First Gas Tank...

[JReeves]

Well, I can tell you it was probably tougher than it should have been.  I had the idea of using one piece of fabric to eliminate as many seams as possible, and also wanted it to have a built in support frame of plastic mesh...  Also wanted some little outside pockets to shove the wrappers of gels and such inside.  I'm going to be giving it another go eventually, as I know a few ways to make it simpler on myself.  Came out okay for the first attempt.  I've done several frame bags, which allow you to turn them inside out to sew the seams and hide all the ugly stitching, this wasn't the case with this tiny and stiff bag.  Volume came out great, inside of it I can get 3 Honey Stinger Waffles, 3 Gels, and a Clif bar...

[cavscout]

Nothing wrong with that.  Looks great.

[Ultra Magnus]

I'm impressed.  Looks much better than my gas tank.  How does it ride?  My situation is similar to yours- as I don't have a lot of spacers under my stem either, and my steerer tube strap is low on the bag.  On the bike, my gas tank would flop too easily to one side or the other which would occasionally hit my knees when riding.  I found it too annoying and tossed it to the curb.  I also could have benefited from a stiffer structure.  I just used thin construction foam which I already had on hand.

BM

[JReeves]

It rides great actually, I think the rigidity of it helps keep it upright for sure.  Also, the aluminum tubing of this bike is kind of flattened on top, which helps too.  I found it great for day rides to put my camera in it's case in the bag, leaving the wrist strap hanging out, I can then put it on my wrist before unzipping it, so I can snap pictures while riding without worrying about dropping it...  A bonus I didn't plan on.

[firestarter]

Very Nice!

The fabric looks pretty robust.  What is it/where did ya get it?

Thanks,

-m

[JReeves]

 
http://www.rockywoods.com/Fabrics-Kits/All-Ripstop-Nylon-Fabrics/400-x-300-Denier-Cross-Dyed-Nylon-Polyester-Mini-Diamond-Coated-Ripstop-Fabric

[firestarter]

Great.  Thanks.

I really like that diamond pattern.

[wunnspeed]

Looks quite good. Is the plastic mesh hard? If so, do things rattle? Very innovative side pockets too. A tip, on the bottom, if you loop the Velcro, you get more leverage and I find it to hold better than the way you have it. Just an idea for your next iteration.

I'm so jealous that you can get Honey Stinger. I fell in love with them while on the TDR last year but the one place I found them in Europe, stopped carrying them.

[drwelby]

I came up with this to handle the lack of headset spacers on my bikes:


Feed Bag by drwelby, on Flickr

I turned a custom bolt head that mates with a fabric snap. This puts the side support up at the top where it can do the most good.


Feed bag by drwelby, on Flickr

[intheways]

^ that is an awesome idea!