Sail Frame Bag

Winter 2023

When my friend decided to retire his old wing-foiling sail and asked me to make him a frame bag for his gravel bike, I couldn’t resist the urge to make an upcycled bike bag. The sail was a combination of neon green and orange with a triangle pattern for high visibility, while the fabric was also lightweight and durable, perfect for a bikepacking bag that will ultimately take a lot of abuse.

Process

Inspiration

This project was inspired by the bright colors and loud patterns of retro cycling clothing. With neon orange and green, visibility was a given, almost like a parachute or a hot air balloon with its bright colors that catch your eye.

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Ideation

Like most design projects, the first step was to capture all of my ideas. For the brainstorming process, I like to sketch out what I’m thinking. Frame bags can be simple but once you start adding features the complexity increases. I knew I wanted a pocket on the non-drive side for small things. For the main compartment on the drive side, I was between the zipper and rolltop closures, I decided to go with the zipper for simplicity and to keep the bag lightweight. I also had to decide between paracord wrap and velcro to hold the bag in place. I decided to use a combination of both.

Prototype

This was my second time making a frame bag. The first bag I made was for my own mountain bike. This bag has survived two big multi-day bike packing trips and is still going strong. Having struggled through this process once before, I was already familiar with the nuances of constructing the bag and had some experience with bag features.

Shape

Making the shape of the bag is quite simple, you take a piece of cardboard and trace out the shape of your frame. Since Andrew wanted a half-frame bag, I had to pay special attention to where the bottle mounts and the bottles would normally go so that the bag wouldn’t interfere with their function.

Once the shape was traced out, I added a generous half-inch seam allowance around the whole bag. This was my stencil for side panels. The orange panels were used for the exterior, while the green panels were used to line the interior.

Next Steps

Cut out the gussets for the perimeter of the bag as well as matching foam and liner
Cut across outer panels, sew on zippers, and incorporate stops and pull tabs.
Sew on daisy chains for velcro attachment to the bike frame
Sew on webbing loops for paracord attachment to bike
Sew on mesh pockets on the inside for organization within the pockets
Sew it all together
Attach to bike
Ride!