Recently I’ve been experimenting with how large a payload the Everything Bag can carry, and in the process learned a few new things about a product I’ve been manufacturing since 2012.
Here’s a 3/4 length Ridgerest sleeping pad (20″ width). The bag held the pad securely and stably for a rocky trail ride, but on standing climbs my knee hit the pad. Rotating the mount forward fixes the problem. In this case the adjustable mount has an advantage over the fork with brazed on mounts. With the mount rotated forward, the practical limit is when the payload hits the handlebars. With a suspension fork, the cargo will need to not bottom out on the bars as well.
Then I made a few extra long stuff sacks, to see just how much could be carried. The black stuff sack contains my 32 degree down sleeping bag, and a synthetic puffy jacket. Not bad for a water bottle holder!
Now, it is pretty obvious that the taller the cargo, the more it in-cringes on the handlebars and on your knee space. There is a simple solution for the Everything Bag. Because the Everything Bag is fabric based, the “shelf” at the bottom is optional! For “normal” sized cargo, you can keep the shelf open, but for carrying extra long items – such as a long drybag, a tent, or a sleeping pad, the fabric shelf can be folded back, out of the way and the cargo shifted lower on the bag. Presto! Now you can carry a really long object on one side, hanging below the bottom of the Everything Bag, and on the other side, carry a smaller, more dense object, like the Thermos pictured below. How many other fork bags or cages can do that? The monster stuff sack below is carrying my huge synthetic puffy jacket – the one you only wear when its 20 degrees below zero. The fabric sides of the Everything Bag protect the stuff sack from being abraded by the metal cam buckles.
Here’s a few more pictures of recent rides and projects. Thanks for checking in!
