Bracketry for lights and saddlebags

[mickeg]

With the topics split, I attached a photo that shows my Nomad saddle, seatpost and upper part of the rack.  As shown, the Ortlieb Racktop bag would obviously get in the way of my Nelson Longflap, so pretend that the Ortlieb duffel is not there.  I would not use both the Ortlieb and the Nelson Longflap at the same time.

The second photo below is my Pendle saddle bag on my foldup bike.  That bag is small enough that a support is not really needed, but from that you can see that I hang the bag from spring loops on my sprung saddle.

In both of these photos you can see that teh Conquest saddle has a frame that is much more steeply sloped than typical non-sprung saddles.  That is why I think that the Carradice bagman support would hang at a rather odd angle.

[Danneaux]

Goerge,

Your dilemma is not unlike mine on my Nomad and another bike where the seatpost and saddle stand well proud of the seat collar.

I have a plan I want to try when I get back from the tour I will be leaving on tomorrow (a 10-day or so trip from home over the logging roads and singletrack of Oregon's Coast Range on the Nomad, the  down the coast about 100km and back on similar routes to home again). I bought one of Thorn/SJS Cycles' 45° T-bars with seatpost shim...
https://www.sjscycles.co.uk/accessories/thorn-saddlebag-bracket-1725-mm-extension-222mm-45-deg/?geoc=US
...same without shim here...
https://www.sjscycles.co.uk/accessories/thorn-accessory-bar-t-shaped-1725-mm-extension-45-deg-no-shim/?geoc=US
...and have been playing with it for some time to get a mount that will work with my Thudbuster LT seatposts on both bikes.

My dilemma is the Carradice (Camper Longflap in my case) sits just too high when attached to the saddle loops to also sit on the rear racks of these two bikes (does fine on my randonneur bikes with horizontal top tubes and taller frames). It is fine if I place it on a stuff sack filled with rain clothing or my tent but not in their absence. My original thought was to use the 45° T-bar as intended, so I fitted it with allen bolts and acorn nuts as shown in the illustration...but while it cleared the rearward portion of the Thudbuster's down-and-rearward trajectory at the saddle, it still placed the bag too high to be ideal for me.

My next effort will use the 45°  T-bar as a back-stop for the Carradice, to give something for the leading side of the bag to rest against, perhaps even secure to and then it won't matter if it is suspended above the rear rack. Lots of creative possibilities there so maybe worth a thought. I considered using some tensioned members (i.e. paracord) to make a soft but inelastic flexible (macrame?) cradle from the T-bar to the saddle rails. The 45° T-bar can even be inverted if desired.

Speaking to another issue you raised, I have lined my Carradice with corroplast salvaged from campaign signs. Midterm elections are coming up soon in the US and the day after those political yard signs are practically worthless. The candidates' office staff are supposed to collect them but usually miss a few. I got mine from overlooked property owners, campaign offices and the recycling center at the local dump --all for free. I have found the paint used to silkscreen the campaign lettering is pretty stable and has not come off or transferred to items carried in my bag. Just a thought and much cheaper than buying a whole large sheet you might never use.

All the best,

Dan.

[mickeg]

Dan,

I have bought some long threadless stems to try, similar to the T accessory bar when I added a short piece of 1 inch wood dowel.  But that sits below the saddle frame, I wanted the bag mounted up higher, thus I plan to continue using upper spring loops on the conquest saddle.  Thus, where you apparantly wanted the bag lower, I do not want mine lower.

In my community very few campaign lawn signs use Corroplast.  Most are printed on a thin piece of plastic, shape similar to a pillow case that goes over a wire frame.  I really do not mind buying a 4 X 8 sheet of Corroplast again if I run out of the bit that I still have.  A sheet fits inside my Landrover D2 but rubs on top of my head as I drive home.  But the drive is only a couple miles.
https://www.homedepot.com/p/Coroplast-48-in-x-96-in-x-0-157-in-White-Corrugated-Plastic-Sheet-CP4896S/205351385

So, thanks for the suggestions, but I have been thinking about this for a few years and have tried a few things already that were not quite what I wanted.

[Danneaux]

So, thanks for the suggestions, but I have been thinking about this for a few years and have tried a few things already that were not quite what I wanted.
Modify message

Surely, George. Looking forward to seeing your final solution if you'd like to share.

All the best,

Dan.

[macspud]

I apologize to Joe B, my question on the saddlebag support led to a hijack of this thread.

***

Thanks for the suggestions everyone but I really planned on making a saddle bag support from some Aluminum bar stock that I have already purchased.  I have a big bench vice and some large tools for leverage, etc. 

My Nomad has a lot of seatpost showing, thus any bracket I make would likely be based on two clamps on my seatpost that I have already purchased.  The seat stay rack mounts are way too low to function well as a saddle bag support.  And since I use a Brooks Conquest, if I installed the Bagman on the saddle, it would hang down  farther than I want because of the springs and also because the Conquest frame is sloped much more than the frame on most other saddles.

Thus, I did not plan to use any of the off the shelf components for a support.  But thanks to everyone for trying to assist me in my endeavours.

I thought about posting a photo of my saddle and seatpost, but decided that would only further the hijack of the thread.

The Carradice Bagman Alloy Support Struts also have an additional seatpost collar, see photos https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/NEW-Carradice-Bagman-Alloy-Support-Struts-Converts-Bagman-Rack-Heavy-Loads-/223008985923?var= and https://www.laxzo.com/carradice-bagman-2-quik-release-expedition-saddle-bag-support-mount-alloy-17905-p.asp so with the Aluminum bar stock and clamps that you've already purchased I'm sure you'll come up with a sturdy support.