Seven New Bike and Bag Prototypes at MADE Bike Show

Wandering around the booths of stunning handmade bicycles at the MADE bike show is one thing, but there are also a variety of other intriguing brands here showing off their wares. Among those are parts manufacturers, bag makers, fabricators, and bicycles produced overseas. There haven’t been any major product unveilings yet, but I managed to dig up some info on a handful of cool upcoming products from a few brands. Read on for details.

Swift Industries Fork Bag and Wedge Framebag

Seattle-based Swift Industries is a household name when it comes to durable and functional bicycle bags. Since 2008, they’ve been producing a wide assortment of bags and accessories suitable for bikepacking, touring, and everyday life. Over the past few years, they’ve added quite a few new bags to their lineup, from hip packs to seat packs to basket bags and more.

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Founders Martina Brimmer and Jason Goodman pulled me aside to show off a couple new bags that will be dropping in the near future. First, a wedge-style frame bag that looks like it would be a good fit for almost any bike, with adjustable/removable straps and a highly weather-resistant construction. That’s all the details we have for now, but we’ll be sure to post a Dispatch when there is more info on availability and sizing.

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They also had a new fork bag on display that straps on directly to your favorite cargo cage. It has a roll-top closure, a removable HDPE insert that wraps around the entire bag to add structure, and additional webbing on the outside for extra straps or for attaching other accessories.

Randi Jo Fabrications x Nitto Rack Bag

Randi Jo Fabrications is a family-owned and operated bag business based out of the rural town of Elkton, Oregon. Their bags have an unmistakable utilitarian aesthetic and are usually are made from waxed canvas with earth tones. Their lineup is small but intentional, and they’re responsible for making some of our favorite stem bags, cycling caps, and hip packs.

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Randi Jo Fabrications is working with SimWorks on a collaboration handlebar bag designed to work seamlessly with the Nitto F-15 Handlebar Bag Support. They’re still working out the details, but the prototype we got to check out looks promising.

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The bag has sleeves on either side that allow it to slide onto the support. It also has a magnetic buckle that secures an expandable roll-top closure, side pockets, and a ripstop liner fabric. This version also has a strip of webbing along the back, which we can only assume means it could be attached directly to a handlebar as well. We’ll be sure to let everyone know when they make more details available.

Alloy Velo Orange Gravel Bike

Velo Orange’s bikes are deigned from the ground up, made from 4130 Chromoly steel, and made to be functional and useful for everyday life. We were surprised to see an aluminum bike on display at their booth and had a chat with co-owner Igor Shteynbuk to learn more.

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While it’s still a ways out, their aluminum gravel bike prototype was described as being a “trad grav” bike, or traditional gravel bike, with relatively conservative tire clearance and specs. It will come with a matching steel fork, dropper post routing, various mounting points, and clearance for 700 x 45mm tires.

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The prototype on display has internal routing, but the final version will have full external routing, which will save some weight and make servicing cables/housing that much easier. The design of the fork is not yet completely finalized. Stay tuned for more.

Prototype Bike Friday All-Packa

Headquartered in Eugene, Oregon, Bike Friday is a manufacturer of folding small-wheeled bicycles. They’ve got road bikes, tandems, e-bikes, and most are designed to fold down and fit into a suitcase or small bike box. More recently, they’ve started exploring designs that cater to off-road riding.

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Following the release of the All-Packa last year (read Joe’s review here), Bike Friday is already testing an updated version with clearance for 2.8″ tires, dropper post routing, and a new chainline they referred to as “super-boost QR,” a wider chainline that was achieved by using a 135mm quick-release hub. This new for Bike Friday, and they also tossed around the name “BF Boost,” which stands for builder friendly or bike friendly. Right now, they’re still tweaking and testing the design, but I expect we’ll see something new soon.

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Old Man Mountain Axle Pack and Flip Cage

Although we already shared some info on the Old Man Mountain Axle Pack and FLIP Cage, I had the chance to check them out in person and ask co-owners Chris Kratsch and Katy Bryce and marketing director Erik Fenner some questions.

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The Axle Pack is a three-pack mount that attaches to their specially designed axle studs so it can’t slide down or rotate around the fork legs. The top is secured to the fork using OMM’s mounting puck, similar to the pucks they supply with their racks. Axle Pack is rated to 10 kilograms per pair, and they look like a pretty slick way to add cargo-carrying capacity to any fork.

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The FLIP Cage is a cargo cage with a detachable foot so you can tailor it to what you’re carrying. OMM is also going to offer a roll-top mini pannier that locks into the cage using lower hooks at the base and a locking T-handle that swivels into place. Although their display models are just prototypes, the locking mechanism held the bag well, and it looks like the design could be super useful. OMM is excited to see what other bag makers do with the FLIP Cage system as they’ll be making the connection system available as an open source OEM option.

If you’re in Portland today, the MADE Bike Show is located at the Zidell Yards and open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Learn more and get your tickets here. And be sure to follow our continued coverage on the site at the #made-bike-show archive.

Further Reading

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