Too Many Hobbies

Since I have 4 mountain bikes and can never decide which one to ride, I decided to invest in an industrial walking foot sewing machine to make my own bags. I attempted to make a bag for my commuter bike with a machine my mom gave me and the bag turned out ok but the machine had its limitations. My old machine was a straight stitch industrial with a standard presser foot. It would sew through anything with T92 thread, but the stitch length was too short and if I had a couple layers of cordura and Velcro under the foot, it wouldn’t feed very well. It was also a ridiculously fast machine with little control. I figured I’d amortize my costs pretty quickly if I made 5 or 6 bags and advertized locally for repairs and maybe some custom work. I get paid really well at my regular job so trying to make money on this venture is not a goal. It would be nice to do enough work to cover the cost of my machine and materials as I can’t resist buying in bulk! Before deciding to do all this I paid a very experienced sewing buddy make a frame bag for one of my SS bikes using XPAC and waterproof zippers. He did a great job, but the zippers ended up on the wrong side. This episode is what made me bite the bullet and make the investment on my machine and materials.

I decided to focus on my Racer-X as it is my most reliable geared bike and has plenty of tube space. It’s a XXL custom. I find it kind of humorous that Linda W. complains about not having much space on her bike, but at the same time my generous space quickly gets taken up by XL clothing, sleeping gear, and the additional calories and water needed by my 6’5” body. Her complaints are unwarranted.

So I spent Thanksgiving making some bags for a trip I have planned in the Guadalupe National Forest/Texas-New Mexico desert. I made a HUGE gas tank bag that ended up being way too big. I also made two frame bags before coming up with the one I have in these pics. I’m picky about what I want, but not very good at making patterns and planning the construction process. I ended up making poster board mockups which allowed the patterning to be super easy.

In the pics you see my final design for my gas tank and frame bag. I’m going to keep those despite some needle holes in the red sailcloth. Those can be sealed with silicone. I also decided to NOT use waterproof zippers as I’ve seen some major complaints on other forums. They are also expensive. Since I have some decent sewing skills, I built my bags with reversed coils and covered zippers. This will be far more waterproof than any waterproof zipper. On the frame bag I sewed in a piece of coroplast to help the bag keep its shape when it’s not completely full. The multi-cam is 1000d and I use mil-spec Velcro, so these babies will last.

My handlebar harness worked well, but the bag I made for the front sat way too low. I’m in the process of making a new harness and pouch. I have lots of other crazy projects I want to make….I-pad case, seat bag, bottle holders/feedbags for the bar harness, diaper covers for my 19 mo. old, a new wide brimmed desert hat, sling for my AR-15, mag holders for my glock mags with molle attachments for my 3-gun range bag, etc. I have way too many hobbies....trail building, race promoting, family, riding, wrenching, 3-gunning, reloading, etc..... to be diving in to this, but hell, you only live once!

I got out the Friday after T-day and camped deep in the Franklins on a windy pass in hopes of simulating the summer weather in other locales. My bag is old so I'll probably invest in a lighter/warmer/more compressible bag and ditch the windshield screen for the pad. I'm getting too old to deal with not having a cushy sleeping pad. The bags worked great except for the bar harness. A new version is currently in progress.