sers

Ok, so there are some truly giant bags, that seem to work well enough.

For those of you who own collosal bags, i'd appreciate if you'd consider the following situation

You have a party to go to, and are asked to bring a 30 pack.
- Can you fit the 30 pack in the bag without removing the cans from the box?

You put the 30 pack in the bag and close it. You go to put the bag on
- How hard is it to get cinched up and strapped on?

You get on your bike and start riding
- do you feel any pain in your shoulder at all?

You realize that the bag is on too loosely
- are you able to comfortably tighten it up while riding?

srcurran

i will try to do that with my reload deluxe tonight. But for a similar situation, I had to bring a stack of course guides that was a little smaller than a 30 rack across campus today and it fit with room to spare. The strap was not super sinched on my back because of the shape of the bag and where the straps come from the rack would steal space on the you side of the bag (imagine the bag as a box, the strap would come from the middle of the sides not the corner closest to your back). The RELoad system isnt the best for tightening on the go, but I push the bag up on my back with my right hand (I push from the bottom of the bag) then move my hand to the strap and pull down. Because of the shape of the 30 rack you are not going to get it super tight so I just put my side strap on and it tends to work out. As for shoulder pain with that kind of weight it isn't going to be comfortable no matter how you do it. I think an X-System would help with the pain issue. If that is not an option, you could also use the under the left arm strap as a belt type thing to help spread the weight easier.

P.S. Awesome thing about the reload with the front pockets are you can throw in up to four sparks or a sixer of bottles in the front pockets and it doesnt take away any space inside.

chuck_norris

I would, but I don't drink anything that comes in a 30 pack. Can we say, change the rules to two 12packs and a 6er? Or three 6ers and a 12pack?

humancongereel

yes, i can fit it.
yes, i can close my backpack
no shoulder pain
i don't need to tighten it.

oh, and i haven't said this in the thread yet, but my backpack is a 40 dollar army/navy store purchase. i really want one of these cool-ass messenger bags to show mine up, because i'm sure there has to be something more functional--as in waterproof and bigger. still seems to be on a par with everything so far, though.

aaronm

Bailey's Super Pro XL.

-Fits a 30 in case easily.

-Easy to put on with 30 inside.

-Easy to adjust on the fly

-It's heavy on the shoulder, but not too bad. Not the best, not the worst. Any time the corner of a full 30 rack stas into your side it isn't comfy no matter which bag. Bailey's Super Pro does not have much in the way of padding the back of the bag, which is definitely a negative on the bag.

I've loaded up about 50-60 beers out of the case, but when that many cans are put in the bag it can be an issue with 1 or 2 following out when you put it around your shoulder. You definitely must be careful at that load. And aside from the aformentioned falling beer and 50-60 beers being really heavy it wasn't too bad. 30 beers out of case is nothing.



Very comfy while riding with a normal load. Easy to adjust on the fly. I like my bag very much.
Hope this helps.

mikearena

Arena Baggage

-No problem fitting the box, and then some extras for when you run out.

-Just bend over a little bit, and yank on the strap, pull it through with the second D ring and tuck it in. No problem

-If you're riding too large a frame with riser bars (or anything else with a similarly upright position) you might. If not, the weight is distributed more across your back, but not in an uncomfortable way.

-Once you get the hang of the buckle, yep. You could also attach and tighten the cross strap.

dosoner

this is a great excuse for me to buy a 30 pack. ill have photos and a review of how my chrom kremlin handled it in a few hours.

chuck_norris

Don't you have a bag to be sewing?

dosoner

me?


no


i DO have beer to be drinking though

chuck_norris

eh. Sorry. You jumped in after Mike's post. He's supposed to finish a bag for me by 9:00.

Enjoy that beer. I've got to finish 6 more hats before I'm allowed to have one.

cityraincityst

Agreed.

WithNail

No collosal bag here, just a chrome metropolis and...

- I can fit the case in my bag with a sweater as padding and a couple of fifths in there too.

- It's not too difficult to get strapped up, just make sure the strap is all the way loose before you put it on your back.

- Yep... if it's more than a few miles. But it's tolerable.

- If I'm going fast enough it's alright but when your going slow, that much weight over your back kind of sets off your balance.

sivat

I really want someone to post a picture of a baileyworks in action...

cityraincityst

If my camera hadn't fallen victim to the pavement due to the crappy pockets of the Timbuk2 (pre ownership of the bailey) there would be pictures... ****ers.

Then again... I guess it was stupid of me to have it in there anyway.

Moximitre

damn... are Timbuk2s really THAT bad? Granted I've only had mine for a year, but it hasn't failed me yet. From what I can tell, it seems like the stitching and materials are rather high quality. I guess I have nothing to compare it to, as I have never seen the stitching on another bag up close.

FlippingHades

There's no one single answer. First, remember that they're well on their way to becoming a corporate giant, and comparing their assembly-line product with handmade goods like Under the Weather, Zo, Bailey, PAC, Reload, etc... is kinda pointless. The only thing they have in common is a somewhat similar shape, and even that's getting further & further away as TB2 sells more and more "lifestyle" bags (handbags, purses, yoga bags, tote bags). They even have a boutique store in the very chi-chi Hayes Valley boutique neighborhood now. It's kinda scary.

But anyway, I suspect they had some quality control problems when they moved production to China a few years back. I got to compare a Timbuk2 from mid-2003 with a brand new one, and the new one seems to be made better - they've gone back to a heavier liner, and the stitching appeared to be of higher quality (note I said *appeared* - it isn't like I got to test it out). The liner from the 2003 bag had major cracking in the vinyl coating.

On the train today, I also saw two guys with TB2 commuter bags - both of them only a few years old by their design, but the strap was pulling off of one of them, and the other was just poorly designed - the flap left about a 3 inch opening on each side. Last week in the rain that bag would have flooded.

Moximitre

china? the one I got says "made in USA". Oh, and I agree about the opening on each side. Though not 3 inches, a half inch opening has gotten some of my stuff wet in the past. meh, hopefully it lasts a lot of years, cause the bag I used before that was a 10 year old piece of junk from a corporate picnic, and it held up like a champ. Oh, and it was free.

FlippingHades

Most of their bags are made in China now. Their FAQ says that the "custom" messenger bags (i.e. the pick-your-own-colors bags) and the "classic" messenger bags are still made in San Francisco, but they never specify how much of each is still made here -- I would be _extremely_ surprised if they were 100% USA made. The inside pocket assembly, and the entire strap assembly including the black side panels it's attached to are identical to those in the Chinese bags -- they're probably made in China, shipped here in bulk, and then assembled into a "made in USA" bag. Heck, that's exactly what I would do if I were running an operation of that size.

humancongereel

93 posts and still the most useful bag thread i've ever read on here.

jacobs

..

humancongereel

what backpack do you have?

gkautz

I have a Timbuk2 Large. It's holding up great, but I've only had it for a little over a year. I do have a friend who got a hand-me-down TB2 that was still in great shape and withing two months of him using it for school, the thing's tearing.

I do have a few complaints of my own. a) the bag seems to be too small for me and when it's loaded down it gets a very bulbous shape that sits awkwardly on my back. b) when loaded down there is a small gap on the top corners that would allow water in. c) I slip my u-lock through/around the large plastic buckle on the right side and though the small metal loop below the bucket to secure my lock. The lock still swings around and the bag still slides off my back to that heavy side, even though the sternum strap is secured.

I don't have the money, but I would love to sell this thing and get into something bigger and more "grassroots."

ColinT

Welll wheres the fun in that?

jacobs

As I've said on 2 other occasions in this thread, a Freight Baggage L.

If you're going to make a claim like this,

You should at least read the thread first.

somnambulant

also curious. I'd like to pick up a backpack, but nobody in Toronto seems to carry them regularly except for the Ortleib. That one seemed like it would be great for messing, but I need more pockets to organize all my crap. I'd like to check out the Chrome waterproof line (sultan/ivan) or the reload packs (I've never seen any reload products in Toronto).