I see a lot of recumbent seat bags...Fastback, RANS, Bacchetta, Radical Designs, Interia, Arkel...there are many choices out there! Over the years, though, I realized that none really catered to the performance-oriented crowd. What do I mean by this?
In my experience, when racing and doing ultra distance events, hydration bladders are only so effective. You need to use bottles to easily know how much water and/or calories you are consuming. The problem is...there are no bags out there that hold water bottles in a place that is easily accessible and aerodynamic.
When you are racing, you don't need a huge amount of space...just enough room to carry the essentials like tools, personal items, food and some clothing. With other bags on the market, your small keys and tools fall to the bottom of the bag and you need to pull everything out to get at them.
Our new bag addresses all of these issues, and more! You are out riding hard...don't need the shoulder strap. Your jacket will fit in the bag...don't even think about tucking it into some shock cord on the top - it's not very aerodynamic and could fly off if the wind picks up! The velcroed pouches are not too big, not too small. I put my wallet, keys and cell phone in one, and toolkit in the other. Perfect.
We went through several prototypes of the bottle holders to get them just stiff enough so that you can easily put the bottle back in without crumpling the holder on the first try! Once you know where the holders are (you can't see them), it's easy in, easy out.
For safety, we have a wrap around reflective strip and a tab for holding a tail light.
The bag is built with ABS stiffeners so that it won't sag. The top has one also, but personally, I take it out so I can fit a little more in the bag, if needed. It will fit all narrow hard shell seats and the Bacchetta Euromesh. It WILL NOT fit on the RANS Hoagie, HP Velotechnik BodyLink, and Optima seats.
It is available in four colors - black, yellow, red and Team Carbent Pink (limited edition)! Check it out at the Bent Up Cycles website.
7 comments:
Vary nice! I would like to see more pictures.
Ron J
Ask and you shall receive! :)
Dana
They look great. I like the design a lot. I view water bottles a necessary evil as well.
Love the water bottle Duncan...love them. Just wash them out and they don't taste so bad. Besides, have you ever been out on a century and realized 15 miles from the next stop that you don't have any water left in your hydration system?
Does it fit the Trice hardshell seat?
If the seat is wider than 9" about 9" from the top, it won't fit. I would also be concerned about wheel interference on the 26" models. Or, you could buy a Velokraft seat to upgrade the Trice and it would fit fine! :)
This bag ROCKS! I can't imagine a better bag for racing or fast century riding.
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