Frame bags, where do you store your water bottles?

[Dave_C]

Hi,

I have a Carradice Nelson which is pretty unbeatable. I have had and sold a wedge Super C, and no longer use my Alpkit Koala-like 'Tapered 13ltr' bag as its a pita to remove everything to get access to the stuff at the bottom.

I like the idea of a frame bag but where do you, the owners, put your water bottles?

Cheers, Dave C

[jiberjaber]

Alpit do a custom one based on a cardboard template.  I'm considering similar at the moment so interested in the thread progress. 

From my research so far, options are to not have a full triangle and then leave some room for bottles depending on your frame size this may require side access cages or normal cages and some cages can be dropped further down using offset brackets.  Other option in some bags is a tube access hole and internal dividers to hold the bladder.

[TPMB12]

Alpkit also do the bheestie which replaces the cap on your headset and takes a standard bottle cage. You can also get seat mounted brackets for cages. Failing that look at the Alpkit stem cells which attach to the stem. Other brands do similar products.

[firedfromthecircus]

I just stick my water bottle in the top of the frame bag.
I have a Revelate bag on the fatbike and an early Alpkit one on the 29er and once all the gubbins I carry is in the bag I slot the bottle in at the front and top of the bag. Unzip about half way to get the bottle in and out. Really easy on the fly. In fact, probably easier than a bottle cage for me now. And a major bonus is that the bottle is always clean, no matter how much crap I've ridden through.
If I need to carry more gubbins such that I don't have space in the framebag for a bottle I revert to the camelback, but I do prefer riding without it where possible these days.

[Dave_C]

I just stick my water bottle in the top of the frame bag.
I have a Revelate bag on the fatbike and an early Alpkit one on the 29er and once all the gubbins I carry is in the bag I slot the bottle in at the front and top of the bag. Unzip about half way to get the bottle in and out. Really easy on the fly. In fact, probably easier than a bottle cage for me now. And a major bonus is that the bottle is always clean, no matter how much crap I've ridden through.
If I need to carry more gubbins such that I don't have space in the framebag for a bottle I revert to the camelback, but I do prefer riding without it where possible these days.

Great Idea. I am going to make my own and could make a pocket inside to hold a bladder!

Just need to go find waterproof zips.

[BrianI]

I just stick my water bottle in the top of the frame bag.
I have a Revelate bag on the fatbike and an early Alpkit one on the 29er and once all the gubbins I carry is in the bag I slot the bottle in at the front and top of the bag. Unzip about half way to get the bottle in and out. Really easy on the fly. In fact, probably easier than a bottle cage for me now. And a major bonus is that the bottle is always clean, no matter how much crap I've ridden through.
If I need to carry more gubbins such that I don't have space in the framebag for a bottle I revert to the camelback, but I do prefer riding without it where possible these days.

Great Idea. I am going to make my own and could make a pocket inside to hold a bladder!

Just need to go find waterproof zips.

I'll be watching this with interest as I've been thinking about making a frame bag for my mtb. It'll be a good project for my 1963 Singer 411g Sewing Machine!

[TPMB12]

Have you tried to make your frame bag Dave_C?

[Dave_C]

Have you tried to make your frame bag Dave_C?

Sorry, not yet. I have the Goretex material, I have ordered the 35cm W/proof zips and need to find some webbing. I have found Alpkit sell the Velcro straps, but an alternative online might be cheaper.

I'll put photos up of it once complete.

[markfh]

You could always try Toolstation for hook and loop cable straps.

http://www.toolstation.com/shop/Electrical/d190/Cable+Management/sd2460/Hook+%26+Loop+Cable+Tie/p68911

[Dave_C]

Thanks Markf, I have found some at PRofabrics and ordered 8. I have the webbing also, and will post pictures once I have the finished bag.

I've ordered enough for 2 bags, incase I want 2 different sized bags.

[BrianI]

Thanks Markf, I have found some at PRofabrics and ordered 8. I have the webbing also, and will post pictures once I have the finished bag.

I've ordered enough for 2 bags, incase I want 2 different sized bags.

We want pictures of the work in progress Dave_C! So like Captain Jean-Luc Picard often says Make it Sew! 😀

[HeltorChasca]

Bladder in my Alpkit Sting Ray frame bag. I've got an old Camelbak, but I quite fancy Osprey's efforts. They come in smaller sizes too.

Alpkit will put a notch in for you so you can run the line up to your handlebars. Same can be said for any wiring for lights, gps etc.

[BrianI]

Bladder in my Alpkit Sting Ray frame bag. I've got an old Camelbak, but I quite fancy Osprey's efforts. They come in smaller sizes too.

Alpkit will put a notch in for you so you can run the line up to your handlebars. Same can be said for any wiring for lights, gps etc.

Doesn't a bladder in the frame bag mean an awfully long sucky tube, and a big sook to get a drink?

[Kim]

A non-knackered bite valve ought to hold the liquid in the tube okay, I'd have thought.  They do get leaky with age.

Not sure about bike-mounted hydration tubes on upwrongs.  Unless you're in a very crouched position, what do you do with all the hose?

[Samuel D]

What do we think of handlebar-mounted water cages? Does anyone make good ones today?

I have sometimes thought they would be a good idea, but I’m worried they look too posey, especially on my steel frame with down-tube levers that some people already assume was chosen for retro [retch] looks.

I have a pump on the inside of the seat-tube that blocks that bottle position.

[HeltorChasca]

Bladder in my Alpkit Sting Ray frame bag. I've got an old Camelbak, but I quite fancy Osprey's efforts. They come in smaller sizes too.

Alpkit will put a notch in for you so you can run the line up to your handlebars. Same can be said for any wiring for lights, gps etc.

Doesn't a bladder in the frame bag mean an awfully long sucky tube, and a big sook to get a drink?

No longer than in a rucksack. The tube is supplied that long. Once you've sucked once the rest is easy because the tube remains full. The bladder flattens and the bite valve stops air entering the system.

Wasn't there something about the physics of using a long reed as a snorkel on a very old James Bond movie? Because everything was truthfully accurate in Bond Movie Land. In the real world you wouldn't be able to draw air into a 1 metre long snorkel. Something like that anyway.

[Kim]

What do we think of handlebar-mounted water cages? Does anyone make good ones today?

There are certainly a couple of adaptors that will take a cage of your choice.  SJS would be the place to look.

Wasn't there something about the physics of using a long reed as a snorkel on a very old James Bond movie? Because everything was truthfully accurate in Bond Movie Land. In the real world you wouldn't be able to draw air into a 1 metre long snorkel. Something like that anyway.

That's because lungs aren't strong enough to overcome the water pressure involved.  Below about a metre you need to breathe compressed air so the pressure in your lungs is within lung-strength of that outside your body.  Not a problem applicable to hydration bladders, as the air pressure doesn't change appreciably within any sensible hose length.  There is the opposite problem if you try to suck water from a bladder several metres lower than you are, where even if you can suck a hard vacuum, the air pressure outside the bladder at sea level is only sufficient to support a column of water about 10 metres tall.  If you can build a bike tall enough for that to become a problem, I salute you!

[Jakob W]

What do we think of handlebar-mounted water cages? Does anyone make good ones today?

As Kim suggests, you can get bottle cage adapters that clamp onto the bars and take a cage; I've got one on the bakfiets that I think I paid about a fiver for in Evans a few years ago. I think most similar adapters are sized for urban bars, but can be fitted to road bars with a bit of filing.

Or get something like the Zefal doodad (yes, that does appear to be the name) straps to fit your pump under the top tube? I'm planning on doing something similar on my bike to allow me to use both bottle cages and carry an HPX. There is always the TT saddle-mount option, as long as you don't mind being mistaken for a triathlete 

[Samuel D]

I think I’m more of a poseur than a try-athlete if it comes down to that. The proof being that I dislike pump straps since they detract from the elegance that attracted me to a frame pump in the first place. But they also slow access to the pump, which is a nuisance with latex tubes that call for daily pumping. That said, my current thinking is to solve that problem by switching to butyl tubes.

I was hoping someone had figured out a way to support the handlebar-mounted cage in a way that doesn’t rely on friction at the bar. That strikes me as a bulky design that may not be perfectly reliable on the cobbles I often traverse.

But perhaps Dave_C would be interested in one of these ways of carrying water.



EDIT: oh, and something I just remembered: https://www.wolftoothcomponents.com/products/b-rad-double-bottle-cage-adapter

[Samuel D]

Here’s another idea: the King Cage Top Cap Cage Mount, available here.

[TPMB12]

https://www.alpkit.com/products/love-mud-bheesty

Take a look at the alpkit bheesty. It's a top cap bottle bracket for bottle cage.

[Dave_C]

Hi,
FFS!! Sorry, bear with me while I put in the proper code to display the images. Photobucket appears a flakey as a .....

Thanks for all the posts and suggestions.

I made my frame bag yesterday. I bought water proof zips from Pennine Haberdashery and double sides velcro and Nylon Tape from Profabrics, all online.
I made a cardboard template for my Audax bike and then cut 3 sides and a length 80mm wide strip for the edge.
I used 3 sides as I wanted a wide side and a narrow, paper document side. I started off by cutting and sewing the zips in.
Then I sewed the tape onto the edge peice at ~30mm steps, quite a long and laborious job:





Then I sewed the 2 right edges together to form the narrow side and sewed the edge on, after pinning it:



After that I sewed the left side on and turned it inside out to leave the finished bag: Tip! Undo the zip before finishing it, or its tricky to turn right way round...



Its not perfect, from a sale point of views as I'm not professional stitcher, but its fits and appears to be fine. I think I could improve on it, like making a horizontal divider so stuff does not sink to the bottom and perhaps sewing something in the middle to keep the sides together and stop them moving apart (buldging) and into the way of my pedals, but its a good working prototype, and I've learned a few things.

Dave C

[BrianI]

Nice one Dave_C! How wide did you make the bag? Certainly a few ideas for my own frame bag, so I'm glad you shared the photos.

[TPMB12]

I saw a decent frame bag/top tube bag combo online. It was a full frame bag but on top of the top tube was another full bag extending from stem to seat post. It was level across tyre whole top tube and in line with the top of the stem/handlebars. It looked a very good way to get load capacity in. Nice line detail above the zips on both bags too. Simple black with white line gives a clean look that is repeated on both bags.

Anyway I'm planning on getting a full frame bag from that manufacturer and seriously considering the top tube bag to match. Apparently it increases the cost of the frame bag because they have to interlink somehow. However the bags are a lot cheaper than say apidura full frame bags £142 in my bike size. For that I could get both custom made bags I reckon.

That leaves water carrying issues. I think a topeak bar bracket might do or I could get a hydration bladder fitting put in the frame bag for a little extra. I've got loads of bladders somewhere, from 1.5-2 or even 3 litres capacity.