Great bags for Cruzbikes: FastBack Double Century

[Hotdog]

Over the weekend I finally tried out the FastBack System Double Century hydration pack that works so well on my Bacchetta on my Sofrider V2. I was delighted to find out that despite being designed with rather differently shaped seats in mind it fits well

I think this is a great 'day bag' for a Cruzbike. It consists of two pouches, slung either side of the seat. Each pouch can be used to carry a 2 litre water bladder, or as a conveniently sized bag for riding essentials such as spare tubes, puncture repair kit, tools, wallet, keys, phone, etc. For most rides I carry a water bladder on the left side and my kit in the right. These bags work particularly well with Nalgene water bladders because the bags have a strap near the bottom end of the bag to attach the Nalgene magnetic mouthpiece clip to. Whatever you chose to carry in the bags the load is kept low and forward (good for centre of gravity position, and hence handling) and largely behind the seat (good for aerodynamics).

As the seat and supporting structures are essentially the same I expect the Double Century would fit most conversions as well as the Sofrider or Freerider. I'd say it'd probably fit nicely on a Silvio too, but someone should send me one so I can check for certain

For extra carrying capacity the Double Century combines nicely with the Radical Design Solo Aero seat top bag, seen here:

The combination of the two gives plenty of luggage space for commuting, and all without a rack.

Full size versions of all the photos, with descriptions, here.

 

[Rick Harker]

Hi Hotdog,

Nice setup with the bags there.

By the way, where did you get your bag from? I'm in Melbourne.

Rick.

 

[Hotdog]

Rick Harker wrote:
Nice setup with the bags there.

Thanks

Quote:
By the way, where did you get your bag from? I'm in Melbourne.

I got the Double Century hydration pack through Ian Humphries of Flying Furniture in Canberra. They'd been raved about on the Bacchetta forums and by a few Volae riders too, so I asked Ian whether he stocked them. He didn't, but offered to get some in from the US and then posted me one for a good price. At the time FastBack Systems didn't really have an online shop of their own, but they've since been acquired by Terracycle (another US manufacturer of recumbent bits and pieces) and so their products are now also available direct to customers through the Terracycle online shop. They ship to Australia, and their shipping is generally reasonably priced and pretty quick.

The other bag, the Radical Designs Solo Aero, I bought from Flying Furniture at the same time I bought my Bacchetta. They'll have some in stock, of you could look for online retailers (I think Radical Designs have their own online shop).

 

[Doug Burton]

Hotdog,

Great setup! The bike looks really good kitted-out like that.

Thanks for the detailed pics of the Double -Century. I'm considering one and was wondering about the detailed mounting.

Best,

 

[John Tolhurst]

Thats very interesting, Hotdog, thanks for the photos.
I had imagined they would go more from shoulder to hip and be pretty well completely up out of the air stream. Do you suppose perhaps a hole burnt through the cross join in the upper hanger, and a hole right near the top of the seat back and a bolt through, lifting them a few inches ... or something? Or not worth the fuss?

 

[Mark B]

johntolhurst wrote: Thats very interesting, Hotdog, thanks for the photos.
I had imagined they would go more from shoulder to hip and be pretty well completely up out of the air stream. Do you suppose perhaps a hole burnt through the cross join in the upper hanger, and a hole right near the top of the seat back and a bolt through, lifting them a few inches ... or something? Or not worth the fuss?

I think if you go and look at the pictures Jack put up.... I think he uses the same bag and yes, he drilled a hole higher up. I know his hangs higher up on the seat.

Mark

 

[Mark B]

My bad, Jacks were Radical Bags.

Here's the link: http://www.cruzbike.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=56&p=285#p285

Mark

 

[Hotdog]

johntolhurst wrote: Thats very interesting, Hotdog, thanks for the photos.
I had imagined they would go more from shoulder to hip and be pretty well completely up out of the air stream. Do you suppose perhaps a hole burnt through the cross join in the upper hanger, and a hole right near the top of the seat back and a bolt through, lifting them a few inches ... or something? Or not worth the fuss?

It probably would be better if the bag were slightly higher, it would look at bit neater if it didn't bend round under the seat base and would be marginally more aerodynamic (though lifting the load C of G higher is less good). As you've correctly figured out I'm limited by the top strap, it's as short as the adjustment allows in the above photos. The solution you suggest would work I think, though for a temporary measure to check it out I may just shorten the top strap by folding a section over and securing it with safety pins or something.

For comparison, here's the same bag on my other bike (which has a seat closer to what the bag's designers had in mind):

As you can see the seat is longer which means the bag doesn't end up curving round under the seat base like it does on the Cruzbike. It still hangs down low which is good for handling but means it protrudes into the airstream a little. Still a lot less additional frontal area than racks and panniers though

 

[John Tolhurst]

Hotdog wrote: (though lifting the load C of G higher is less good)

Its a small effect - but I would suggest more good. The relatively high C of G on the cruz compared to low racers is important to its ridability, as it gives you more time for your balancing reactions and so allows them to be timed with the pedal stroke. Sometimes the timing is not there, and you have to manhandle the bike to react when you want it.

 

[Hotdog]

johntolhurst wrote:

Hotdog wrote: (though lifting the load C of G higher is less good)

Its a small effect - but I would suggest more good. The relatively high C of G on the cruz compared to low racers is important to its ridability, as it gives you more time for your balancing reactions and so allows them to be timed with the pedal stroke. Sometimes the timing is not there, and you have to manhandle the bike to react when you want it.

Very true, moving less than 5kg by less than 10cm isn't going to make much difference to anything, and in any case lower centre of gravity isn't necessarily better. As you said, too low (like a low racer) and balance gets twitchy.

Anyway, I think the Double Century is a good bag for Cruzbikes as is, but with some sort of modification to make is sit higher I think it'd be great. I'll experiment a bit and see what I can do.

 

[Hotdog]

I had a go at improving the mounting of the Double Century today, as a temporary measure I used a few safety pins to effectively move the attachment point of the strap fasteners at the top of the bags further down. This enabled me to get the bags to sit significantly higher so that the bottom of the bags are now at the joint between the seat base and back. Basically the bags are now entirely behind the seat, they are no longer bending round underneath and protruding into the airflow instead they tuck neatly into the hollow behind the seat. A big improvement, they fit great now

I'm taking the Cruzbike to a Sydney meeting of OzHPV tomorrow, I'll take some photos of the new setup (and everyone else and their bikes...) then post some here.

 

[Hotdog]

With four safety pins and a few minutes of tinkering I've been able to modify my Double Century so it sits higher.

It now works a lot better, the bags stretch from the top to the bottom of the seat back but now without protruding below or wrapping round under the seat base. Even when fully loaded the bags fit perfectly into the hollow behind the seat, no extra drag at all

 

[Tom Roberts]

How does the Solo Aero attach to the seat post? I can't tell from the picture. Is it sitting on a separate support or does it attach directly to the seat post?
Thanks, Tom

 

[Hotdog]

Tom Roberts wrote: How does the Solo Aero attach to the seat post? I can't tell from the picture. Is it sitting on a separate support or does it attach directly to the seat post?

Short answer, it doesn't. It's a recumbent bag designed to attach to seats which generally don't have one... Instead, it attaches to the seat back itself. On the front surface of the bag is a sort of deep mesh 'loop/strap' (for want of a better word) which covers most of the height of the bag. To put it on the seat you just slide over the top of the seat from above, with the mesh in front of the seat back and the bag behind, and pull it down until it's tight. Easy to attach, easy to remove (just lift it up by the handle on top), and it stays firmly attached in the meantime.

 

[Tom Roberts]

Thanks, now I get it. Next question. How much does it cost? I went to the website, but the price was listed in some foreign currency.

 

[Tom Roberts]

Sorry, also of the two sizes which fit best the standard or the wide?

 

[Hotdog]

Tom Roberts wrote: Sorry, also of the two sizes which fit best the standard or the wide?

Mine's a standard, and it fits fine though is perhaps a little tight when you're putting it on. Because of the tapering width of the seat I'd imagine the wide would work too, you'd just slide it down a little lower.

 

[Hotdog]

Tom Roberts wrote: Thanks, now I get it. Next question. How much does it cost? I went to the website, but the price was listed in some foreign currency.

They're Euros. Which currency would you prefer?
US dollars?
British pounds?
Australian dollars?


I got mine from my local(ish) recumbent dealer in Canberra. If Holland is a long way away from where you are (you don't have a location in your profile) then you may be better off ordering from a recumbent shop nearer to you to save shipping costs. I think they're pretty popular bags in the recumbent community, your nearest recumbent dealers may well stock them or at least be able to order one in for a decent price.

 

[Tom Roberts]

I am in Irvine, CA so US dollars would be the currency of choice. I will see if I can find one in the area.
Thanks for your help.
Tom Roberts

 

[Sylvain]

Has anyone tried the

Has anyone tried the Angletech's AeroPod or AeroTrunk?