Bar bags are big news in the gravel/adventure bike world. It almost seems like they have become de rigueur or a fashion accessory and define you as a gravel bike rider over a road biker or MTBer. Utter nonsense of course. Bar bags are a practical way to carry a little bit more stuff than say you would on a road bike. A gravel bike might be headed far away from a road or corner shop so keeping yourself supplied with food, a jacket, a dry place for a phone etc etc so having all that handy in a place you can reach into while still riding is great. I personally hate wearing a back pack or over loading back pockets with stuff so a bar bag is perfect for me.
Patch from Collins Cycle Works got in touch and asked if I’d like to try out a prototype bag he’d developed. Of course I jumped at the chance and made a day of it and a 50+ mile ride over to his workshop to pick it up
The Collins Cycle Works bag differs from the majority of bar bags as it’s rectangular rather than cylindrical. this actually makes more sense as you can put more stuff in a bag with corners and items don’t all end up rolling around the bottom of the bag rattling together. The bag is made from X-PAC VX21 a “climate neutral” fabric that is waterproof and low stretch. it has a dyneema gridstop liner and YKK aquaguard zips. The bag is I’d say weather resistant as although the fabric is waterproof it is hand stitched together so moisture might get in via the stitching.
The bag has two strips of webbing at the rear and comes with velcro attachment for the bars, the lower webbing can be used with a cord to anchor the bag to the head tube to stop any potential flapping. I tried the bag without this and have had no flapping issues even on the roughest terrain despite heavy single items or over loading the bag deliberately. on the front is a vertical zipped pocket which is useful for thin items such as phone, wallet etc. I’ve been keeping my spork and spare gopro batteries in there. Inside, the bag is lined and has an internal zipped pocket. Opening and closing the bag is easy using the double ended zip. Depending on what you have in the bag access is easy while on the move even though the bag doesn’t have a stiff liner.
I’ve managed to fit, phone, wallet, gopro, waterproof jacket, cap, gloves, multitool in at the same time and still had room to fit snack bars. The beauty of the rectangular design is that there always seems a corner to push some more stuff into. I even threaded my cafe lock through the loops on the front of the bag.
The bonus feature of this bag is that it can be converted to a waist bag too. The permanent loops on either side of the bag fit to a spring loaded full adjustable strap with snap buckle. Don’t like the bag on your bars? wear is around your waist. Want to leave the bike and go for a wonder or into your accommodation for the night? unhook the bag, quickly add the strap and off you go.
I have put this bag through the mill, it has seen duty on 4 different gravel bikes and an MTB, it has quietly got on with it’s job despite me trying to force too much stuff into it or strapping stuff onto it. It doesn’t even look used after 3 months of constant use. The material really is hard wearing. because of the constant swapping between bikes i swapped the velcro loops for voile straps as they are quicker to undo. if you are buying this bag for just one bike then the velcro supplied is secure and strong.
The Collins Cycle Works bag is ultra reliable and versatile, they are made to order so you can spec lots of different colours. I really like this product and the fact it is made within riding distance of my house makes it all the more perfect. Collins Cycle works is a one person industry and that personal service and knowing someone’s passion has gone into making it is just icing on the cake.
Collins Cycle Works website can be found here the 5.0 bag will soon be in production, Patch says there may be a few tweaks and it will retail at around £50 see more on the CCW instagram
UK GRAVEL COLLECTIVE 