Quest Carrying Bag Options (w/o using the rack)

[Bikes&Banjos]

I'm interested in trying to put some carrying bags on my Quest 3.0 without using the rack. If any of you are mounting these or similar bags, I'd love to see or hear about what you're using and how they're working out.

For instance, here's some options I'm considering
- Cruzbike's Scarab bag
- Seat back bags (Radical Design's Solo Aero and the Bachetta Brain Box)
- Radical Design Banana Racer bags

thx in advance

 

[billyk]

Check my post "minimalist rack for Q45"
https://forum.cruzbike.com/threads/minimalist-rack-for-q45.13703/#post-165917
I use it regularly for shopping trips, holds a lot, and pretty much completely disappears when not in use.

Also it stays dry behind the seat, an important consideration here in rainy Seattle.

Always worth searching these forums, but in my experience you're better off with Google than the search box here for more complex searching.
E.g. site:cruzbike.com/forum bunch-of-search-terms

 

[Bikes&Banjos]

Check my post "minimalist rack for Q45"
https://forum.cruzbike.com/threads/minimalist-rack-for-q45.13703/#post-165917
I use it regularly for shopping trips, holds a lot, and pretty much completely disappears when not in use.

Also it stays dry behind the seat, an important consideration here in rainy Seattle.

Always worth searching these forums, but in my experience you're better off with Google than the search box here for more complex searching.
E.g. site:cruzbike.com/forum bunch-of-search-terms

Wow! Really nice mods for the back pack and panniers. That might get my creative packing juices flowing a little bit.
Thanks Billyk

 

[pherreshoff]

For underseat panniers I attached a bike stem to the post that holds up the seat back (the post fitting in where one would normally insert the handlebars), and then inserted a piece of pcv pipe where the steer tube would normally go. For my quest I repurposed two trader joes insulated shopping bags, connecting the two near the front (by sewing) with some nylon webbing which drapes over the frame at the front of the seat mount. The rear of the bags are connected to the pcv pipe (once again with nylon webbing). I removed the kick stand and bolted in an old large detergent bottle to prevent the bags from contacting the rear tire.
On my Q45 I designed panniers using sunbrella material, fabric glue, zip ties and nylon webbing with an internal "frame cannibalized from a couple of panels from an old plastic accordion door. The method of attachment to the bicycle is similar to that I used for the quest. Both designs allow for relatively easy removal of the panniers

 

[Bikes&Banjos]

For underseat panniers I attached a bike stem to the post that holds up the seat back (the post fitting in where one would normally insert the handlebars), and then inserted a piece of pcv pipe where the steer tube would normally go. For my quest I repurposed two trader joes insulated shopping bags, connecting the two near the front (by sewing) with some nylon webbing which drapes over the frame at the front of the seat mount. The rear of the bags are connected to the pcv pipe (once again with nylon webbing). I removed the kick stand and bolted in an old large detergent bottle to prevent the bags from contacting the rear tire.
On my Q45 I designed panniers using sunbrella material, fabric glue, zip ties and nylon webbing with an internal "frame cannibalized from a couple of panels from an old plastic accordion door. The method of attachment to the bicycle is similar to that I used for the quest. Both designs allow for relatively easy removal of the panniers

Both of these sound awesome! I love the stem off the seat post idea. Do you have any pics you could share of either of them?

 

[pherreshoff]

The first three images show the trader joes panniers on my Cruz Bike Quest. The mylar cover is to prevent leakage through the zipper of the trader joes bags The fourth and eighth images show the pcv pipe attached to the stem attached to the seat post of the Q45. The 5th image is of the Q45 panniers off the bike - one with the cover in place and the other with the cover partially open to show the inside of a pannier and the (green) nylon webbing straps - loops used to attach the rear of the pannier to the pcv pipe. The red nylon webbing connects the two panniers together in the front and loops over the frame just in front of the front seat attachment. The 6th and 7th images show the panniers in place on the q45. the dimensions of the q45 panniers are4.5" wide in the front, 8.5"wide in the back 16" long and 13" deep. The trader joes bags are about 7"x18"x13".

 

[Bikes&Banjos]

Those look great pherreshoff! so It looks like you can carry a ton of baggage on those setups and not worry about your back end flopping around.

I might borrow that stem/pvc pipe idea

thx

 

[benphyr]

Do you mean PVC pipe (PolyVinyl Chloride) - a kind of plastic pipe used in plumbing and electrical conduit and fittings.

 

[Bikes&Banjos]

Do you mean PVC pipe (PolyVinyl Chloride) - a kind of plastic pipe used in plumbing and electrical conduit and fittings.

sorry... yes... pvc... will correct the typo

 

[billyk]

PVC pipe is wonderful stuff. It's cheap, available in many sizes, but most of all it softens and bends easily at about 180F. So you can hold it in boiling water and shape it by hand. That's how I made my rack above.

If the bend is tight it will distort the pipe, but if done carefully you can make many shapes. One way is to fill it tightly with sand, and cap it, then dump the sand out after.

 

[Bikes&Banjos]

PVC pipe is wonderful stuff. It's cheap, available in many sizes, but most of all it softens and bends easily at about 180F. So you can hold it in boiling water and shape it by hand. That's how I made my rack above.

If the bend is tight it will distort the pipe, but if done carefully you can make many shapes. One way is to fill it tightly with sand, and cap it, then dump the sand out after.

Cool! I had no idea you could mold PVC pipes like that.
Very helpful. Thx billyk