stringbreaker

I got the Acorn bag I ordered today. While I must say the workmanship is excellent the materials are top notch, the leather straps are much heavier than the ones on my Carradice. I'm a bit disappointed, I thought it would be much larger than it is. I was hoping I could ditch the rack and bag I was using in conjunction with my Carradice zipped roll however I don't think it will be possible. I'll just have to see when I take a ride how much I can carry with it. I may end up ordering the larger bag although I don't like the way it attaches to the seat, the dowel inside like this bag has is better in my opinion. No knock on the bag itself it just appeared to be a good bit larger in the ad.

Bikedued

PICS!! hehehe.,,,,BD

stringbreaker

I was going to take some pictures and still might but I'm too bummed out about it right now so maybe this weekend if I get a chance.

treebound 

Did you get the small bag? https://www.acornbags.com/smbag.html

or the medium bag? https://www.acornbags.com/medbag.html

I've been curious about their bags. There's also some outfit up in N.Wisconsin or Minnesota that makes bags which I forget the name of that look interesting as well.

Let us know how much stuff you can stuff into it. Sorry about the disappointment.

stringbreaker

I got the medium/ large bag with the two outside staps. Its so well made in fact its better made than my carradice. The leather straps are much thicker and the buckles are more robust. It tapers from top to bottom and I think if it was the same size from the top to bottom it would be perfect. The main reason I got this one it the way it attaches to the saddle. I like the wood dowel inside it seems like it would more stable than the straps on their other bags.

Sierra

If you are unhappy with it I'm sure you can sell it to one of us here and then order a larger one more to your liking.

stronglight

Afraid I always carry too much junk along on most of my rides. So, that would be of minor use on my bikes, too.

That bag looks like it would be acceptable for long day rides and might accept a sweatshirt, perhaps a spare inner tube and tools and a couple sandwiches but that's about all I would hope for. The small pockets would seem useful for a wallet, keys, cell phone and possibly a very compact digital camera, but not much else. Seems to have the capacity of a small single compartment rack-top bag - which is my personal minimal requirement for most any rides around town, and mine measure around 12" x 8" x 7" - so according to the specs on the webpage it looks about right... maybe.

That particular bag would much better suit my purposes if mounted as a handlebar bag. The 9" depth (thus converted to height) and the 10" width would be an easy fit on most of my bikes. I think the larger Acorn "handlebar bag" is actually ridiculously small (as are most modern handlebar bags). That bag also has silly bungees for stabilizing it between the handlebars - another goofy US concept, since we don't have decent hanging support frames or front support racks to lash them to.

The British had always favored saddle mounted bags for "touring" rather than rack mounted panniers and such which were the norm on French bikes. That was why Carradice always had some VERY large bags in their catalogues. We never seem to have grasped this concept in the US. The only exceptions I have seen are a couple very large bags dating from 1970 or 71 which were made for and sold with a Schwinn badge riveted on them... not surprisingly... those were actually made in England for Schwinn by either Carradice or Karrimore.

Don't get too bummed over the bag, just pass it along to someone else and try the largest size. I like the fact that a small US craftsman is now making these high quality bags. Maybe he would also be open to suggestions from C&V Forum members for some future bags or might even accept custom design orders. Sometimes it is good to have the ear of a small volume merchant/craftsman just starting to expand his business.

stringbreaker

It would be nice if in the ads they would show just how much stuff a person could get in there and also show the bag not installed to show how it tapers. Probably why they don't have a problem with hitting the bag with your heels cause its tapered. Maybe they will start making one that isn't tapered for those of us that seem to take everything but the kitchen sink along on a 15 mile ride

bmaxwell

stringbreaker at least you are not riding this weekend... at least I hope not the weather is terrible so maybe they will let you trade your bag for the larger one.

mudboy

I ordered a 2-strap roll and a medium bag in November (wasn't sure which one would suit my needs better). They are indeed very well thought out bags, and very well made. Just make sure you mark your calendar for the first of the month when they actually sell the bags!

Pete