Has anyone ever made their own bag?
 

Every time I look at my bike I see a huge gap of wasted space inside my frame. I ride a GT, so the triple-triangle eliminates most conventional frame bags, and those that are left are too small to use. I was wondering if anyone has ventured out and made their own bag to hold the basics. I'm tired of riding with a backpack just to not get stranded.

You're talking about a bag like the one on this Swiss military bike?
http://www.yellowjersey.org/sab1.jpg
I would suggest you find a local upholstery shop and take your bike along for measurements. A good upholster could easily make you one. Also take along any accessories you might want to mount inside the bag with Velcro straps like a pump or make a pocket to hold a tube.

Yes, I've made or formed several for various bikes. You can take an old binocular case or pouch and zip-tie it on. Spray it with waterproofing of course. I've sewn my own bags from left over vynal. Although heavier, it's easier to add reflectivity while assembling the bag.

>
>2006 GT Avalanche Disc 3.0
>U.S. Navy Active Duty
>USS Abraham Lincoln

BTW we love to see you all come into Port of Everett. Rock on!

It's crossed my mind. I've seen a really nice one online somewhere, but I can't remember where. I think I could probably make a decent one out of coroplast. I just have to buy some, sit down, design and build it. Attachment would be velcro of course.

I never buy Coroplast! A local sign company prints signs for use on the side of the road for any number of advertisers. These signs are illegal and you can't get in trouble taking them. Steel wool removes the ink easily so while traveling around I look for these illegal signs for any Coroplast project I might have in mind.

I was actually thinking of making one out of nylon, like my hiking back-pack. Well, actually giving my idea to my grandma to make for me. I've never sewn before, and she's been sewing for 50 years, heck, she teaches sewing classes 3 nights a week. The one in the picture is very similar to what I'm looking for. I might print that out and use it to communicate my concept.

I don't think I'm concerned with weight, after all, I'm commuting on an MTB with 26x1.5 semi-slicks, and I'm weighing in at nearly 200lbs, so I don't think I'll notice a pound or so in weight.

I bet you don't like watching us as much as we like getting home!

REI is a nice source for the "findings" you might need for your project: black plastic buckles, D-rings, toggles, etc. in a variety of sizes like the ones on backpacks, bike packs, etc. If you're into high-vis, you can get sew-on reflective tape from e-Bay. Be sure to post pics of Gran's work and ask her if she takes orders(!) ;)

You could also talk to the any of a number of custom messenger bag makers. Flippinghades is a member on the forums, and he makes custom bags. If nothing else, he would be able to give you some pointers.

i had been looking forever for somebody to make me a seat bag (not quite the same thing), and then the solution hit me:

army surplus. Anything and everything you could probably want in the way of pouches and bags.

I ended up getting a sweet East German "rain" camo magazine pouch made of waterproof nylon. works great attached from the belt loops with some double-sided velcro from the hardware store, which I also use to attach my pump to my frame. If I wasn't so lazy, I would sew on some loops on the top so it would hang better.

Anyways, army surplus has tons of map cases, bread bags, and ammo pouches that would work well as frame bags, although you would probably have to do a bit of modification if you wanted a custom fit.

oh, did I mention cheap?

Yeah if you get some patterns or something made out would love to hear