Carradice Saddlebags

100% this. Getting as much grime and dirt off beforehand is vital.

I can attest that re proofing works well tho. After my water bottle emptied itself into the bag, and the bag retained most of that liquid!

When it happened on mine about 7 years ago, they sent a replacement spring and pin the next day, no charge.

I sent Carradice an email a while ago now and like .ben have had radio silence.

Very satisfying to do with hairdryer and gave me impression I was driving it deeper into the fabric

I've been Carradice curious for some time.

Id like a rear bag that's not too big, essentials for commuting or a day trip type thing. There's an overwhelming amount of bags just wanted to ask for some advice.

What would you go for?

Super C Audax, they seem to have discontinued the lightweight version, which is a shame.

Had anyone dealt with mould on their carradice? Can you clean thoroughly enough to rescue the bag?

I had my super slim stored in the bottom of a cupboard for a long period and got it out while moving house. Turns out there was damp in that cupboard and a whole load of things have had to be binned. I would be gutted if my carradice had to go the same way, just as it was about to get back into regular use.

Dry it out, give it a scrub with soapy water, and use disinfectant if you want to go the whole hog, and then maybe re-proof.

I wouldn’t think twice about it tbh, anything like that will go mouldy if it’s left damp for ages.

Thank you. That's what I was hoping would be the solution.

You very much want to kill the spores.

A heat gun / hair dryer when reproofing should help. Most spores die around 65C but that might be hard to achieve.

Surface disinfectants after a soapy wash will help ( vinegar or baking soda) and then dry in direct sunlight.

OMG, they finally did it!! Although I don't see anything to prevent it from rotating.

https://carradice.co.uk/collections/bag-supports/products/bagman-barrack

Your bars don't rotate once clamped in, do they, so why should the bagman?

probably true but a lot of handlebar mounts have some kind of twist prevention.

Nice to see this a week after I've spent one time and a half the money for a custom front bag support.

Good timing Carradice, good timing.

Clamps look significantly sturdier though than the plastic ones on a mount. If I recall you only so the plastic clamps to 2nm.

Would also want to see the QR on the front bagman, to take away the faff with straps. Perhaps spacing issue, but doubt that's the reason for straight bars, drop bars just maybe.

Deffo want the QR on it! It’s so efficient. Straps can gtfo.

The lightweight version is now called the Cambrian, can be found in the bike packing section on the product pages.

Really missed out on the opportunity to call it the "Barman"

You should suggest it.

I'd really like to try this with a front carradice, but recently invested in a rack/rando bag and id get in trouble changing so soon....

I greased my bag up with the gold wax that was recommended on ‘ere on Sunday. I did it at work so didn’t hair dryer it but thought I’d done alright at rubbing it in. Looked at it at home on Monday though and it was looking pretty patchy and there seemed to be a lot of product sitting on top of the fabric, especially around straps and patches etc so hit it with the hairdryer. It seemed like it was soaking in more but then I looked back at it yesterday and it seemed pretty inconsistent and waxy on the surface again so I’ve gone over it again with the hairdryer.

Have I just chucked too much wax on it? It definitely sends to be pretty well proofed now so maybe I just need to get over it looking a bit different.

Photos from before I hair dryered it again today.

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Had a similar effect on mine when first applied. Took a few blasts with a hairdryer to really melt into the material, paying particular attention to any stitching/seams or doubled canvas points. It still does appear a little patchy in areas, and more increasingly so over time. Maybe I just didn't evenly coat it as well as I thought. It would also scratch, or mark with the smallest abrasion, presumably from excess wax sitting atop the material. I think next time I'll try and clean the bag a little better before applying wax and ensure the fabric is warm when applying the wax to allow it to penetrate the material better.

Here it is, looking over the Isle of Arran and sat admirably in the Ardgartan Valley whilst riding the Wild About Argyll trail earlier this year. 10 days bikepacking and wild camping in 20+ degree heat. Not sure I'll ever get that lucky in Scotland again!

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Ooh, I did zero cleaning before application. Not that my bag seemed noticeably grubby but I guess it would have been somewhat.

Trip looks fantastic.

Mine looks about the same and I melted mine in with a proper heat gun. I think it's just the finish of the Gold Wax. I like it. Adds patina.

Still very water proof though. Also, 2 coats of scotch guard on the patches before sewing them on helps too.

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Yeah, I’m not upset by the appearance.

I just plastered the Gold Wax right over the patches, it definitely didn’t soak in as good on them but like you say, it’ll sure as hell be waterproof now. Poured a bit from my bottle on it and it beads right off.

Fwiw, I really had to hammer it with the hairdryer for it to soak in deeply. Did have some white patches where I lost patience.

The waterproofing is super effective though.