Got myself a frame bag#
I did learn a lot of things a couple of weeks ago, during the BRM 600 - Santiago. Valuable lessons for future Brevets, Randonees and long distance cycling in general.
One of those lessons was that big saddle bags, like my 9L expedition pack from Apidura, are very useful but not for everything (and they have their limits).
They are not very practical for items you may need frequently (i.e. it is no good if you have to get stuff from them on every stop).
The more stuff you pack in there, the bulkier the bag becomes, which ends in the bag moves a lot more, from side to side, specially on the climbs if you have to stand on your pedals.
This is not a problem in my case, it is not annoying or affects my pedalling at all, but I bet all that extra friction against the saddle rails is no good for the bag straps.
The attachments for lights are not very useful once the bag is completely full, as the light ends pointing to the sky. Right, I know, It probably depends on the light, how you attach it there, etc. I’ve tried 3 different rear lights and all of them ended pointing towards the sky
So, here is a picture of the synapse, during that 600 Brevet:
See the light attached at the end of the bag? Exactly, that’s what I meant.
For that Brevet, in the saddle bag I put:
spares and tools (multi-tool, 2 x inner tubes, 3 x patches, 2 x adhesive strong patches, 2 x tire levers, presta adapter for gas stations)
clothes (separated in several ziploc bags, t-shirt and shorts for sleeping, socks, short sleeve jersey, long sleeve jersey, bibshorts, summer base layer, waterproof overshoes and light wind/rain jacket)
batteries (10000 mah power bank + two small batteries for the gopro)
food (another ziploc bag full of a variety of bars, a bag of 226ers electrolytes power)
small sunscreen bottle + couple of ibuprofen pills
And then, during the Brevet, I threw in several more things, like leg and arm warmers, toe covers and whatever I wouldn’t need for a while during the ride.
I think I’ve opened that saddle bag on every single stop. All of them. And repacking things into those saddle bags while you are in a hurry is no good, trust me. Things won’t get optimally placed and the bag will look bigger and larger every time.
True, I had a small top-tube bag and a very small frame bag with me, but they weren’t enough.
So, after thinking a bit about it, I decided to buy a proper frame bag.
I looked at different brands and models available out there, checking dimensions, placement, attachment/straps methods, price…
In the end, I decided myself to buy the Racing Frame Pack from Apidura, more precisely, the 4L model.
I have to admit I may be a bit biased here, and even if I like some other brands too, the products from Apidura are top-quality. Durable, light and with an awesome finish touch to them. So it was an easy decision (even if the price is a bit high).
The final push to decide myself to buy this model was that it fits (theoretically, in paper and measurements) my synapse frame size, leaving enough room for easy access to the second bottle. This would let me use a larger bottle there, which is perfect for longer rides in summer or when you ride in places without chance to refill bottles oftenly.
I ordered the bag on the 2nd of June and it arrived at my place on the 5th (quite fast!).
At first sight, it looked larger than what I expected. I took a scale and weighted it, as I usually do with these kind of products. It gave me a weight of 201g.
Then I installed it on the synapse, to see how it fit there. The installation was quite easy. It was three velcro straps to attach to the top tube, and 2 more straps to attach to the down tube, these 2 without velcro, but using a small plastic piece to keep them secure.
As you can see in the pictures, the pack fits perfectly well on the synapse, leaving enough room for a larger bottle on the second/rear bottle cage in the seat tube. Just as I hoped it would be.
You can also notice that the bottle in the front bottle cage, in the down tube, is very close to the bag. I did try to remove the bottle and put it back, and that could get definetely messy while riding, specially when the pack is full of stuff.
I already knew about this, the other randonneurs I know that have this kind of frame bags told me about this already. So I got in advance some bottle side cages.
These side cages are designed so you can remove and put back your bottles from the side of the cage, not from the top.
Yeah, I got them green… what else?!?
Again, I used the scale to measure the weight of both the old bottle cage and the new one. Turned out the new one weights 1g more.
I replaced the bottle cage in the down tube with the right-handed side cage, but I decided to keep for now the old bottle cage in the seat tube. I’d like to give a try to those side cages before replacing both of the old ones.
Finally, today I prepared everything and went for a test ride. 65 km, +800m I tried to do a bit of everything, roll a bit on some flat roads, then hit a couple of steep short climbs and a few descents with interesting turns.
For the test I loaded the pack with a wind/rain jacket, a gillet, 4-5 cereal bars of different sizes, the 10000 mah power bank and a banana. I also put the arm warmers in there in the middle of the ride.
It was as if there was not any bag there at all. A couple of times, standing on the pedals and moving the bike a lot side-to-side, it rubbed on my left leg but it was almost nothing.
Of course, handling the bottle from the side cage was more complicated than it used to be without the pack there, but it was ok, and I’ll get more practice soon…
Overall, happy about getting this frame pack, I’ll tell you more on the next, more serious, test.