Backup Saddle Bag
Thursday, May 14, 2009 at 6:51AM
Sometimes a saddlebag just won't work. Or sometimes there's not enough room in one. If you are the resourceful type, you may have figured out that you can store a few items in an old water bottle.
My race bike has an aero seatpost, making attaching a saddle bag nearly impossible. I've been using an old water bottle for years with pretty good success. The problem is, that narrowing of the neck makes it impossible to use it very efficiently. Getting things in and out can be nearly impossible.
I recently bought a carrying bottle from Soma for around 6 bucks. It's a water bottle with a screw top and only a slight indention to help it stay put in the water bottle cage. It works great. I definitely recommend it. It's the grey bottle on the far left of the photo.
But the real kicker is that I found something that might work just as well for 99% of the folks out there for much less money. I was shopping for nuts as part of my "Gravel and Rocks" diet (Paleo diet) and noticed that Emerald Nuts sells their goods in a bottle very similar to what I had been looking for all these years. It fits the bottle cage just fine and is nearly the exact same height as the Soma one. I usually put a silicone bracelet around bottles that I care about to keep them from bouncing out, btw.
If this is all new to you, you might be asking why not just use a saddle bag. Here's a list of reasons:
- It's waterproof-ish. Great for cell phones and the like.
- You can dump out and reload the contents in a flash. Great for racing.
- Easily move it from bike to bike. Keep your flat repair kit in there and just swap it between your different bikes as needed.
I'm sure you can find plenty of reasons why you would like to use one. Go nuts!
Reader Comments (4)
"I usually put a silicone bracelet around bottles that I care about to keep them from bouncing out, btw."
You are very good to your bottles that you care about, Brett :)
@holisticguru - All bottles are equal. Some are more equal than others.
Great idea.. i'm using one on my downtube now to hold tires, wrenches and the like.
"Gravel and Rocks" - what a great way to describe it, although it may turn off some of those who don't understand it.
Although finding floss strong enough to get that gravel out is becoming increasingly difficult.