Saddle with loops

[grognut]

Hi All,
Just got my new Barley Saddle bag. Looks great and I will be fitting it to my Mercain with a Brooks B17 saddle and my commuting bike.

My commuting bike has no loops on the saddle so I have to either by one of those saddlebag clamps ( not to bad a price), Cyclo Loops(Carradice)(won't fit on the saddle anyway) or a new saddle.

Are there any manufacturers of saddles other than Brooks that have bag loops.

I'm not against buying another Brooks but is there an alternative.

Cheers

[Si]

you could just put a bit of doweling across the rear of the rails, secured with bag ties.

[stevew]

http://www.wallbike.com/content/carradicehacks.html

Lots of good ideas here

[grognut]

Thanks for the response,

I primarily wanted a saddle with hoops for it's simplicity and because I have a carrier like the karrimor one on this page
http://www.brooksarchives.info/museum/tonard/tonard.html

I want to be able to move my bag from bike to bike. so having a saddle with loops is the simplest option.
Obviously finding clamp-on-loops is an option but I look at most saddles and clamps and I can't work out if they will fit mine from the pictures, ie they don't give dimensions.
I suppose the way is to email the manufacturers for dimensions.

Still the remaining question is "Are there any manufacturers of saddles other than Brooks that have bag loops?"

Cheers

[pioneer]

Velo saddles (some models at least), have saddle bag hoops/eyes.I bought one for my workbike (from a market stall), and though it was all of £14.00, it is not only very comfortable,but also has hoops'.

[andrew_s]

Gilles Berthoud, though whether the loops are a suitable shape for a Karrimor uplift I've no idea.
Velo Orange. Another Brooks imitation.

[grognut]

So I think I'll go for another Brooks.

So I measure the rail pitch on my Brooks and I find it's wider ( approx 5mm) that the other 3 saddles in my garage. So maybe I'll need a new seat post. BUT none of the adverts say what rail pitch they cope with. When I look at the saddle clamps there's no flexibility in the saddle rail pitch so it has to be the right size. I've not bought a saddle for 30 years so maybe thing have changed.

Is there something special with the Brooks rail pitch or am I missing something or perhaps Brooks saddles have changed to match the new seat clamps.

Can anyone help me with this.

Cheers

[thirdcrank]

I think you are right that the width between Brooks rails has changed a bit over the years but I cannot offer anything scientific - only a bit of experience. My favourite saddle was a Brooks Pro from the 1960's. ("Was" - I've related on here how it eventually broke ) I bought an Ortleib "saddlebag" which if you are unfamiliar with it is a seatpack. It fits to the rails with a plastic clamp but the Ortleib info says the clamp will not fit some saddles and has a pic of a Brooks Pro. I was surprised and delighted when it fitted mine. When the saddle broke (I'll have another cry ) I found that the clamp would not fit a newer Brooks Pro . The actual bit the seatpost clamps to has not changed - or not enough to be significant - all my saddles will fit an old-style Campag two-bolt seatpost.

I think the explanation is that the old arrangement allowed the saddle to be set further forward than intended which was blamed for the spate of complaints about broken rails a while ago.

(Sorry I cant go into my garage and illustrate with pics of old and new - I'm in a hotel in Norfolk on hol. )

[grognut]

Hi thirdcrank,

Thanks for the info, especially the point about campag twin bolt. I have a twin bolt SR seat stem on my road bike which could be a campag equivalent. I bought these (saddle/stem) some 30 years ago and had no problems with sizes etc. It could be that the mail order shops knew what fitted what. At the moment I'm only browsing the internet prior to commitment.

I've looked at seatpaks but they will not fit my brooks saddle and the saddle on my commuting bike without an additional QR bracket. So as I wanted to stop carrying a backpack I thought a saddle bag would be more preferable.
I haven't looked at Ortleib though, but having bought a Carradice Barley I'm somewhat commited.

I've emailed Brooks to find out what the dimensions of their modern saddle rails are and, if they are the same as common seat posts then it's just a saddle change otherwise more research.

Is it a skiing holiday per chance, I guess not, not many hills in that area.LOL

Cheers

[cycleruk]

My Brooks rails are slightly wider than the post "slots" but it squeezed in with a little persuasion.

[scottg]

Velo Orange has bolt on bag loops from Viva, one bolt, easier/stouter than the Cyclos.

http://www.velo-orange.com/vivabagloops.html

Nitto makes a nifty q/r for Carradices, no loops mounting.

http://www.rivbike.com/products/show/sa ... tto/20-109

[pioneer]

Yes, that looks OK. I find the Bagman with Q/R to be an excellent piece of kit. I've got the sports version (shorter drop). Can't remember what max weight it's meant to take, but I use it for hostelling trips (Nelson longflap stuffed to the brim with flap extended) and it's fine.

[grognut]

The problem with the bag loops is that I use a Karrimor uplift which requires the loops to be right at the back of the saddle. Most of the examples put the loops under the saddle. The Karrimor uplift is a great device to remove the bag in one movement, a bit like the QR mechanisms for other bags.

I can't find velo orange saddle for sale in UK but the price is about the same as a Brooks so onwholece I sorts the saddle rails it's going to be B17.

Cheers

[pioneer]

Grognut, just and idea but, have you thought about the Carradice SQR system? This lifts the bag up and back, saddlebag loops are not required and again, is Q/R. The only downside is that it needs quite a bit of seatpost for attachment.

[grognut]

Pioneer, There are several options along this route. One is the Quick Release Clamp which looks like it would take the Karrimor uplift. The other one is the Saddlebag clamp but I need to find out the dimensions because most of the pics show the loops under the saddle which won't work with the Karrimor uplift. Also I already have a Carridice Barley which I really like to look of.

Cheers