bike or other for decades started to rip at the corner reinforcement for the dowel rod. Took it to my local saddle & tack shop and had it repaired for $25, good to go for years more of service.

-Bandera

If you're looking for something inexpensive, look for camera bags or 12 pack coolers in thrift stores, or just repurpose one of your own. Most of the useability for a fraction of the cost. If you want a really great bag, you're looking at $200+

Another option is to use a Swift Paloma. It's a smaller handlebar bag. I have one and swap it between bikes. I just bought extra Klickfix mounts and they work great. Plus you use a should strap and carry it with you. Super handy for day trips. https://builtbyswift.com/shop/horizonline-paloma/

We also use Acorns here. I have an Acorn Roll and my wife uses a Boxy Rando on her MAP. She likes that one just fine, but it's pretty big. Often, it's more space than she needs.

I use a Swift Sugarloaf with a Wald 137 on my Bilenky. Now that's a super nice bag for $150 and so versatile. I also have a Swift Ozette that's just as nice as the Acorn Boxy Rando. Does not have the classic look of the Acorn bag, but that's not a concern to me. They all get covered in dirt and grime if you actually use them.......

In 1987 while picking up some parts from Mel Pinto's, I saw a stash of T.A. bags (and a few canvas panniers) on some shelves. I would estimate that there were 25-30 bags there. Being heavily into racing at the time I wondered what would ever happen to those old canvas bags that I regarded as dinosaurs. I still wonder...Incidentally, I recall that those bags were all the same but had various badges or labels...Some were T.A., some "Mel Pinto", etc....There was also a sizeable stash of the T.A. water bottle cage nylon pouches....

Thanks for that trip down memory lane. I can't remember what I paid for the TA bag and rack. The PX10 I do remember well, $240 circa 1971. I remember because that was the same amount we three roomates were paying for our two bedroom apartment in Del Mar. Winter rate especially for us UCSD students. Summer rate at the time would have been $480 per week. BTW, the shop I worked at around that time routinely doubled the wholesale price for retail customers with exceptions of course.

Fashion affects cycling gear like any other sports equipment.
Back when Cannondale, Kirtland and Eclipse entered the marketplace w/ their "modern" functional lightweight colorful Cordura h-bar, seat pack and panniers to mount on sturdy lightweight Blackburn racks the traditional Carradice & Karrimore products that we carried seemed dowdy, dated, over-priced and obsolescent at best.

Canvas, leather straps and buckles: Out
Cordura nylon and zippers: In

So it went,

-Bandera

They overcharged you Joe! ...or the price went way up in one year.



Yes, I loved that bike so much that I still have the receipt almost 50 years later.
Brent

Yeah, but, but, the shop I bought mine from is still in business! . Zcbikes.com
And they have a whole class of navy ships named after them. https://www.navy.mil/ah_online/zumwalt/
Did I mention that San Diego is a big navy town? So there.

The non-sequitur is making the capital of Nebraska is Lincoln! Ha!

All recommendations are to brush it and if needed then clean it further with mild soap on a cloth, rinse and dry in the sun. The Acorn bags are made from waxed canvas and a washing maching would not be kind to them.

You may want to put a preservative on the leather straps, maybe some Proofide if you have a Brooks saddle?

My Acorn bag looked a little sketchy, but a good brushing and vacuum job and it looks good now - not new but cared for, which fits in nicely with C&V.

I used my handlebar bag from my Any-Road when I went on a trip on my Honda XR250R and it got real muddy after a tumble into a few mud holes. I took the leather straps off and tossed it in the washing machine and it was fine.