22nd August 2019. Overboard duffle/saddlebag replacement?

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Thursday 22nd 56-73F but warming quickly. Bright but rather cloudy. It has reached 68F as I finish morning coffee at 11.00. A walk to the lanes being followed by the easterly wind. A slightly cooling headwind on the way back. It reached a warm 73F as I worked on a project at home.

Friday 23rd 61-73F, bright overcast and breezy. A flock of about a hundred small birds raced around as I walked along the drive. Gold finches and Great tits amongst them. From the road I spotted a tractor ploughing the prairie. So I walked to the village to capture some pictures from the main track.

A wheel rake for turning hay rows went past behind a typically huge tractor. It was on a scale I have never seen before. The rotors must have been 8' in diameter and stored vertically and inline when in transit. There were probably 200 gulls out on the field. With just as many white feathers littering the track. Where the grass banks had paused their progress in the breeze. I wonder if I can sneak out for a ride today? The overcast is breaking up to hazy sunshine. A crosswind going both ways often felt like a headwind. 20 hilly miles going quite well.

Have I mentioned that the Overboard 40L Duffel bag is reaching the end of its useful life? Made worse by a split milk carton adding a horrible pong!  The first accident compared with the almost weekly accidents with the Camper Longflap.

The 40L Overboard Duffle has been amazing for its remarkable carrying capacity and lightness. Sadly, the waterproof lining has been disintegrating for quite some time. Flaking off and making a bit of a mess inside the bag.

Which suggests a realistic lifetime of only about a year and a half. I bought mine in August 2017 just as my mileage dropped. I still consider that great value compared with traditional canvas bags. A 40L canvas saddlebag would weigh a ton!

I have the Carradice "Longflap Camper" and found it to hold much less than the claimed capacity. Barely 6 x 1 Liter cartons and it is literally full to the brim! Which was incredibly limiting for serious cycle shopping. [Right]

The Overboard bag could carry four complete rows of cartons x six wide with ease! That is 24 x 1 liter cartons and still lots of room for shopping on top. Assuming, of course, I wanted to become a full time, milk delivery man.

The Overboard was also far easier to load and could be strapped up tight in all dimensions. Asking for greater longevity would inevitably add to the weight. To little real purpose.

There are several makes of these "waterproof" duffel bags so I ought to see if there are any differences between them. I had chosen bright yellow for high viz. So I'll have to keep that in mind. There is also the option to go for a PVC bag made of tarpaulin material. Heavier but longer lived?

Further research quickly eliminated the Ortlieb 40L Duffle because it has a straight zip and is too long for the trike's track. The zip means packing becomes a chore and the greater length means the end panels get chewed off by the rear wheels.

The open maw of the Overboard was a complete revelation compared with traditional saddle bags with foolish, gravity powered lids. Which always dropped down behind the saddle to make loading and emptying a real 3-handed pain in the saddle department. Then there were the awkward and cracked, leather straps and constantly rusting buckles. What sort of outdoor bag making company uses rusting buckles?

The security of the shopping was always taken care of by hooking the upper strap handle over the saddle nose. This also ensured minimum frontal area of the bag in use by self adjusting to the volume of the items inside the bag. The strap tension also restrained the 70Kg Abus Mini U-lock from rearward movement. Which would almost certainly have lifted the trike's front wheel right off the ground!

The Overboard has a neat, fold/roll over top but the side and F/R clips and straps can be instantly released to obtain a huge square hole in the top to stuff with shopping. Or equally, easily unload it at home. When folded or rolled the bag instantly flattens down to minimum height and wind drag.

The Head Gardner never liked the silver end panels but they were supposed to be reflective for high visibility at night time. The silver never bothered me, was tough and didn't show the dirt.

The rear net pocket was rubberized and Velcro sealed. Which ensured a perfectly silent and secure resting place for the 70Kg ABUS, Dreadnought Class, Mini U-lock. Which was always highly accessible. [No matter how often I wished the damned thing wasn't there!] Being so visible it reminded me to lock the trike every single time.

So, apart from the poor longevity of the waterproof lining the Overboard ticked all of my boxes and probably still does. The strap handles were very easily arranged as security fixing for the bag to remain on the rack. In retrospect could have trimmed the lower one but never bothered because it was out of sight. Not unless you crawled on your knees to peer underneath the overhanging rack. Up-skirting? Suit yourselves.

The lower strap handle could have been completely removed and the bag held to the rack with short straps or even zip ties. This would have saved a few ounces/grams without spending any money at all. There are two large, plastic mouldings which could easily have been used for fixing. I clipped them over plumbing hose extensions. Which need not have been fitted if I had done it right first time around.

The only thing I really wasn't keen on was the side straps dangling in the spokes of the trike's rear wheels. I would make a neat knot of the straps but they rarely stayed in place for long. Perhaps I should simply have put more thought into securing these straps and overcome the problem? A bit of Velcro? Why didn't I think of that ages ago?

The straps were merely noisy as they pinged in the spokes. They never [ever] tried to lock the back wheels. A side wind would push the downwind straps straight into the spokes.

BTW: The spacing from the spokes/rims/tyres always sets the maximum allowable width of such a "saddlebag" conversion. So don't go thinking you can fit just any old bag you like back there. Height and depth are good. Length [or breadth when fitted] is critical. Leave yourself plenty of room.

I fitted a cut to size, plastic, draining board tray on the rack under the bag. The square corrugations provided excellent support without much weight. While the black tray and was completely invisible to all intents and purposes. The holes I drilled in the tray for zip tie attachment to the Trykit rack ensured no puddles for the bag to rest in.

Duly ordered an identical Overboard 40L for about ~60 Euros. And then cancelled because it was for a simpler and cheaper bag called the Classic. The correct one is Pro Sport with the black net on the front for the 70Kg Abus Mini-U lock. The Classic bag only has a zipped pocket. Which would be hopeless for the heavy lock. A number of previous stockists no longer have Overboard  bags.

Click on any image for an enlargement.

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