# Brooks B17 / Carradice saddlebag owners, help



## wayneanneli (Jul 8, 2004)

I have a Brooks B17 anatomical and recently purchased a Carradice Barley saddlebag plus Bagman support. The Bagman is supposed to be attached to the rails under the B17, behind the seatpost. My problem is that the rails on my B17 are extremely short, making it impossible to fit my seatpost and the Bagman one after another on the rails. Is there anyone else who has had this problem of short rails? Is this a Brooks problem? Or is my Campy Centaur seatpost just really thick? Any solutions?
Thanks, Wayne


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## FrontRanger (May 19, 2004)

I seem to recall there being a product that was specifically for this scenario with a brooks. Let me see if I can find it.


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## roadfix (Jun 20, 2006)

My bagman support mounts behind the American Classic post on my B17 narrow saddle with no room to spare with the saddle shoved all the way back.


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## DrRoebuck (May 10, 2004)

I have the Barley and I use it with all my Brooks saddles, sans any kind of bagman support. Never had a problem.


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## wayneanneli (Jul 8, 2004)

DrRoebuck said:


> I have the Barley and I use it with all my Brooks saddles, sans any kind of bagman support. Never had a problem.


Hey DR,
What about rubbing at the back of the leg? Does it bother you? I see that Acorn has come with a small distancer to keep their bag 2" further back, sans support.


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## DrRoebuck (May 10, 2004)

wayneanneli said:


> Hey DR,
> What about rubbing at the back of the leg? Does it bother you? I see that Acorn has come with a small distancer to keep their bag 2" further back, sans support.


Not at all. I barely notice it.

The only bummer is when I've had the dslr in the Barley. It knocks against the seatpost if I'm pedaling out of the saddle.


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## buck-50 (Sep 20, 2005)

wayneanneli said:


> I have a Brooks B17 anatomical and recently purchased a Carradice Barley saddlebag plus Bagman support. The Bagman is supposed to be attached to the rails under the B17, behind the seatpost. My problem is that the rails on my B17 are extremely short, making it impossible to fit my seatpost and the Bagman one after another on the rails. Is there anyone else who has had this problem of short rails? Is this a Brooks problem? Or is my Campy Centaur seatpost just really thick? Any solutions?
> Thanks, Wayne


THere's this thing...

http://www.velo-orange.com/visabagsu.html

attaches to the seatpost instead of the saddle rails...


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## Nickel II (Jul 18, 2003)

Personally I don't think you need the bagman support to actually support the bag either. If you got it to prevent leg rub, that would make sense, but IMHO the bag isn't large enough to need support.

There are a lot of home made remedies to eliminate leg rub. Search around and you'll find the. They range from as simple as a block of wood to really nice hacks. I have a real nice hack to make the Barley bag quick release and with nice seat post offset to eliminate leg rub. I haven't had a chance to take or post pics yet.


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## FrontRanger (May 19, 2004)

buck-50 said:


> THere's this thing...
> 
> http://www.velo-orange.com/visabagsu.html
> 
> attaches to the seatpost instead of the saddle rails...


That's the one I was thinking of.


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## wayneanneli (Jul 8, 2004)

Thanks for the Velo-Orange suggestion. I've been recently thinking about trying out the solution that Acorn is coming with on their large saddlebag, a simple little distancer that pushes the bag away from the seatpost. Maybe a piece of pipe or wood would work. The VO support looks better for my needs than the Bagman support, which I feel really limits usage because you have to use the rails. 

http://www.acornbags.com/lgbag.html


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## wayneanneli (Jul 8, 2004)

Nickel II said:


> Personally I don't think you need the bagman support to actually support the bag either. If you got it to prevent leg rub, that would make sense, but IMHO the bag isn't large enough to need support.
> 
> There are a lot of home made remedies to eliminate leg rub. Search around and you'll find the. They range from as simple as a block of wood to really nice hacks. I have a real nice hack to make the Barley bag quick release and with nice seat post offset to eliminate leg rub. I haven't had a chance to take or post pics yet.


Maybe I don't need the support. But can you describe your hack for me, please?


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## buck-50 (Sep 20, 2005)

Big problem with the carradice bags and their imitators is that they were designed about 100 years ago, when saddles were generally slammed way way way forward on the seatpost.

They really need to update their design to work better with bikes designed in the last 50 years or so. 

I'm switching to handlebar bags.


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## Cory (Jan 29, 2004)

*will this help?*

I have a LowSaddle Longflap on my B-17, and I was going to order one of these to support it: http://www.rivbike.com/search/run?query=hupe&commit=Search#product=20-136
Haven't gotten around to it yet, and I may not, because the bag clears the wheel by a few inches as it is. But it looks good...


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## Nickel II (Jul 18, 2003)

wayneanneli said:


> Maybe I don't need the support. But can you describe your hack for me, please?


I'll do my best, but pictures tell a thousand words. Let's see how this goes:

1. For the QR portion, a lot of people have done this. Replace the leather straps for hooks of some sort. Here is a link of DrRoeboeks. I want to give credit where credit is due. And yes, putting the hooks int he direction he used is the best way.
http://forums.roadbikereview.com/showthread.php?t=95020

I used these hooks :
http://www.berkeleypoint.com/products/hardware/fixedbiminiclip.html

I had to mount them to the wooden dowel with zip ties. I also removed the clamp part of the hook as it was not needed - I had to use a dremel to cut it off but it was easy, and a file to file off the sharp edeges. Mounting the way DrRoebek shws you don't need the clapm part.

2. For the seatpost offset, I used two things.
- Buy a viewpoint spacebar
http://www.performancebike.com/shop/Profile.cfm?SKU=22874&item=40-3582&slitrk=search&slisearch=true

The thing is useless by itself. It is impossible to mount. But, the idea is great.

3. Darn, this is the tough part. I was hoping to find a pick online of the clamp I bought at Home Depot to mount the viewpoint bar spacer to the seatpost. I don't even know what it is called.

Tell you what, I am coloring easter eggs and making an easter buny house with my daughter in a few minutes. I will try to take pics tonight or tomorrow and post them. That will make it a lot easier.


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## DrRoebuck (May 10, 2004)

Nickel II said:


> 1. For the QR portion, a lot of people have done this. Replace the leather straps for hooks of some sort. Here is a link of DrRoeboeks. I want to give credit where credit is due. And yes, putting the hooks int he direction he used is the best way.


Awesome! Cool to know someone benefited from my handywork. :thumbsup:


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## roadfix (Jun 20, 2006)

buck-50 said:


> Big problem with the carradice bags and their imitators is that they were designed about 100 years ago, when saddles were generally slammed way way way forward on the seatpost.
> 
> They really need to update their design to work better with bikes designed in the last 50 years or so.


I agree with this 100%. It's quite obvious that their designs are totally outdated.


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## tarwheel2 (Jul 7, 2005)

Whether you need a support rack or not for your Carradice bag depends on your frame geometry and seatpost. I absolutely needed the Bagman or similar rack on my bikes as the bag swayed a lot and hit the backs of my legs on each pedal stroke.

The problem with fitting the Bagman on your Brooks is partly due Brooks saddles having such short rails. However, it also could be due to your seatpost. My Merckx frame has a slack seat tube angle (72.5) so the saddle was too far forward on the rails to use the Bagman with my existing setback seatpost. When I switched to a Thomson seatpost with no setback, the Bagman fit with plenty of room to spare. 

My DeBernardi has a setback post, but it had plenty of room for the Bagman because it has a steep seat tube angle (74), requiring the saddle to be pushed farther back on the rails.


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## roadfix (Jun 20, 2006)

The bottom line is that these types of bags should be redesigned to where you don't need to purchase a separate support in many cases to use them.


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## Nickel II (Jul 18, 2003)

roadfix said:


> The bottom line is that these types of bags should be redesigned to where you don't need to purchase a separate support in many cases to use them.


Acorn Bags has done that - there large bag comes with a seat post offset. Unfortunately Carradice seems like a pretty traditional company, but it would be nice.

I could not use the Barley Bag without the offset. But I'll also say that once you get the setup, I find these type of bags superior to to a rack pack for my commute.


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## wayneanneli (Jul 8, 2004)

Nickel II said:


> Acorn Bags has done that - there large bag comes with a seat post offset. Unfortunately Carradice seems like a pretty traditional company, but it would be nice.
> 
> I could not use the Barley Bag without the offset. But I'll also say that once you get the setup, I find these type of bags superior to to a rack pack for my commute.


I bought the Carradice, but only because I'm short of time and need it for a ride in mid-June, which leaves me about 3-4 weeks before when my order is placed with Acorn and my ride. I really like the Acorn and would love to get one of their large saddlebags, but darn their ordering process is hard for me. Such is life as a cottage industry, and I respect that  I have always liked supporting the little guy and Acorn would get my business in a heartbeat. I would have to be one of the first to get my name on the list in May, when they reinstall their ordering and Paypal buttons, and hope that someone in the US can order it for me and send it to me before the ride. I'm still hopeful, but...


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## Nickel II (Jul 18, 2003)

Ah, just noticed you were in Sweden! I took pics of my hack last night but didn't have a chance to post them. I'll try to do that tonight.

Agree on the Acorn bag ordering. I've exchanged a few emails with them. They are a great bunch but admit to having no interest in expanding. I wanted one of their large bags also but forgot when they opened orders back up in Feb and a day later they were not taking orders again.

I am eyeing one of their small saddlebags and hope they have pics posted of the new design by May 1 when they open orders up again.


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## Nickel II (Jul 18, 2003)

Wayne - I posted my hack here. Hope it helps.

http://forums.roadbikereview.com/showthread.php?p=2098011#post2098011


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