Saddle bags



Kevin Glaser

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Jun 14, 2019
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Anyone have any good recommendations for a saddle bag?

Ideally I'd like to be able to fit my keys, wallet, phone, a tube, mini pump, multi-tool, and two bike tire levers.
 
I think this forum is safe now...I hope anyways! If not I'll have to disappear again.

Saddle bags can be small and lightweight or large and heavy, to get a saddle bag that can handle a mini pump that can actually pump a tire up to 100 psi has to be on the longer side of the pumps so it has enough volume with fewer strokes and less effort, so you'll need a larger bag, which I think is not the idea situation when a mini pump comes with a mounting system that can attach to your bottle cage mounts and will mount the pump to the side of the cage, nice and convenient. There's only about a half a dozen pumps that will actually reach 100 psi, the rest won't even though they say they will, and some might but with a huge number of strokes and a herculean effort.

Some bags come with straps underneath the bag on the outside but I've found those straps to slowly stretch over time then one day you hit a bump and off flies your pump!

There are a lot of good saddle bags that can work for all the needs you listed except to carry the pump inside. I happen to like Topeak Aero Wedge, the come in small, medium and large, I like the large size when I'm riding far like touring, but if you don't need that much space go with the medium. I can put in the large my spare tube, tire irons, a Park MTB3 mini tool, folding pliers, several little packets of hand cleaner, fire starter stuff (remember this is for my touring bike) and some other stuff I can't recall right now, all that stuff goes into a plastic zip lock bag so as not to get wet, an Altoids tin I designed so I can carry all my small stuff in including money and patches just to name a couple.

I did find another bag that I also am trying out to see if it will last like the Topeak does, the Topeak's are very well made and can last 10 years or longer, but this bag is called the BV Bicycle Strap On bike saddle bag, it's sold on Amazon for $12 for the large, it's made of the exact same materials as the Topeak, and it also expands but only out the bottom instead of the back so the bag doesn't get longer. The BV large size is about the same size as the Topeak Aero Wedge medium. Most of the time when I know I'll be out after dark, I take my cell phone bar holder off and put the cell phone in the bag and a headlight on the bar, and if I need to I will expand the bottom of the bag to accommodate the phone, but I carry all the basics like a tube, tire irons, older Park MTB 2.3 (I think that was the number), several packs of hand cleaner, and the Altoids tin I use when I tour. For the price the BV bag seems like a great deal, I've had it for 2 years and no signs of wear yet.

No saddle bag have I've ever used is waterproof, so I do spray my saddle bags, (and my handlebar bag I use for touring which is another Topeak bag), with Kiwi Camp Dry heavy duty water repellent spray, I give them two coats every season. When I tour I take the extra precaution of putting all my stuff in ziplock bags because I probably won't have a choice but to ride in rain and sometimes it can be intense rain, even all the stuff in the handlebar bag is all in ziplock bags. I also use a black crayon and rub the zippers with it, this sort of gives the zipper some water seepage protection but it also makes the zipper work easier.
 
Hi!
Sometimes it's just easier to take a waist bag with you.
I remembered, resently, I was searching for a small multitool for my bike, and found a source https://outdoorsly.org/best-bike-tool-kit/ with prons and cons of different tool kits. As I found a multitool and a saddle bag together with it, so, I've ordered this kit (it's, and now, I'm waiting for my bag with tools. Hope, I could help you.
Wish you good riding!
 
Hi!
Sometimes it's just easier to take a waist bag with you.
I remembered, resently, I was searching for a small multitool for my bike, and found a source https://outdoorsly.org/best-bike-tool-kit/ with prons and cons of different tool kits. As I found a multitool and a saddle bag together with it, so, I've ordered this kit (it's, and now, I'm waiting for my bag with tools. Hope, I could help you.
Wish you good riding!

I personally would never buy any tool kit of any kind, be it for bikes or cars, why you scream? because a lot of tools in those kits you probably already have, and some tools in those kits you probably will never use, so I only buy a tool when I need it that way I don't have duplicated tools or tools that just set in the tool box unused and thus wasting money.

What's a waist bag?
 
I know this problem with duplicates!
Here is a pic:
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Thanks for clarifying, I thought that's what you meant but did want to respond to it till I knew for sure, around were we live we call them ***** packs.

Ok, I had a friend who was wearing one of those while cycling, he had a bad bicycle crash made worse by that ***** pack, the stuff he had in it was hard stuff and during the crash that stuff deeply bruised his lower chest muscles and broke some ribs which all that damage was attributed to the bag.

I had another friend who had a Sony Walkman cassette player (yeah this goes back some years), had it fastened to his side, had a crash and it badly bruised his kidney and had internal bleeding.

Another guy I knew carried his pump in his jersey pocket, had a crash and that pump damaged a vertebrae and had to eventually be fused.

I knew another guy who was wearing a necklace with a cross, had a crash and that cross, which was about 2 inches long found itself buried in his neck with just the chain fastener sticking out, it missed his main artery by about an inch.

I heard other bazaar stories too about people wearing stuff and that stuff causing major damage, which is why I don't wear stuff when I ride, nor do I put anything hard in by jersey pockets, just soft stuff.
 
The Crankbrothers tool kit is the best for compact spaces. It's pretty solid and reliable and I always have one in my saddlebag. Since it's small it also leaves room for other essentials.
 
Do you not wear a jersey? That is a place many carry their phones.

Or you could go like me and not carry a phone. In 23 years I have only had to have a ride home 1 time when my frame broke. Other than that, never had to use a phone on a ride. Heck, I used to ride my bike when I was 10 years old in the 70's and never carried a cell phone. :D

Just about every issue I was able to fix on the road and make it back. Not worth carrying a phone having to worry about it for an issue that occurs once every 10 years.

Seat pack, 3 allen wrenches, patches, 2 spare tubes, 2 levers (never needed 3), spoke wrench, old expired driver's license for ID. Baggy of gatorade powder, nutrition bar all fit in my medium pack.

Frame pump mounted on frame. Mounted along side of the water bottle cage (chrome stick looking thing).

DSCN1250.JPG
 
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Hello there, Kevin. A backpack will be a better option for you. Seriously, you shouldn’t try to take all your home things while going for a walk. Don’t wanna sound mean, but try to minimize the amount of things you carry with you.
 

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