Make your own gear (MYOG) Bikepacking frame bag

With the recent purchase and building of my new bike which is intended to be a mountainbike/ bikepacking monster. It was time to get serious about making my own gear. This is how my first frame bag turned out.

So, how do you make a bike packing frame bag?

Step 1:
Google DIY/Homemade/MYOG bikepacking frame bag. See how other people did, get inspiration and ideas, and see that it is possible to have a custom bag just the way you want it.
This forum thread has plenty of tips, photo’s and links for inspiration
As does Logans blog post (which I found when I was almost done….oops)
There’s also many MYOG threads at bikepacking.net

Step 2:
Buy or borrow a sewing machine (make sure you use ” jeans” needles).

Step 3:
Order some raw materials, Cordura 500 or similar, some webbing, velcro, zips, heavy duty thread etc. I used this webshop in Germany because its in the Country next door and have a good selection of gear on their website. They also often have offcuts or leftovers on sale. Be careful though, its very easy to go ooooh aaah and spend a fortune…

Step 4:
While you’re waiting for your materials to turn up, learn to sew…..mess up an old t-shirts trying out the various modes your sewing machine has, and learn the trick that you’re supposed to hold the loose threads before you start each time to prevent a spiders nest. Then do a couple of small practice projects to try out your new skills, gets some experience and attempt to learn the dark art of installing a zip.
I made a laptop cover, bum bag and backpacking handlebar harness as my learning projects.

Step 5:

Do step 1 again and think fuck it, I can make a frame bag.

Step 6:

Make templates of the shape of bag you want and other bits of material you’ll need ( I was lucky, I hadn’t built my bike yet so this was super easy). Remember to think about gaps you may want or need for handholds, bidons or other frame bag attachments.

Step 7:

Mark and cut your material using your templates (remember to have a 1-2cm perimeter to sew onto).I used waterproof Cordura 500, which of course isn’t really waterproof now it has 5000 needle holes in it.  I went for a width of 6cm near the seat post and a steep flare out to 11cm near the handlebar stem (this for the last 18cm in the knee free zone). Also make some straps to attach the bag to your frame. I used strips of velcro sewed to strips of Cordura.

Step 8:

Have lunch, grab a coffee and start sewing, once you start its hard to stop 🙂

Step 9:

Sew any dividers, pockets or zips into, onto the main panels. You may need to re-due this step several times until every thing is the way its supposed to be, and you will probably curse the evil zip devil. Like others before me I’ve used velcro for the dividers, that way I can choose to use the divider or have the velcro strips flat when not in use.

Step 10:

Install the side panel to the main body. Probably swearing a lot at the corners (don’t forget to install the frame straps between the two pieces.

Step 11:

Cut everything open again because you’ve put the frame straps on upside down. Then re-do step 10.

Step 12:

Turn what is starting to look like a frame back inside out then install the other bits. Before turning it back the right way, re-sew all the seems 5mm next to the first seem for extra strengh. Also cut off any excess material and generally clean up the inside of the bag, check that your seems haven’t missed anything that might create weak points. Then ……..Tadhaaaa

Step 13:

Test install and minor (or possibly major) adjustment or start from scratch.

Step 14: Start dreaming up all the other awesome stuff you can make and all the improvements your 2nd frame bag will have.

Step 15: Hit the road jack!

Note: its not as easy as it looks, and takes some patience, but its rewarding and the more often you do projects the better at sewing you become meaning more complicated designs will eventually be possible.

Have fun!!!

Update summer 2015

My handlebar harness has now done two trips, the first a week or so in Germany  The second almost three weeks on the Transandalusia mtb route. As you can see I need to have a look at better protection for the harness and my frame for future trips. Either some foam or hard plastic.

The frame bag also pretty much survived my Transandalusia trip. While making the the framebag I double/triple stitched most of the borders and deliberatly only single stitched the zips thus creating a weak point that I could easily repair if my sewing proved to be sub standard. Luckily I had dental floss and a needle with me as the zip stitching failed during week two.

So now I know to pay better attention to my sewing and use stronger thread.

Improvements for next time:
-Loops at the end of the zip tracks to hang on to when opening/closing the zips.
-Zips would of been handier on the other side, I usually dismount to the left and park the right side against a wall, tree or whatever.
-The side panels of the bag need to be a couple of centimeters larger than the frame template to allow for bag expansion when full.
-Better zip sewing skills.
-The cut out for my hand proved very handy….

Frame bag II

This time I tried a zipless and almost seamless frame bag, this should be stronger and more ShaneProof (the thicker thread will help too).

I used stiffeners made by sewing pieces of thin plastic placemat and Cordura together for extra support and strength for the main frame attachments.

Using a kind of webbing “Rail” system I can attach the bag to the frame with cord, tie wraps, elastic etc (elastic allows a little more flex when the bag gets over or under filled). Meaning I’ll be more flexible for a quick fix on the road if something fails.

I used the same system for closing the large roll down opening at the top. Same again inside to give the option to accessorize later with pockets or clips to help keep the middle of the bag from getting too wide (a risk with a single compartment frame bag so big).

Due to the roll down top I’m also flexible to use the bag in different sized frames with similar geometry.

Now heading to Scotland in January to see how it holds out 🙂 Fingers crossed.

And 2 years later a MkIII with plenty of hand room to lift the bike over gates and fences during the Race across South Africa.