Hi. Context:
I've been using my SaddleSack Large as a commuting bag for the past two weeks. For me it has worked out very very well. I have a 3-5 mile bike ride followed by a 45 minute train ride, followed by a 5 minute walk. I often change to office clothes on the train. The SaddleSack Large holds a *lot* of stuff. While riding, I use it to carry my office clothes, breakfast (I eat it on the train), coffee thermos (see VO), water bottle, lunch (which often makes it all the way to work before I eat it), extra clothes (for temperature drops), and "stuff-to-do" on the train. Sometimes the "stuff" is a book, sometimes some small project of some kind. Importantly, the bag is big enough to hold the clothes I wear to ride my bike (during which time *I* wear the office clothes). This enables me to change on the train. Riding clothes take up over twice the space of office clothes during the winter. Note that I ride in my office shoes, covered with something if indicated. (Pedal Free Or Die!:) Grip Kings Or Bust!:) The bag doesn't have to carry any shoes. It does sometimes carry my jacket if the temperature rises. All of this goes in the main compartment. The side pockets have bike-y things (straps, a few tools, etc.) and thus are not really involved in the typical day. The front pockets carry gloves (in one pocket) and a balaclava (in the other). The snap-on outer pockets carries wallet, keys, a multi-tool, change, etc. It's important to note that I am large (6' 1", 250lbs+, only the Jumbo wool from RBW comes close to fitting me) so the fact that the SaddleSack Large holds all of this stuff is significant. Big people use big clothes. And take more food. So when I say it carries my clothes and food, I mean it carries a substantial amount of clothes and food. More than you may be envisioning. I'd say loaded the loaded bag weighs about 15 lbs on a typical day. (Previously I used an Arkel Tail Rider with an Ostrich pannier to carry mostly the same stuff; but it was hard to do the change-on-train thing that way.) I use the Nitto Saddlebag Grip on and off the bike with my SaddleSack. I've low-overlap wrapped it in cork tape for some cushion. It works well for me, though it is not as nice a handle as a purpose-built handle would be. Summary: I love it Pros: (a short list of short descriptions of overwhelmingly positive aspects) It's pretty (I was actually, seriously, stopped by a woman to point out that she liked what she tentatively called my "briefcase".) It is extremely easy to load and unload for 99% of stuff (see "Cons:"). Though it rained moderately on some of my rides with it, none of my stuff in it gotten wet. (It's much more meaningful to say this than to get into a discussion of "waterproof" vs. "water-resistant"). For me, the organization of it is perfect (daily things in main compartment, regular things in outer pockets, the separate pouch). Cons: (a short list of longer descriptions of negative but substantially less important-to-me aspects) It is not a great thing to carry while walking. It isn't balanced and is too wide. That's okay for me; I'm not taking on any hikes, urban or otherwise. If I were planning on walking with it for very long at all, I'd contemplate the Medium or something else entirely (the Arkel Tail Rider worked surprisingly well for this, as does an Ostrich pannier). It does not have a good place to attach a shoulder strap. If I had a 10 minute walk in stead of 5, I would have already modified it to have reasonable shoulder strap mounting. As it is, I am planning to do that soon. I tried using the lowest set of D rings (below the buckle for main compartment flap) to hold the shoulder strap. This actually popped a rivet of the leather holding that strap. So don't do that. When I thought about it (probably should have done that *before* I tried to use it this way), it's obvious that those D rings were *not* intended to be pulled *away* from the bag (as I was) but *along* the bag (as one would do to strap something to the outside of the bag). So, while one might suggest that means the bag is not as robust as a bag of its cost should be, I would disagree. (I intend to replace the rivet myself, as a "small project" done on the train.) I'll create another thread with the story of my shoulder strap work when (if?) I've done it. Even with a shoulder strap attached optimally, it will still not be a great thing to carry while walking. It does not have a ready way to attach it to a rack for daily on/off use. (Zip-ties I'm sure are near perfect if you intend to leave it on all the time or not use it very often.) I devised one that works for me without sacrificing too much in the way of aesthetics or practicality or money (and will explain in another thread, with pictures even!). But it is still not as easy as the Arkel Tail Rider or as something like the Trek "Interchange" click-it-in system. It bulges out in the middle if you stuff it (pretty minor; shocked! I am to discover that if you stuff it, it bulges!). But it does seem to bulge somewhat precariously in the middle, like perhaps something will pop out (either contents or another rivet) unless you re-arrange things. I actually have become confident that it only *seems* that way in my moderate-to-heavy usage. The "tongue" flap works very well to keep things from actually popping out. It can be tricky to get at small things stuffed way in the back. The dowel/rod/whatever support in the top seems to impinge on one ability to dig around back there without a little contortion. I have on two occasions reached in and around inside a couple of times before finally locking onto whatever it was I was looking for when it was small and shoved way into the back and riding high on a pile of other stuff. This is amongst scores of occasions of getting something out. It is a result of some portion of the back being "closed" from the top (i.e. the main compartment's opening doesn't extend all the way to the back of the bag). So.... I intend to use this bag as I do now whenever I need the capacity (which is probably 8 months out of the year plus a few days during the other 4). I intend to use it as "weekend visit" luggage so that I can always have a way to carry something on my bike when I am on such visits (I always take my bike). I really really like my SaddleSack Large. I hope they make a SaddleSack Small. If they don't, or if it's too different, I *may* end up getting a SaddleSack Medium for most days in those other 4 months. The Medium looks like it would be easier to carry with or without a shoulder strap. Yours, Thomas Lynn Skean --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com To unsubscribe from this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
