I bought a used Little Joe saddlebag, but it came without straps. I tried toe straps to close these up, but ended up using a trick my friend suggested – cheap belts.
I cut a $1.99 Goodwill thin leather belt in half, removed the buckle, and riveted on some new buckle-y hardware. I had to Xacto the edges to fit the D rings on the bag, but then I had to cut the straps narrower again to fit the new buckling hardware. I used scissors for that, because my last Xacto blade had dulled on the first pass through.
I would have liked to hold out for belts with brass D-ring buckles, but this is what I got. This and a green leather belt I’m using to hold up my pants. The Xacto knife did a way better job of cutting the leather than the scissors – do it right next time.
Oh yeah, there are zip-ties holding the bags to the stem and seatpost, respectively. The black ones came with the Big Apples, holding them coiled in the box. Cheap much?
That’ll work!
FYI, you can swap bags, moving the Banana to the handlebars and put the Joe out back. Banana bags work great in the front, especially if you don’t have to worry about a canti/centerpull cable.
Wait… function? The little joe is a real chore to get into, so I think I probably will switch them. I do love the look this way, but it takes about a minute to get my camera out. Next up… fenders.
I like this blog. It is full of good ideas. Thanks for the tip.
Thanks! Or as I like to call them, “Stupid Bike Tricks.” The thin Goodwill belts are so cheap I’ll keep my eye out for better matches.
Banana will hold a camera perfectly!