Bonus blog, saddle bag or not?

So rule #29 of velominati is that saddle bags have no place on road bikes. I've personally broken that rule a lot and more recently I've adhered to it. You'll see from this link that not even the velominati creator actually sticks to it. http://www.velominati.com/accessories-and-gear/breaking-the-rules-29/

So what's the issue? Bags are not cool. They spoil the beautiful lines of our bikes. They also rattle, or at least the bits in them do. We like our bikes to look good and we also like them to sound good. Like the Evans advert says, we're a weird bunch (local bike shops are available.)

Here's my very simple solution. It's one of Chris and Andy's little bags. The pictures tell you all you need to know. Now you'd think Andy would approve, as another back pocket man but apparently not. "What's that?" He said in a disgusted tone. Then Claire said it would give me a sweat rash to which Andy added "we're only thinking of you!"

Free jersey pack provided by my local bike shop

Nice pocket size, 50p added for scale

You can buy an official cycling jersey caddy sack for about a tenner. They're £6.84 in both Halfords and Wiggle so I guess two of the big three are playing price matching games. It's PVC so frankly it's just as sweaty as my carrier bag so they don't care about Andy and Claire's rash paranoia either!

Ooh caddy sack

Big Steve has a surprisingly elegant solution as he bought a pencil case from wilkos for £4.99. It's like the one below except it's more Everton blue like our C&DCYCLES jerseys. Andy was impressed with this and joked that they shoulda get a job lot and have C&DCYCLES embroidered on next door, then sell them for a tenner. If you think that's steep check out the Rapha link below!

Big Steve's solution

Perhaps putting this ridiculous argument to be we should turn to our most athletic rider, Phil 'the beast' Broxton. The beast is without doubt our most accomplished endurance rider. His specialism is Audax and he's been smashing the miles all year on monster rides. Have you seen the size of his saddlebag? It's as huge as his stamina.

Not Phil's actual bike or bag but it's like it and he also has a Brooks saddle

Not content with what goes on at our club I did some googling (other search engines are available but then I also Hoover with a Dyson so who cares.) The  very first link I followed was one about carrying your gun on a bike! I also found out how to carry a suit on a bike. Very important in that London apparently. There were arguments about what you should carry and the whole 'should you,' 'shouldn't you,' debate. There's a link to a Rapha pack more expensive than my tyres and some other bits and bobs. Have a click and see for yourself. 

http://www.thetruthaboutguns.com/2011/08/eric-nelson/the-truth-about-bicycle-carry/

http://www.londoncyclist.co.uk/how-to-carry-a-suit-on-your-bike/

http://www.womenscycling.ca/blog/bike-maintenance/what-do-you-carry-in-your-saddle-bag/

http://bikingtolive.com/the-bicycle-seat-bag-what-should-you-carry-in-it/

http://www.cyclingforums.com/t/488333/how-do-you-carry-your-spare-tube-and-tools-on-a-long-club-ride

http://www.rapha.cc/gb/en/shop/essentials-case/product/ECS01

http://www.bogear.com.au/packs/bike-gear/jersey-pocket-pouch

http://www.amazon.com/Sticky-Pod-Cycle-Bag-Small/dp/B006XP69QK

http://www.bikeforums.net/road-cycling/424377-jersey-pocket-bag.html

Right well I hope I haven't bored you all into thinking Grease II (currently infecting my telly,) is entertainment rather than a not so subtle form of torture. I'm sticking to my trusty placky bag and for rides where I want more stuff I'm going to use a saddle bag.

Happy pedalling.

Ps surely that was enough mentions Andy?