Starting first frame bag

[Eugenemtbing]

Just built a cardboard template for my first attempt at a frame bag.  Hope to do a one-piece design (or something close to it) as shown by Greg Climbs in his bike packing 2.0 photos on Flickr. 

Bought 1000 Cordura for the outside and silnylon for the liner.  Will use plastic stiffeners for bolting it to the water bottle cage bosses on the seat tube and down tube.  Plan to use Velcro on the top and a single horizontal zipper on the right side. 

I am thinking of sewing a partial vertical divider inside so I can slide a 3-liter bladder in the back of the pack, just forward of the seat tube, and be able to pull the drinking hose out the top.

I want to keep it simple and sturdy.  Did not know about the X-PAC fabrics when I bought the Cordura and silnylon.  It will be interesting to learn about the advantages of X-PAC. 

Please post up comments and recommendations, if you have them!  Thanks, Joe

[Mr Cup]

Don't get frustrated if the first one doesn't turn out perfect.  Might even be a good idea to get some cheap fabric to try a simple one first just to get used to the whole process.  Good luck and keep us updated with pics.

[bumbler]

Don't get frustrated if the first one doesn't turn out perfect.  Might even be a good idea to get some cheap fabric to try a simple one first just to get used to the whole process.  Good luck and keep us updated with pics.

+1. I made my first (and only) frame bag with inexpensive pack cloth...in the event it was a total loss I wouldn't be out much. But it worked, and continues to work. Learned a lot - tried some things that worked well and others that didn't work so well. Next one I'll make with some fancier material (maybe...).

[Eugenemtbing]

Got my materials together.  Found a 24x48" sheet of .020" PETG plastic for $6.  This stuff has some body and stiffness but is not brittle.  Will use it for stiffeners in the bad.  Seems like it would be good to use as the basis for some type of waterproof roll to mount on the bars.

[Eugenemtbing]

Plastic stiffeners cut and laid out.  Next step will be sewing Velcro loops on the outside of the Cordura before working on the zipper and sandwiching the stiffeners between the Cordura and silnylon liner.

[Eugenemtbing]

Sewing on Velcro loops and sandwiching the plastic stiffeners between the Cordura and the silnylon.

[Eugenemtbing]

Starting to take shape...

[Eugenemtbing]

Sewing is all done.  Now I just have to bolt it through the stiffeners to the down tube and seat tube. 

I decided to keep it simple with no internal dividers.  Will probably carry a hydration bladder in it during rides, along with other stuff.  Will let the end of the drinking hose peek out between the two zipper pulls for access.

It's 2.5 inches wide.  After test riding it, I think I could have gone with 3 inches wide.

Cost less than $20 in materials.  A fun project for a dad who can't sew and a 16-year-old daughter who can!

[bumbler]

Looks good! Thanks for sharing.

[Eugenemtbing]

Added some tugs to the zipper pulls, finished off the bolts and threw a random assortment of stuff in the bag for a test run on the street. 

This amount fit easily.  Could have crammed more, but then I think the sides would have bulged too much. 

I am real happy with the finished product.  In retrospect, I think the end result would have been cleaner if I had cut separate panels for the sides and the exterior spine. 

(BTW, I have no idea why I have that humongous downhill tube.  All my wheels are tubeless and any spare tubes are standard, not gargantuan!)