I tried out a few of the Carradice mounting hacks last night and rode to work with the saddlebag this morning. Full pictures will be forthcoming, but I used a longer toe strap and a section of PVC pipe mounted to the seat tube to push the bag back a bit, away from my thighs, and I affixed a short piece of dowel into the rails of my saddle to take the place of proper saddlebag loops. I also jammed two sections of dowel inside the bag to support the PVC pipe and keep the rear of bag off the tire.

So how did work? Well, I didn’t clamp the dowel to the saddle rails, so as you might expect, it slid a bit. Not enough for the saddlebag loops to slip off, but this was annoying nonetheless. Tape or a small clamp should fix that. The PVC pipe worked well and didn’t slip at all. I still had to attach the rear fender to keep the bottom of the bag off the tire, however, though I couldn’t find a piece of plastic sheeting to lay inside the bag to give it shape when it carried my tool kit and pump. I will probably attempt to tweak the setup a bit tonight, but I sense I may punt before the populaire and purchase a cheap seatpost-mounted rack to support the bag.

Posted on 10 October 2006