Frame bags fit inside the frame diamond of your bike, making sure you can carry your personal items without the obstacle of puffy panniers. We tested the Roswheel Road Series in Slovenia this fall and fell for the fast-and-light road rides. Now, as you've finished the inside job and all sewing that was easier to be done with flat construction, it's time to have fun origami-style and make the bag 3-dimentional :)

As I mentioned earlier, sometimes I take my powerbank and connect it to phone which is on the handlebar - so I did a holder at the vertical wall (built with two rubber bands); then, two narrower rubbers will work as cable management stuff, and finally I'll leave a hole in one of the bag's corner (photo no. 4) so the cable could be put out of the bag.Half-frame bags ride just under the top tube and can fit a 2L bladder or a weekend’s cache of food. Depending on the frame size, they can allow enough space to still access two water bottles bolted to the frame. If this is your first frame bag, we don’t think it’s necessary to get one custom-made. If you want to go that route, there’s lots of good information here on what to look for in a frame bag, custom or not.

The bags are welded from waterproof material and paired with a watertight zipper, keeping the contents of the bags dry. And because the bags are so big, there’s really no limit to what you can pedal into the woods. What differentiates the Road Series from the rest of the crop are the proprietary lightweight rubber bands that strap the bags to the bike. Velcro straps are tried and true, but the hook-and-loop system can pull at Lycra, damaging an expensive kit. Roswheel ships all Road Series bags with an assortment of “fast-fix” rubber bands that allow bags to bungee around nearly every size frame. Turning to the seat and handlebars, things get a little funky. Both the seat bag and handlebar “harness” system are mounted to the bike with metal hardware clamps that bolt around the seatpost and handlebars. Each has a pairing, removable bag that you can take into the tent or hotel after the ride while leaving the harness on the bike. Slim profile – Ideally you’d want the mountain bike triangle bag to be as unrestricting to your legs as possible. Slim profile ensures it won’t get in the way of your pedalling by rubbing against your legs.Top tube bags, or fuel tanks, are bags that attach to the bike’s top tube and then are often secondarily secured to the stem or at the other side of the frame at the seatpost. Like stem bags, top tube bags are great for storing small things that need to be accessed easily. They’re perfect for holding a cell phone a wallet or even a small Bluetooth speaker. The rest of the construction of the Ranger is just as dialed as the strap system. The bag is a combination of abrasion-resistant Xpac VX21 ripstop fabric and a heavy denier ballistic nylon along the sides where the bag will rub on the bicycle frame.

Visibility – As a matter of safety, reflective parts on bag are a plus when riding at night to improve visibility levels. High visibility gear is proven to reduce risk of accident over not being worn in dark conditions. Apidura bags can be expensive, and we’ve seen a zipper blow out on a top-tube bag after a handful of seasons. But overall, Apidura strikes a balance of durability and low weight, ideal for long gravel rides. The dimensions of a frame bag matter more than volume. Since this bag fits inside the triangle of your bike—and there are so many variations on these sizes—it’s critical to know every dimension of your bike frame before committing to a bag. Some brands, like Salsa, will tell you exactly what bike each frame bag fits, and with others you’ll have to take measurements. After all stitches are done, turn the bag from inside-out, to inside-inside position. You know, so the bag looks normal - something like the second picture.The slim profile of 6.5cm keeps the bag out the way of your knees, and the long length still gives you great capacity to store items. What makes a custom bag, if not the additional stuff inside, tailored to your very personal needs :) Newer bags have an air-release valve that allows air to escape as you cinch your load. This keeps the load where you want it — close to the bike. If your frame bag seems less waterproof than it once was, apply a coat of Nikwax TX Direct Waterproofing Spray, this will add a new layer of water-resistant coating to your frame bag.