Although the offered range of bicycle back packs widened recently, we decided for the best- me (Andy), using a Vaude pair of saddle bags for more than 7 years now-they are undestroyable and connect easily and strongly to the rack. Which is quite important, because of the construction of the rack (see the chapter about our bikes) – I simply needed something stable because the rack is not.
Vaude Bags
Agata bought herself a pair of classic Ortlieb bags – they are even more lightweighted than mine. But there is one thing I really dislike-they can be very easily taken off – one simple click and they are off the rack. If you know about that, it is quite uncomfortable to go into a shop because there´s always the fear of somebody taking the bag. With Vaude bags, it is a lot more difficult – and, very important: they can be locked against taking off.
Agatas Back-Packs
Unfortunately, not all of our stuff fits in those bags 😦
So, a few years ago I decided for some front bags mounted on a so-called low-rider. Only problem was that I didn´t have much money that time, so I started to construct something myself. I bought some cheap front rack and a pair of back packs for a 20″bike via internet. Then, I went to a DIY market and searched, until I found equipment which made it possible for me to mount the bags to the rack. I finally found it in the sanitary section-it was intended to mount toilet flush systems behind a drywall.It was made of plastic-light,strong enough and quite cheap. It works well, for me..
Front bags with sanitary system mounting
For Agatas bike, we´re going to use the back packs which she had on recent trips and fit them to the front rack system. As the whole bike is new, we do not know yet if it works out as expected. But I suppose that yes 🙂
Agata - Front Racks
Another thing that I am quite fond of is the system we load our batteries with. It consists of a Shimano Front Hub Dynamo and a bike battery charger by Stollberg Elektrotechnik. The charger has been modified to fit into a cable connector casing fresh from DIY store. You can use it for loading AA and AAA type batteries. Something we had to learn is that in every case you need to attach to this system a headlamp designated for hub dynamos. If you like to have your batteries recharged, this lamp should be connected parallel to the charger and to be switched off. Dunno why, but if you don´t attach the headlamp, the charger will stop charging at above 17 kmph. And if you switch on the headlamp, there will be no voltage left for the charger to charge the batteries. My colleagues at work tried to find out why the whole thing works like that, but did not succeed. In the end they advised to build an own charger out of electronical parts by themselves. Unfortunately, there had not been enough time left to do that.
The charger did not work as expected on our trip from Potsdam to Dresden – problably because I had left the headlamp burning. Hopefully, it works better on the long journey…
Case
Charger with LED inside the case
