My New Invention - A Better Way To Carry Stuff on Your Bike

[@weeringjohnny]

British companies Apidura and Restrap actually already make long top-tube bags but without the feedbag attachments. Won't those feedbags hit your knees when you ride out of the saddle?

[@tylerstutzman9722]

Alpine Luddites also have a similar bag.

[@Spacechoppers]

This totally makes sense for a bikepacking setup on a trailbike. Let’s not minimize the importance of standover height though. For example, when things start to go south and you need to bail, it’s easier to ditch a lower bike.

[@danwebber9494]

I rarely find myself bailing into the top tube. Over the bars, off the back, off the side… yes, those.

[@Spacechoppers]

When you bail to the side, one leg goes over the top tube. Plus when you’re riding alongside a cliff, there is not always room to lean to the side and put a foot down. And of course, more room to move around over the bike. I stand by my pro-standover comment.

[@509bunnyhaven]

Love this! We need to work as a community to normalize racks and panniers. When installed correctly they offer the most carrying capacity and greatest stability but bag manufacturers don't create attachment systems that are secure enough! I use them with zip ties and voile' with lots of success but we should have some that are ready out of the boxe with this hardware....just a little food for thought

[@BigBrainParty]

I have another video coming on this subject soon

[@509bunnyhaven]

@BigBrainParty one brain two bodies my guy, can't wait!

[@BigBrainParty]

I'm a huge fan of bike racks and thin panniers

[@jacobashton3955]

Dispersed Bikepacking makes custom bags like this. They've been used extensively by others so it isn't completely new, sorry. I haven't seen the idea of integrating the feedbags yet, looks cool!

[@evanslagsvold]

Love the long top tube bag! As others have noted, I have issues hitting my knees on handlebar mounted feed bags when climbing out of the saddle, so I'm sure I'd have the same issue with this setup. My geometry is certainly different than others, but I imagine that this issue would be pretty universal.

[@stephenriddell7816]

I like the idea. Looking forward to your test results. I would buy one.

[@chuckrodgers4780]

You make so much sense, I was thinking about a new bike with a big triangle but this makes so much more sense. It really is like having your cake and eating it to. Good job, and can’t wait for you to feel better we always enjoy your bike trips with family and friends .

[@camt1818]

I've seen Dispersed making top tube bags like this, but the feed bag attachments are quite clever! I don't know if everyone would have the knee clearance. Makes ya think though!

[@roscoebertsch7109]

I have often thought of this idea because I too have short legs and therefore a small front triangle. The only company I know that makes something like that is Cyclite out of Germany. It would be amazing if a USA hand built company like rogue panda would offer this! There is a market I believe!

[@gravelpack8536]

At one of the custom shows in Europe a brand used fidlock to quick release top tube bag and frame bag which looked amazing. When I ever save enough to get a custom bike I would make braze ons for fidlocks for all bags then your bike is just a couple clicks away from any mode.

[@Nik_Martinelli]

I use an Apidura long top tube pack (2L) which is similar to the one you show there. It's super nice having access to so many things right on the top tube. I often wish it was a little bigger- looks like the one you show is sized a bit better for stashing snacks, layers, tools, electronics, etc. I use my top tube bag a ton, and I transfer it between bikes a lot since it is so versatile-especially in the winter when I have more stuff to carry. I like your saddle/combined idea, but I also like the modularity of having them separate. I could see someone buying them as a kit, but transferring the top tube bag from bike to bike as needed between bikepacking trips. I do like the placement of the feed bags, that totally makes sense, but I could see everything getting a bit floppy once loaded with a water bottle. It may take an innovative bracket that mounts to the frame, underneath the top tube bag, but I'm sure you could figure that out. This video got me excited for more bike adventures, thanks Steve!

[@taknname]

Kudos for trying something new! I carry a 40 oz kleen kanteen in my feedbucket bags (or whatever they're called) so mounting the bag to the handlebar is a must. Sometimes they get an auxiliary strap to cinch them tighter to the bar & stem. My gut reaction to your extended gas tank bag is your waterbottle bags are going to hit your knees more than you think, but I'm happy to be wrong. Again, cheers for thinking outside the box!

[@shrubjr893]

I actually REALLLLLY like this!! I hope it takes off and doesnt die! Seems like a better place to put stuff. I hate packing in front of the bars and behind the seat-stay.

[@ryanamthauer1184]

BOA strap system. They can clip in and run through strap loops to then be cinched down. The frame bag could have the boa straps and loop system and your top tube bag could have the loops to run the BOA straps through.

[@BigBrainParty]

Very interesting idea, I hadn't thought of boa! Thanks for the suggestion

[@nickhancock1662]

Fantastic idea Steve. I've made all my bags myself. I have a Kona Unit with a suspension fork. I'm going to try moving my oversized feed bags to the front of the triangle, as you have shown.

[@stephenkohler3472]

That's a brilliant idea! I'm in the 'buying lot's of bags' stage of bikepacking but have already realized how hard it is to find space for everything. Above the seatstay yolk is a spot I'd love to find a bag for... seems like enough room for a stove or a tool roll.

[@nathanpieper4634]

If you need a lot of capacity, a rack may allow you to strap gear to the rack stays. If you can get the stays to wrap downwards following the contour of the tire, it's very space efficient. A rack also allows you to lower the center of gravity and reduce gear wobble as compared to a large saddlebag. If you don't need that kind of capacity but still want a bag there you can mount the smaller style top tube bags that go right behind the stem in the location you're talking about!

[@kevinfeeney5309]

​@@nathanpieper4634 I've seen these dual water bottle mounts that attach to the saddle rails and then each side straddles the saddle bag itself.....preventing bag sway. At least that's what they claim. Saw a Vincita branded one for 15 bucks (usd). Might give it a try myself.

[@Boediprasetya]

It's simple to attach two small black bags, use velcro that is a bit wide according to the dimensions of the small black bag. Just pull it off and stick it back

[@Uhmm485]

Knee strike when climbing? Only one way to find out :-)

[@drbobjohnson812]

I have made a couple custom fit frame bags and have often thought about doing as you suggest an incorporated frame bag and top tube combo, adding feed/stem bags is a natural extension of combing them all together, something like a hammer head shark. Will look forward to when you can report on how it works for you. And will also follow your idea and see where it goes down the MYOG path. Also wishing you the best in your recovery

[@thevapingpolisher9717]

You can use a fidlock type of system to mount the feed bag and water bottle bag to the top bag .

[@starsandstripes3]

A single row of molle sewn to the outer panel would allow you to use MALICE clips to attach any kind of bag you wanted and is relatively quick and easy to secure/remove. Would be more secure than magnets or hook/loop and would probably remain cleaner. ACM would be a cheap and strong sitffener to beef up the sides for larger items. The obvious con with malice clips/ molle is the unknown of introducing a technology from the 'tactical' market into somewhere it may not be taken as well (who know). But the pros are that there are a ton of exceptional cut & sew facilities in the US that have experience with that tech and could easily execute the design well given a good pattern/tech pack without the 'custom' bikepacking luxury tax. Whatever the improvements are, consider at least one unit already sold if your idea gains traction and there's a preorder/crowdfuning phase👌

[@BigBrainParty]

Awesome, thanks for the tips. High above, who makes hip packs, uses malice clips and they're awesome! (Albeit a little hard to remove, which is fine). I think that would be the ideal way to attach the feed bags if they weren't sewn directly to the bag. Thanks for the suggestions!

[@h4tm4z]

I know people tend to think of molle as tactical but it is used a ton in other off-roading aspects for storage in/on vehicles, etc, as well. There are a bunch of great use cases for it and I would definitely go that route for attaching various bags together plus accessories.

[@Alex_564]

A small or medium top-tube hydration bag that could fit 1.5l of water would be great in the summer when paired with a 1l bottle & a secondary smaller one on a hardtail. Would be a good way to avoid the hip or backpack hydration setup for those of US who don't like it.

[@joshuarebennack68]

Other ideas to consider to make this concept better. A "truss" inside the larger bag that contains hooks/magnets inside the bags that allows other bags to attach.

[@telepoiss]

wont you hit them climbing out of the saddle? i even manage to hit the normal bar buckets at times..

[@BigBrainParty]

I dont know, I'll have to try them out. These only push the feed bags back an inch or two

[@telepoiss]

@@BigBrainParty but an interesting idea for sure! kudos for trying it out. and that toptuuuuuuuube bag itself looks great too!

[@AustinLutzke]

It's a cool idea but I see two problems with it on my own bike. 1) bikes can have top tubes that are either too short or too long for the bag. On my personal bike the top tube length would probably be considered extreme by most standards. 2) Some bikes have additional tubing between the top tube and the upper portion of the seat tube that could be in the way of mounting this bag. All that being said, the two problems on my bike may cancel each other out

[@NkB984]

You're definitely onto something Steve. A modular/integrated bikepacking bag system like that makes a lot of sense.

[@porschephiliac4356]

I love this. TJ is all about this

[@kevinfeeney5309]

Maybe instead of the paracord sawing on the headset spacers maybe have it...or elastic cordage.... routed around the headtube? Would eliminate or prevent the sawing action having it routed around the headset....at least IMO.

[@ssmtb]

That's a really cool idea, nice 👌 The "saddle on a horse" concept sounds amazing

[@lonewanderer2287]

Eagle Industries made the vests we flew in on combat missions. They use a modular MOLLE system similar to what you are talking about. A ton of different sized pouches and hydration systems. Check them out for ideas!

[@BigBrainParty]

Thank you! Molle and malice clips would be fantastic! I had forgotten exactly what they were called. High above uses them on their hip packs and they're wonderful

[@dpraeuner]

omg, great stuff. I am torn between an esker hayuke and japhy and this thought process really helped me want to go with a japhy.

[@BigBrainParty]

I do a lot of consulting on patreon between the japhy and hayduke. Esker makes great bikes

[@fpeter01]

I usually ride S frames and this is not beneficial for bikepacking. My frame beg is half the size of a tall rider's framebag. I usually put there water bag and maintenance tools. On a multi day trip racks are mandatory. They can carry your sleeping gear and not interfere with cables, and your legs. I have integrated handlebar which has a nice backwards angle, but it is really bulky in the middle and I can't use my old snackbag. 😢

[@BrianKearns-l8n]

Zach at Southcity Stitchworks has been doing a full length top tube bag for years…

Wouldn't it make sense to sacrifice the dropper post in exchange for a bigger rear rack that can be mounted on the seatpost? With a lot of package, you wouldn't go full crazy on the trails anyway.

[@BigBrainParty]

I prefer a rear rack that doesnt attach to the seatpost. More vids coming on this in the future

[@kevinfeeney5309]

​@BigBrainParty I believe the ortleib quick rack or the tailfin might be the best options....albeit quite expensive. Both are QR and strap to the seatpost just near the seattube/seat stay/top tube joint. Only thing that stays on the bike is the axle (for thruaxle) or posts that you bolt to the frame eyelets.

[@nickhancock1662]

I personally would never ride off road without a dropper. Even with a bag on top of my rear rack. I just put soft goods in it so when I lower the dropper it just squashes the bag a bit.

@@nickhancock1662 maybe it's just me, but i get along fine without a dropper. Although i grew up riding old-school XC, got used to it

[@Amauris83]

Class 4 Designs also does full length top tube bags as another option.

[@BigBrainParty]

Cool, i didnt know that. Maybe I'll connect with them for a future version

[@riggseroni]

That's super cool. I love the concept. What would be awesome is if those snack bags could attach to the top tube bag with a fidlock mount system. Fun to dream, isn't it?

[@UKMitchy]

Interesting idea. I ride small frames. Have a Cotic Cascade at the moment, but not yet got around to setting it up for bike packing. I was thinking of the rear racks I have seen that sit on the seat stays as an alternative to the seat pack.

[@nathanpieper4634]

Any production model would definitely want to have Daisy chains going all the way forward for mounting those feed bags further forward but still reducing bar clutter, with my XL legs I know I wouldn't be able to ride with the bead bags as far back as you have them!

[@BigBrainParty]

Ill bet your top tube is far longer than mine too.

[@nathanpieper4634]

Yes of course, just saying if I was buying I'd want the option to maximize knee clearance while maintaining the less cluttered bar attribute (at the expense of steering freedom you've pointed out)

[@KWB9541]

Looks great for cases where cables are internally routed or in a housing; but, how would/does it work when exposed/bare cables (as on my 1995 Gary Fisher) run along the tubes? A fix for that would broaden the appeal and market to the vintage riders among us. All the best, friend! KB

[@bundokbiker]

On my bikes with exposed cables on the top tube, where I've also run top tube pads or bags, I've used "Jagwire nylon housing liner". It basically covers the cable and prevents interference with anything strapped to the top tube.

[@davidstecher1171]

Good idea! 😊👍 Another advantage you get when attaching your bags this way is that your bicycle is nimbler and more stable because you annulled the effect of swinging additional weight at your bars making it harder to control the steering - especially off roads. Let alone it make way mor sense how to reach your again especially when riding. 🚴‍♂🚴‍♂🚴‍♂😎 Thank you! 👍

[@BigBrainParty]

Totally!

[@chrthiel]

​@@BigBrainParty I think a laced together construction would work better than a down one. On one side you lace it through grommets and on the other you use something like the laces hooks you use on hiking boots. That would let you adjust it to fit different top tube thicknesses and tapers and make it reasonably easy and fast to remove and install. It'll also let you cinch it down really tightly which I find to be a problem with Velcro.

[@darrenrettburg1473]

You are wrong! These are just what bike packing needs. Your ideas here are the same things I have thought about with my bike's small triangle. The larger full length top tube bag and getting the feed bags out of the way of the handle bars. I think they would be surprised to find a market out there for this. When I'm bike packing I don't need as much stand over height because I can't be as aggressive on a fully loaded bike. I didn't think about the all together saddle idea. I'm definitely interested in this.

[@dougnevitt2257]

Very sweet. Ingenious

[@Kristian_Saile]

That looks great. I run an older Mukluk to bikepacking, so huge front triangle so wouldn’t work but with a modern trail bike like you are saying this looks like it offers up a ton more space. The Fred bags in that position look to be a useable too without battling a bar bag fit mounting space. Probably would all work with us Jones bar guys too. In fact you could probably almost run 4 feedbags if you wanted to get crazy 😆

[@ThePapawhisky]

I like it. I would use that.

[@PauliG]

I’m only half way thru the video so these questions might get answered anyway, but why not got forward? Those snack and water bottle bags could be mounted in front of the handlebars which would not limit steering. On top of that, can you put bags on front? I’m not a bike packer obviously. Do these things exist?

[@purklefluff]

wondering whether your knees will whack these as you pedal - looks pretty close!

[@BigBrainParty]

My saddle is all the way down here. When i raise my saddle there's plenty of room.

[@mrsith1402]

The saddle idea is great

[@martinschwartz7342]

I think it is a great idea. What are your thoughts about an Old Man Mountain rear rack?

[@BigBrainParty]

Im a huge fan of their work. You'll see their products on my channel soon

[@NelsonSherry]

Fun sharing. Thanks!

[@philippebenard1075]

This is a brilliant idea!!!

[@SWFBrickbox]

I think this channel would love to see a "How to make your own frame bag" series.

[@BigBrainParty]

That would be tons of fun.

[@brendanford4850]

You go Steve mental workout

[@shoe509]

I would buy one.

[@bonkasaurus_wrecks]

Would strong snaps work for frame bags instead of bolting on?

[@BigBrainParty]

Do you mean the bag-to-frame connection, or feedbag to frame connection?

[@E2tge]

Love it!

[@rdx913]

Do your knees hit the feed bags when riding out of saddle though?

[@insaynbcr]

Thinking outside of the box is how new products come to be. They don't have to please everyone, just those that feel that a product is a solution to something, or idea sparker for something else. I feel that your idea is absolutely a viable product in the making, has a lot of potential for even more functionalities not thought of yet. And it looks great on the bike. Not too bulky, and flows really well. Nice work, Steve! Get that body of yours up to snuff and back on the trail soon.

[@markifi]

nice but those side mounted feed bags are not for me. i knock my gps if it's not front and centre but simply on the bars. i don't really understand how my knee gets so far forwards, but it does somehow

[@sapinva]

I've always been curious, why the aversion to using a large backpack? Really the only downside is it makes your back sweat. I hardly notice 25-30 lbs, doubt 50 would make much difference since your back is angled forward.

[@BigBrainParty]

You can, and some people do, but it's definitely not my favorite way to carry gear on a bike. For 1-2 hours, 20lbs is not a huge deal (50lbs would be a huge deal). But after a couple days, it gets old fast. I'm a big backpacker, so I have all the gear to go ultralight, but riding days on end with a 20-30lb backpack is exhausting, raises your center of gravity (nothing like a big, exposed switchback on a bike with an extra 20+ lbs above your hips) and I find it hurts my shoulders. It also throws off your balance and handling while on the bike. Again, it can be done, and on my first bikepacking trip I did that , but I far prefer bike-mounted gear now. Backpacks seem like the obvious solution until you try them for 8+ hours a day on a bike. To save in initial cost, I think a lot of people should start with a backpack for their first trip. But eventually, frame bags become the way to go.

[@kevinfeeney5309]

​@@BigBrainPartyonly time I use a backpack is when I'm on my fixed gears... I've become a proponent of on-bike luggage. Even spent $200 for the Two Wheel Gear convertible backpack/pannier.

[@austindean4035]

Awesome idea

[@ebikescrapper3925]

Measure the diameter of your top tube, ask somebody with a 3d printer to make you a bottle / bag holder and platform.

[@BigBrainParty]

Good idea, I hadn't thought about 3d printing a frame for this

[@NelsonSherry]

I occationall hit my knees on my feed bags, moving them rearward from the bars would not work for me.

[@chrisduerschner8514]

Dispersed has been making full length top tube bags for a little while now. Nice work coming up with the idea independently.

[@joetonsager7168]

That's cute, but not new at all. I've been making full length top tube bags since 2012 and my 15" long Farva SnakPak has been around for just as long. There's nothing 'new' any longer.

[@ellerybice3787]

John Wayne says, 🤠 you need to lose much fat weight before you ride any horses pilgram 🐴.

[@b4oh]

Big brain 🧠!! I have a rouge panda bag, it’s 🔥awesome🔥 it’s really cool idea. I don’t think it looks that weird. I’ve done the divide and other longer routes and I see this being nice for someone who’s fame bag is to small (xs/sm frame) and needs extra space. Steve you are on to something - like a packable rain jacket (Patagonia Houdini) and having access to it quickly. I don’t like racks really so this would be a sweet spot.

[@michaelbarton9234]

Not a new idea

[@FORKandFIFTIES]

Why don't you wear an actual backpack? Lol

[@BigBrainParty]

You can, and some people do, but it's definitely not my favorite way to carry gear on a bike. I'm a big backpacker, so I have all the gear to go ultralight, but riding days on end woth a 20-30lb backpack is exhausting and sure hurts your shoulders. It also throws off your balance and handling. Backpacks seem like the obvious solution until you try them for 8+ hours a day on a bike. i find this solution far better. Out of curiosity, have you been bikepacking overnight before? I think a lot of people should start with a backpack for their first trip, just so they don't spend a ton of money on the sport before they decide if they love it or not. But eventually, frame bags become the way to go.

[@SoCalLobo]

Love it!