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— Bags and Racks —
Sackville SaddleSack-Small
Click to embiggen.
This should be our best-selling bag ever. It offers so much for so United States
little. It fits a small (9 x 13) laptop, or a book about that big but fatter. It's so light that there's no reason not to have it on a bike. It's as simple as saddlebags get. There are zero pockets except for the obvious one; there's one flap-strap (it pulls on a wooden dowel to evenly close the bag). The tongue-flap contains even a loose load securely. You get the same show-off quality of all the Sackville sacks, but it's so cheap because it's so plain. If you want to divvy your stuff up, do it with smaller bags or sacks in side.
Since the Large is magnificent and the Medium is still halfway ginormous by saddlebag standards, there remained a gap in the honest-to-goodness "medium" size category, and since we already have a medium, we're filling with this SaddleSack Small. It seem les akward than having a "medium large" and a "medium," although not by far. But "small" is just as misleading in this case, as "large" and "medium" are in the others.
A few thoughts on saddlebag sizing are in order. First, for a saddlebag to be useful, to be worth it not just for looks but for function, it has to be big enough to not be quickly overwhelmed, and a micro is quickly overwhelmed. Micros are good supplements to something bigger on the other end of the bike, for keeping your essentials with you. We love micros, BUT, when it comes to carrying a stack of magazines, some books, a pair of shoes or a bulky coat, they aren't big enough----and don't let's even please talk about those impromptu stops at Trader Joe's for the goat brie, blueberries, canned salmon, and cheap dark chocolate. It all fits and rests nicely on top of your 13-inch laptop, and the Genuine Corroplast stiffener in the bottom stops sagging, so it won't rub on your tire. This is a capacious saddlebag that needs no rack and fit on even smallish bikes with 700c tire---bikes that usually don't have room. Load it heavy, it won't sag. Attach it the only way you can, and it won't tilt. You need a saddle with bag loops--that's the only thing. All currently made leather saddles have them.
As much as you may wish size didn't matter, in saddlebags it does, because saddlebags are what people who don't want to use backpacks and panniers use. In saddlebags, bigger is more useful, and always pays its way.
Our goal with this SMALL was to make a daily saddlebag that was light and cheap enough to have more than one of, that fit on any bike without needing a rack, and that sat flat and perky....and yet was big enough to be tremendously useful.
We eliminated some of the costlier details of the MED and LAR, and ended up, thrilled as can be, with this stripped down, priced-down SMALL, which snuggles right in with the SaddleSack family, and fills the need for a true medium (despite the Small label).
No rack needed. No way to even attach it to a rack. It uses the familiar, 3-point attachment to the saddlebag loops and the seat post, and that's it. As is the case with any seat-post attached bag of size, your hamstrings gently brush the bag as you pedal, if you have a tight load. This has been going on since 1934 or so, when Carradice first came out with its fine bags, but newbies sometimes shriek still. No shrieking allowed, newbie: It's subtle, you get used to it in three blocks, and the contraptionistic ways around it (racks, supports, stand-offs, other riggings) amount to killing flies with mace. Some quick soul-searching before committing is called for here, but basically, this bag works great, fills an important size gap, and is an inexpensive way to Leica-ize your bicycle while making it way more useful.
One compartment, big enough for a 13" MacBook. There's a tongue-flap to fold over your load so when you forget to buckle the flap down, the load still stays put. The flap closes with a single buckle pulling on a wooden dowel, easily removed but securely enclosed in the leather tunnel. Buckle the strap and leave a big finger loop in it for easy blind access, and to keep the end of the buckle from rubbing on the tire.
All in all, this is a super bag at a price that won't force you into a life of crime..
Worried your saddlebag (and it's precious contents) will go a missin' while the bike is locked-up outside of the book store? Get one of these handy widgets. Or, feed a couple o' long Irish Straps thru the dowel slot and you've got yourself a handy hands-free dandy baggy.
Sackville capacities (pdf).
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