The BogeWorks Ransack: Made in Seattle

Words and photos by Bryce Kirk

BogeWorks is an organically grown bike bag making company that started and thrived in the extremely diverse, and rich, cycling community of Seattle. My 9-to-5 is working at a local bike shop, that’s been apart of Seattle for over 40 years. Fortunately, I work with some of the best humans in the world and they inspire me on a daily basis. Without my compadres, I wouldn’t be doing what I do. So I need to say thanks to GT, Turm, Q, Dev, Carolyn, Rob, Deemer, Jaymo, Kev, Neil, Patrick, Michael, and the whole crew. Much love to crew at the bike shop!

BogeWorks initially came to be out of necessity, I wanted to camp via bike and I needed bags to do so. That’s what started this endeavor and I’ve grown to be super passionate about it. I took a class at Swift Industries and Martina lit the candle on the other end, per se. Thanks Martina! She was monumental in teaching me the intricacies of making frame bags and I’ve ran with it ever since.

The Ransack was derived from many after-work beers, some hard work, and due diligence. My goal was to make the highest quality bag possible, custom to the bike/rack, with a design that would challenge my capabilities. Fully taped and sealed to remain weatherproof—and hold ice and beer for the hot summer daze. Trying to stay away from cookie-cutter designs, I set principle over design. The goal was simple: bolt in, no velcro, capacity for two six-packs, fast action road soda hydration ports, and an external phone pocket. There is nothing like this on the market right now, so there was some major tinkering involved.

Everything about this bike/bag/rack is Seattle. Handmade steel rig by Max at 333 Fabrication, rack made by Deemer out of some aluminum stock, and bag made by me. In that exact order. The rack is specific to the bike, and the bag is specific to that rack. Completely one-off. The rack has no welds and was made with a mandrel bender, that bolts directly to the fork. Super solid, simple, and light. The bike was initially built as a hardtail but has evolved into a bruiser commuter, that’s fully rigid.

My goals are to continue to making low volume, high quality, made-to-order custom bags. I am particularly interested in using Dyneema exclusively, but will use Xpac or Cordura to keep costs down for the customer if need be. Some of the work I do requires the bike to be present, so it does limit my ability in someways, but I’m okay with that. I will take on any project that revolves around a bike; whether that’s a hip-pack for mountain biking or a custom bolt-in frame pack, or rando-style rucksacks etc… I enjoy challenging designs, that are one-off, especially if the bag/pack becomes a key feature of the bike.

Lucas is currently testing the BogeWorks Scavenger Pack, a high-end Dyneema hip pack, look out for it in our USA-made Hip Pack Index. You can learn more about BogeWorks on Instagram (@BogeWorks), and their soon to be finished website BogeWorks.com.

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