For The Love Of Frame Bags

by Scott

As Igor mentioned in a post a year or so back, each of us here at VO seem to have our own little fetish about different parts. Mine is bags. I love bags, all sorts- handle bar bags, seat bags and for the last year or so, I've been using a frame bag and loving the versatility of it.

I first used one last year on our tour of SE Iceland. I loaded the frame bag up with a water bladder and some quick snacks  and lunch items. It was great to be able to reach into the "black hole" and grab some snickers bars or to throw some dinner items in there on the way from the supermarket to the camp site.

Now a year later, and the Piolet in production, I'm still using the same bag on my production model frame.

This year our riding has been more local in scale, but our mixed terrain rides still use the Piolet and Camargue and we still use frame bags. I toss a water bottle, tube, pump and multi tool along with some snacks into the frame bag and it is still as easy to get to as before. I like that the frame bag keeps the weight low and with the internal divider, I can pop a water bottle in place vertically next to the seat tube and keep the snacks and repair stuff easy to get at. The smaller left side pocket keeps my keys, wallet and phone secured. This is handy for trying to take photos on a ride -still working on that while riding on gravel.

The main triangle of the Piolet isn't that far off that of the Camargue, so our frame bags fit the same size range on both bikes.