I think some bags, like the Brand V BoxyBar, are an incredible deal. You'd be hard pressed to find a decent front bag for less than 75. Hell, I spent 90 dollars just to get a front rack.
It's not all high-brow, and yes i think much of it comes down to just enjoying trying out different methods of carrying items. We cyclists like simple pleasures, no? Erik "loves his 20 dollar tweed country bags from the garage sale" Jensen On Tue, Nov 9, 2010 at 7:37 AM, Ray Shine <r.sh...@sbcglobal.net> wrote: > I'm guessing that Riv just likes looking around and trying out new stuff. > One of those look-around products are the V-Brand bags, which have become my > bag of choice over all the others with buckles. I find the zippers and the > Velcro hooks are the best for what I do with the bikes. In fact, I suggested > to Grant that a V-Brand Banana bag would be a fine addition to his line, but > that has not graced the sales racks at this point. I bought a V-Brand Boxy > Bar bag, and really like it a lot. I did recently purchase a fine set of > panniers from Swift Industries, another small USA maker. I chose them over > the V=Brand only because they were not joined as one unit, but are two > separate bags like most panniers. I am gradually transitioning all of my > leather-buckled bags to V-Brand or Swift (then will have a on-line garage > sale.) > > ------------------------------ > *From:* Beth H <periwinkle...@yahoo.com> > *To:* RBW Owners Bunch <rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com> > *Sent:* Tue, November 9, 2010 6:48:54 AM > *Subject:* [RBW] Re: Why doesn't Riv reissue some bag classics? > > Some of the earliest cool bags that Rivendell carried -- and brought > back to the forefront of American cycling consciousness as a result -- > were from Carradice. > Thanks in no small part to Rivendell's efforts in that regard, we now > have dozens of excellent small bag makers across the country, > including Lemolo, ChicagoWig, Black Star, Freight and Acorn. I am glad > for all of them and the diversity of design and function their bags > offer. > > I still love and adore my Carradice saddlebags -- my oldest is going > on 15 years now and could use some reproofing but still works great. > The problem is that Carradice has never really grown their production > to meet increased demand, especially since establishing "stockists" > worldwide, and now it takes months for a retailer to get their > Carradice order. (Disclaimer: my shop is a Carradice stockist.) > Carradice bags remain an excellent product, well-made and durable and > giving tremendous bang-for-the-buck/pound. But you need to be patient > and persistent to get one these days. > > Meanwhile, Rivendell offers some excellent American-made bags that are > more expensive partly because of the quality, and partly because > they're American-made. I appreciate that Rivendell cares about the > state of American manufacturing and supports companies that are > committed to keeping it alive, even on a smaller scale. When my budget > allows, I am willing to pay the higher price for an American-made bag > or garment, because I know that the person who made it is being paid a > fair wage and works under safe, regulated working conditions. Not > incidentally, my American-made stuff tends to last longer these days > than its cheaper [Chinese-made] counterpart. Those things matter to > me, and I suspect they matter to quite a few other folks as well. If > they didn't, Rivendell's ethic wouldn't fly and they'd be scrambling > to offer the cheaper stuff in a hurry. > > Be patient. More coolness is probably on the horizon. > beth > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "RBW Owners Bunch" group. > To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bu...@googlegroups.com. > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch+ > unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. > For more options, visit this group at > http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch?hl=en. > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "RBW Owners Bunch" group. > To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bu...@googlegroups.com. > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com<rbw-owners-bunch%2bunsubscr...@googlegroups.com> > . > For more options, visit this group at > http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch?hl=en. > -- oakland, ca bikenoir.blogspot.com -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bu...@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch?hl=en.
