My homemade stem cell/feed bags for sale.

[b_black]

Hey guys,

I know this forum is full of people who generally like to make things themselves but still there might be some interest in these. Bit of background from me first, a while ago I thought I'd try my hand at making some DIY bikepacking bags for my mountain bike, I made a frame bag, top tube bag, handlebar harness for a dry bag and a seat pack all out of some old rain camo fabric. It was a learning curve but as a first attempt they were perfectly serviceable and saw me through some good trips whilst I was in Cambodia (Including a two day, 200km ride, through completely unmapped forest in the North East for which I had to carry 7 litres of water but that's another story).
Following on from this I got a Specialized Awol and made a plan to ride from the UK to Greece and back in the summer so with the benefit of experience I thought I'd try my hand at making some more bags. I have a lot of love for the stuff that Scott at Porcelain Rocket comes out with but unfortunately I'm too poor to buy any of it so I thought I'd try my hand at making my own version of their Mr.Fusion seat pack (complete with mini rack) and a similar set up to the MCA handlebar system. I also made a half frame bag as well as another top tube bag. The bags held up fine over the whole 6500km tour however the one problem I encountered was the common problem of filling the frame bag to bursting and then struggling with the zip. As a result of this I knocked up a full frame bag with roll-top closure (and a zippered side pocket) for the Awol which took a lot of time but I'm pretty pleased with it. The latest things I've made are the handlebar/stem mounted feed bags or 'stem cell' bags as there often known. I personally find these very useful for snacks or even holding additional water bottles.

I'm currently looking for work at the moment and was set to participate in a clinical trial (11 days stuck in a hospital style setting) so my original idea was to see if there was any interest in me making a batch of these feed bags for sale so I didn't lose my mind with boredom in there. However just before this was due to start (3 weeks ago) less than 1km from my front door (sod's law after riding after across 10 countries in the summer) I got knocked off my road bike by a zombie behind the wheel of a Nissan micra. My bike was wrecked and I was left with three broken ribs and a lot of road rash. For obvious reasons I couldn't do the clinical trial either which meant I still had time on my hands, since then I've sold about 20 of the bags so far and improved my original design quite a bit adding a floating liner as well webbing loops to serve as a third point of attachment for the bag at the headtube using a loop of shock cord with a cord lock.

By no means am I a professional with a sewing machine so I won't claim that what I'm making is as perfect as the stuff by people like PR, Revelate, Alpkit, or Mack Workshop (all people I have big respect for). But I've have good reviews on the bags I've sold so far and the ones I have made for myself has certainly stood up to the test. I don't intend to start any kind of long term business doing this, just fill my time for a bit while I'm stuck in limbo.

Here's a link to an album with pictures of all the stuff I've made so far:

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1BQ56h ... dEXjlaEUcm

At the moment I'm asking for just £19.50 for these and that's including postage plus paypal fees which makes them a touch over £20. I currently have Red, desert camo and black 1000d cordura and the funky floral fabric to work with, the bags lining is water resistant ripstop polyester. I am now also getting a few requests for top tube bags, tool rolls and other frame bags which I'm happy to discuss. Any questions fire away!

[jameso]

I'm not a stem cell user but I would like a small electronics holder made if you took on custom work? It's basically a pocket for something about the size of an old nokia phone, 2 cable ports and 2 or 3 velcro straps to fit under a stem. A similar layout to a micro stem cell in a way. Let me know? PM is fine if preferred. Thanks.