Carradice Barley Saddlebag Project

My son and daughter recently gave me a Carradice Barley saddlebag for my delightful Panasonic single-speed bicycle. Carradice bags are manufactured in England. The canvas is amazingly waterproof. If you're interested in getting one, the City Bikes Worker's Cooperative in Portland, Oregon is a Carradice dealer with really good prices. Other well-known Carradice dealers in the US include Peter Jon White and Wallingford Bicycle Parts.

Unfortunately my Ideale 80 saddle doesn't have loops for hanging the bag (a la Brooks), so I needed to come up with a system. One option was the prefab Carradice saddlebag clamp. This is well made but heavy, and costs $18 - $23, so I decided to try a homemade solution first.

The bag straps are buckled to a dowel rod that is attached to the saddle rails with u-bolts, using nylon spacers for a snug fit. These parts cost less than $2 at the local True Value Hardware store.

Here's how it looks with the bag attached:

Note that the right hand strap is buckled inside the bag, and the left hand strap outside the bag.This allows for a semi-quick release operation -- when the left hand strap is unbuckled, the right hand strap can slide off the dowel. For longer rides when I'm not worried about taking the bag off the bike, both buckles can be fastened inside the bag as recommended by Peter Jon White (scan down to instructions for "mounting a saddlebag").

Instead of attaching the rear strap to the seatpost, it connects to the reflector bracket by means of a leather loop. This provides a much more upright position for the bag than seatpost attachment. (sorry about the blurry photo):

Interior modifications: I stiffened the bag with a white insert made of Coroplast, the corrugated plastic stuff used for political campaign signs. This keeps the bag from dragging on the fender when loaded with heavy objects. The white background also makes it easier to find things inside.

At the back, the insert is held in place by the straps; at the front, a couple of bartacks with heavy nylon thread do the same thing. All outside corners are rounded off to prevent the sharp plastic from wearing through the canvas. The bottom of the insert is scored on one side; this allows it to curve to the slightly rounded shape of the bag.

Here are some other Coroplast bike bag and fender projects.

Here is Lesli, checking out the Barley and my scrap leather toe straps. Adjustment is with a simple overhand knot.

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