Technical > Luggage
Why don't they make bike luggage like they used to?
Andre Jute:
Definitely a utility rider's rack bag, Ian. But it has never leaked while I used as a bicycle bag. I'm sure your Ortlieb will be more waterproof when it matters, and might surprise you with its longevity.
Back in the days of conscription, everybody got two jumps from a tower and one "passing-out" jump from around a thousand feet and then you got your wings. But I was a political soldier, working out my six weeks every year of "national duty" (for the Americans, something like being a reserve officer after ROTC) on liaison duty in the prime minister's office, so I had one jump from the tower, and that was it. The jump master wasn't impressed with my eminence in service to the nation (none!) and flung me out while I was still gauging our elevation.
I didn't see a truck with nine trailers either -- if you see anything through that dust storm, your memorial will be a hubcap from your car on the bull bars of the truck -- though one of the passengers counted sudden suctions as the spaces between trailers, and Norm Shearlaw, who was a prospector up and down that road for decades, said beside the bar of the Feathers in Adelaide the next evening that it was a short count, that there were ten trailers for that many vortices or whatever they were. That road north from Ayers Rock was a lawless region of Australia back then. But there are members here with much more recent experience of it than mine; perhaps someone will tell us what the legal limit of trailers is these days, and what the road is like in the summer.
JohnR, the rack bag in which I currently keep the large battery is some version of the Carradice bags you link, for which thanks, though I don't know if mine was made by Carradice for whoever branded it (possible, as the details are pretty closely matched), or in China without benefit of design royalties. I bought it at the biggest bicycle shop in Cork City for about 80 Irish punt, which tells you it was around 25 years ago, and when it proved itself after a couple of years tried to buy two more for my other bikes; no dice. Never seen again. Mine must have seen 15+ years of bicycle service (the rest of the time it served as a grab and go camera bag) and, except for being faded to deep charcoal, is good as new. It fastens with Velcro straps and the part that most amazes me is that they still work well after all these years; a quality item all round. One thing which distinguishes it from the Carradice bags is the small zippered pocket inside at the back of the bag into which you can put whatever small valuable you want.
Danneaux:
We've wandered a bit off-piste here -- as we do -- but I suppose a road train's trailers are roughly analogous to a rack-pack if you squint hard enough. ;) ;D
With that thought in mind, it appears there are actual Guinness records for longest road train, the winner described as 113 trailers long (and hauled briefly for the record): https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/longest-road-train#:~:text=The%20record%20for%20the%20longest,Australia%20on%2018%20February%202006.
Some videos of these longer trains are interesting; here's one:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0iFkKRh5kcM
For those as fascinated as I by the topic of such long trucks, there's more here...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GSMtSrWO1po
--- Quote ---...perhaps someone will tell us what the legal limit of trailers is these days...
--- End quote ---
53.5m according to...
https://www.nhvr.gov.au/road-access/mass-dimension-and-loading/general-mass-and-dimension-limits
Best,
Dan.
Andre Jute:
--- Quote from: Danneaux on July 26, 2021, 01:52:17 am ---We've wandered a bit off-piste here -- as we do -- but I suppose a road train's trailers are roughly analogous to a rack-pack if you squint hard enough. ;) ;D
--- End quote ---
Squinting hard, heh-heh! I take the view that road trains, especially on that lightly-policed road (at least in my time in Australia), is something other cyclists should be warned about. The multi-trailer labelled BP and carrying petrol gave me a shiver: that thing is a rolling bomb.
Thanks for the amazing links.
energyman:
You obviously have never lived on 275,000 tonnes of crude bombing along at 18mph.
(apologies for being off topic !)
Andre Jute:
Nah, I've left my reckless yoof behind me.
PS That sounds like a ship large enough to cycle around.
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