Singletrack/MTB
Gravel/All-road
Dirt-road Touring
Fat-bike
Inside a Custom JPaks FramePak
Share This
In preparation for our recent review of the Revel Tirade, Colorado bag maker JPaks built a custom frame bag for us. Miles was so impressed with its quality and design that he thought a closer look was in order. Find his thoughts on the custom JPaks FramePak, insight into what goes into each bag, and a little JPaks history here…
If you’ve read any of our bike reviews, you may have noticed that we pride ourselves on thoroughly testing them. This means logging hundreds or thousands of miles of day rides, pedaling them in varied terrain and conditions, and, of course, bikepacking on them. My review of the newly released Revel Tirade was a picture-perfect case for our review model. I packed in a week-long bikepacking trip in Southern Arizona, an overnighter, and tons of unloaded day rides to produce a comprehensive review.
Producing bike reviews for this site sometimes means reaching out to bag makers to commission a custom frame bag. While we prefer to reuse bags when we can, every frame is different, and we don’t always have something that fits—which is precisely why custom bag makers exist. In preparation for my Revel Tirade review, I contacted Joe Tonsager, owner of Denver-based JPaks, about a custom frame bag. I chose JPaks for three reasons. First, Revel headquarters is just a few hours west of Denver on the other side of the Rocky Mountains, so it seemed fitting. Second, I’ve only heard good things about JPaks frame bags, which they call FramePaks. And lastly, having used their top tube bags and handlebar harness system extensively, I had a good idea of what kind of quality and attention to detail I could expect.
The FramePak Story
Joe’s first custom FramePak, outside of making them for himself, was made for a Salsa Spearfish in 2010, two years before JPaks’ official launch. At the time, Joe hadn’t sewn any bags for someone who wasn’t a friend and hadn’t made a FramePak for a full-suspension mountain bike. The Spearfish is also a complex frame with awkward inside corners, so the project was intimidating for Joe. He managed to pull it off and describes that moment as, “…the start of everything JPaks. Custom-fit, tight corners, no wasted space.” Brad, the owner of the Spearfish, remains a JPaks customer and has ordered several bags from Joe over the years.
I was curious about how my modern JPaks FramePak compares to his earlier bags, and I ran this question by Joe. According to him, the biggest change has been moving away from velcro as the primary mounting medium and relying on bolt-on or lace-up attachments instead. Not only does this mean a tighter and better-fitting bag, but it also makes for a very clean overall look. Joe explained, “Back in 2014, I was asked to work with (the now defunct) ZEN bike Co. on a bikepacking build for the 2015 NAHBS show, and it was the first time I was able to implement the full-bolted FramePak since ZEN was willing to listen to me and provided the necessary internal frame bosses to facilitate the bolted Pak. After that, I did the same with Mosaic for NAHBS and Corvid Cycles.” Other changes include an HDPE/closed cell foam spine that runs around the perimeter of the bag, new optional upgrades, and hundreds of little changes and tweaks to get them where they are today.
These details are what Joe believes sets his FramePaks apart from other frame bags. More specifically, the structure designed/built into the bag is unique. The HDPE and foam aren’t inserted at the end. Rather, they are sewn into the spine and are entirely contained, which Joe says improves the structure and supportive nature of the bag. “It’s the stuff you don’t see that makes the biggest difference in the strength and longevity of the Pak,” said Joe. JPaks is also well-known for his ModPak, a two-piece frame bag with a removable lower section that attaches to the bottom of the top half. The design allows the use of either a half frame bag or full frame bag, depending on your needs. Joe couldn’t confirm if he was the first, but he doesn’t remember seeing a two-piece separating frame bag before his circa 2011/2012.
From an outsider’s perspective, it could seem like frame bag technology might eventually plateau, but Joe is excited about the future. He’s particularly interested in 3D printing and its integration into soft goods manufacturing. The ability to manufacture something one of something or 100 at a time helps control the costs since there are no molds or dies to be produced, unlike injection molding. Fabrics are also changing, focusing more on sustainable/upcycled/clean fabrics and less reliance on toxic bonding agents and chemicals. Joe is also excited to see the zipper evolution continue, finding the middle ground between zippers and roll-top bags, as right now, “there is no in-between,” as Joe puts it. “I wonder if we can’t find a happy medium to the waterproof + robust + slim-profile designs that a zipper offers. They’ve been the same way for a long time (and that’s not a bad thing), but a couple of companies are working to disrupt the YKK dominance we’ve all become accustomed to.”
Joe compared the current state of custom frame bag makers to the microbrewery downsizing in Colorado. “There was a boom, and everyone had a brewery, but eventually, the ones that were just okay closed down, and the ones that were left were either doing an exceptional job or offering something different than just another IPA.” The saturation of the bag-making market over the last few years is something we’ve also noticed, and although Joe doesn’t like to see businesses close, he believes it rewards the unique. Of course, there’s a short list of bag makers who have been at it for over a decade, so it isn’t easy to compare Joe’s experience as a long-time bag maker and industrial designer against the new wave of bag makers.
Joe told me, “I’m the best and worst critic of my products since I use them for my personal adventures and not just as a business venture. I’m constantly evaluating, assessing, resizing, and restructuring my Paks. I know how much trust goes into the gear that carries your gear, and I’m never finished. I’m never done learning and never done trying to make the very best FramePaks on the market!”
A Revel Tirade FramePak
The FramePak Joe made for the Revel Tirade is what he calls a “fully featured FramePak,” meaning it’s packed with useful details. It has a cable/hose port at the nose of the bag, a map pocket on the non-drive side, small internal sleeve pockets, a horizontal velcro divider inside the main compartment, and dual drive-side zippers. I left it up to Joe to come up with a color scheme for the bag, which ended up being a combo inspired by a custom DropperPak he made. The spine is made with Coyote X-Pac, and the main panels are Evergreen and a reversed Cayenne RX30 X-Pac. It uses the bosses under the top tube and on the downtube for a hybrid bolt-on, velcro, lace-up attachment. It might not be the quickest to install, but after some practice, it only takes a couple of minutes, and the various attachment points and construction mean it holds its shape well.
There’s a lot to like about this custom FramePak. The fit is spot on and fills most of the Tirade’s main triangle, which is essential on rowdy hardtails with short seat tubes and somewhat limited frame bag space—the same can be said for full-suspension mountain bikes and small frames. The front of the bag flares out toward the bike’s headtube, providing some extra capacity despite it narrowing between the toptube/downtube junction, which also means more capacity for smaller bags. There are sleeves inside the non-drive-side map pocket, which I found helpful for stashing smaller items like multi-tools, spare bolts, and tire pluggers. There’s a longer sleeve on the back side of the main compartment equipped with a velcro strap for added security, which ended up being my go-to spot for my pump, but it could also work well for short tent poles. The horizontal velcro divider didn’t loosen up or release over time and was great for dividing my repair kit and spare tube from everything up top, like food, my stove, and on a recent overnighter with Emily, a large 3L bladder/filter.
What’s Inside?
Here’s a quick look at what I carried on a recent week-long bikepacking trip in Arizona:
– Spare tube
– Crankbrothers Pump
– Crankbrothers Multi-Tool
– JetBoil Micro Mo Stove
– Spare bolts/SPD cleats
– A day’s worth of food
– Trowel
– Toilet paper
Wrap Up
With over a decade of bag making under his belt, I see JPaks as part of the second wave of OG bag makers. He hasn’t been around quite as long as Revelate Designs or the now-defunct Carousel Design Works, but he has proven himself over and over again by designing some of our favorite bikepacking bags out there. The level of quality that comes with so much experience is hard to miss, and the custom FramePak Joe made for the Revel Tirade fits perfectly, has options to keep gear organized, and every little detail, inside and out, is dialed.
Further Reading
Make sure to dig into these related articles for more info...
Please keep the conversation civil, constructive, and inclusive, or your comment will be removed.
