With a maximum capacity of 38 liters, Chrome Industries’ Barrage Freight backpack is the midsized cousin of its massive 85-Liter Barrage Pro made popular with professional messengers.
It has a 100% welded waterproof liner with a durable coated nylon shell, gusseted roll top opening, an adjustable cargo net, a padded laptop sleeve for a 15″ MacBook Pro.
Since this thing is generous enough to fit roughly one and a half bags of groceries, or whatever you’d like to throw in, there is of course a molded back panel and ergonomically-shaped straps to haul around town with.
Fanny packs have never really gone out of style. What’s different now though, besides it’s unmistakable shape and the usual banter, are better designs and materials from back in the day.
Three respectable San Francisco-based companies just so happened to launch their interpretation of the ideal hip pack with decidedly different flavors. All are made in the good ol’ USofA. Let’s see if any of them will float your boat.
ORNOT
Ornot teamed up with fellow San Francisco-based Mission Workshop to produce theirs out of 500d nylon with a tpu coated liner backing plus a YKK urethane coated zipper tucked inside a flap. The $130, 2.5-liter pack also comes with a laser-cut back, side panels, and a super thin belt. There is also a zippered interior compartment, a key clip, a built-in u-lock holder and three colors to choose from.
SPURCYCLE
With roughly four liters of internal space and a $135 price tag, Spurcycle‘s Hip Pack is the bigger and pricier amongst the three. Spurcycle focused on weight and durability. The end result is a 250-gram bag with a Dyneema-fabric exterior that is incredibly light, thin, waterproof and durable. Basically all you can ever ask for. Open its heavy duty zipper and you’ll find four interior pockets and a zippered compartment made out of X-Pac fabric. That’s not all, however. Also included are two adjustable shock cords near the zipper on top of the pack to tie down warmers, jackets, or maybe even a beer.
OUTER SHELL ADVENTURE
Bag specialist Outer Shell Adventure‘s take, the Hip Slinger comes in 11 colors and a choice of coated Cordura or X-Pac outer fabric for $90-$100. There is black, purple, graphite X-Pac, leopard, to name a few. Outer Shell’s version has four internal pockets plus a zipper compartment accessible via its front or rear water-resistant zippers, an air mesh back panel, rubberized hypalon wings for stabilization connected to an offset waist buckle, but perhaps the coolest feature is its roll-top feature that shape shifts on demand with elastic hooks providing the said changes from 1.5 to 3 liters.
Spurcycle doesn’t make a whole lot of things. Five, to be exact and that’s not counting the trio of brilliant condiment-inspired water bottles.
But as the saying less is more goes, it’s obvious that Spurcycle is very good at crafting minimalistic accessories that are as beautiful as they are functional. The newest addition to the Spurcycle family, the saddle bag, is no different.
Aptly named “Saddle Bag,” the San Francisco firm didn’t slap no novel French name or a cool oh wow marketing copy to go along with it. Instead, what we have here is a no-BS bag for $45 that is simple yet practical and makes me wonder why this didn’t happen sooner.
At first glance, the Saddle Bag resembles a fold up, top-loading lunch bag sewn on with a Velcro strap. Simple, right? What’s not so obvious is that the choice of material used, X-Pac VX42, is anything but simple. It is a rugged multi-ply lamination consisting of a layer of 420 denier Cordura nylon, a tell-tale diamond-pattern monofilm reinforcement, weatherproof film and finally, a 50 denier polyester backing. There’s much more going on than what meets the eye.
Spurcycle employs a removable and noticeably long hook and loop strap with a reinforced section to put over the saddle rail. The low profile hook and loops mean the strap won’t put up a huge fight whenever you take it on and off but remains strong enough to keep its contents secure. For further peace of mind, Spurcycle also placed two security tabs running perpendicularly across the strap to prevent any unintended undoings. And to be honest, there was plenty of interlocking hook and loop to go around that it would take a herculean effort or a severely overfilled bag to lose it. Nevertheless, the extra security tabs don’t add much, if any, bulk so why not. If you are one of those people who insists on reading instructions, the black-on-black instruction card was difficult to read. Thankfully, instructions are also available on the Spurcycle website and the company is planning to remedy that in the next batch.
Simple but effective security tabs.
Compared to many compartmentalized roll-styled bags, the solo compartment design of the Spurcycle bag immediately jumped out, as there was still plenty of space left after I transferred all the contents over from the excellent Silca Roll Premio. Don’t get me wrong, I love the idea of slots for individual items to channel my inner OCD, but I can now have the option to add or remove accessories depending on the ride and not be limited by the size of pre-determined organizer slots. In keeping a small footprint, I also found that I could easily place bulky items such as CO2 canisters in specific spots within the bag so that they would fit between the saddle rails.
Inevitably, the single compartment also means that all the contents will be bunched together so any pointy objects such as multi-tools should be shielded from sensitive objects like spare inner tubes (a paper towel works great, plus it’s handy to have around at times). But to be fair, that’s not the fault of the bag and it’s a small tradeoff for having a flexible, shape-shifting storage system.
The DFL ‘Cross race is one of those secret/not-so-secret races at a undisclosed location in San Francisco which one would really have to be in-the-know in order to find out when/what/where the ride the race takes place. And though I’ve heard whispers over the years about how wicked this race is, I always end up missing it even though the race takes place just down the street from my house. I was finally able to check it out last year while shooting for a German cycling magazine.
Last year it was stupid cold, but also incredibly fun. So, I made a point to not miss the DFL ‘Cross this year.
It’s a family affair.
A lot has transpired for me this past year: the good, the bad and the ugly. I’m sure I’m not the only one who has ridden the rollercoaster which was 2017. But, the purpose of this piece is not about recounting or retelling them in celebration, jest or anger. Well, not really anyway because seriously one would better spend their precious internet time on anything other than reading about some dude’s brag/rant (me) and this is an outdoor enthusiast media site for crying out loud.
I don’t want to write about the best gear I tried in 2017 because everyone else has been doing that since at least November. And so I am going to write about DFL Cross. The last bike race I photographed in 2017.
Walking to park their bikes for the Le Mans-styled start
It's either exciting, cold, or both.
All outfits welcome.
pre-race instruction
Run run run
Catching a bit air
Definitely not UCI-legal barriers but wayyyy more fun
Dropping in.
Dirt riding in the City be like
Curtis getting candy caned
Lots of trees to go around
The winner
Fun for all.
WANT.
A Low.
A Crust Bikes.
A Rock Lobster.
A Retrotec.
Trying on this Falconer.
A bike race that I shouldn’t even be at in the first place.
You see, I ditched my regular group ride that I’ve been MIAing from for weeks and Saturday was my daughter’s one-year birthday. I should be doing base miles, running errands and making birthday decorations.
But nope. I needed to get some fresh air, both literally and figuratively. But before I could leave the house I had to make my hangry two-year-old son waffles from scratch.
I barely made it. Thank goodness the event ran on what I lovingly call Asian-time.
I soon found a few riding buddies milling around and found out that one of them had his bikes stolen out of his own home hours prior. The bastards took almost everything, but left his S-Works 29er race bike. Someone joked it probably had to do with his vintage Onza bar-ends. As angry and sad as one could be over the loss of their beloved bicycles, he was out there riding with his last remaining bicycle, anyway. That deserves thousands of kudos.
Original Onza bar ends yo!
The race eventually had to start. The DFL course uses a Le Mans style start so the game before the game is bike placement. The vets have their stashing strategy all figured out while newbies just leave it here and there, walk to the start, listen to a few rules, and off they go.
First.
And we were treated with the best the park had to offer: log barriers, tight corners, gravel, dirt, traffic jams, and a whole lot of high-fives. I was just getting into the shooting groove when I overheard the call for two laps to go and it dawned on me that this was by far one of the best grassroots races I’ve seen all year, or ever for that matter.
Curtis on a roll.
This is where funky costumes are encouraged, no one gets a medal, there is an endless stream of trash-talking, racers pay to enjoy Patxi’s and beer post-race, and shredding in the park with a bunch of like-minded friends in the name of fun is a much-needed disconnect from everything else.
Post-race party
It was a beautiful and timely reminder that there is plenty of love, family, and riding with friends to look forward to in 2018. And for that I am thankful.
eTap-equipped MKI road at NAHBS. Photo: Stephen Lam/Element.ly
Photo: Stephen Lam/Element.ly
Frame holding jig in the finishing booth. Photo: Stephen Lam/Element.ly
A few of Andrew's origin frames. The steel one in the middle was the one he build while attending UBI in 2009. Photo: Stephen Lam/Element.ly
Andrew prefers to operate the foot switch bare-footed for better feel and control. Photo: Stephen Lam/Element.ly
Mise en place. Photo: Stephen Lam/Element.ly
Pre-weld markings. Photo: Stephen Lam/Element.ly
Spent welding rods. Photo: Stephen Lam/Element.ly
Head tube on the welding jig. Photo: Stephen Lam/Element.ly
A bunch of triangles made while practicing welds.. and finishes. Photo: Stephen Lam/Element.ly
A JET horizontal mitering bandsaw plus the must-have, multi-use gallon bucket. Photo: Stephen Lam/Element.ly
Rear triangle alignment jig. Photo: Stephen Lam/Element.ly
Custom frame oven designed by none other than Andrew himself. Photo: Stephen Lam/Element.ly
Frames. Photo: Stephen Lam/Element.ly
Welding time. Photo: Stephen Lam/Element.ly
Andrew seen through the yellow curtain. Photo: Stephen Lam/Element.ly
Andrew, with a MkI road, and Manny. Photo: Stephen Lam/Element.ly
A custom aluminum frame is somewhat of a unicorn these days. Stroll down the aisles at NAHBS and it’s obvious that the dominant materials for frames are titanium, carbon, and steel. And those are all wonderful materials in their own right, but I have a soft spot for aluminum.
As a kid I drooled over a Klein Quantum Pro with that badass orange paint job, or the flaming red Cannondale CAAD Cipollini rode. There’s a certain beauty to fat tubed, smooth welding frame that just screams come at me bro.
Well, Klein’s gone now (RIP), but my hope of finding a good aluminum bike is not.
The Low Down
Sure, you could go with a big name factory option like Cannondale’s CAAD 12 and Specialized’s Allez, but if you want custom aluminum hand-crafted by an expert, Andrew Low of LOW Bicycles is your guy.
Growing up with interests in model airplanes, guitars and cars, Andrew started building roll cages for off-road vehicles while pursuing his degree in fine arts in Colorado. After moving back to his native San Francisco in 2005, he got really into bikes, and eventually got the idea to make his own frame.
Years of researching tools, saving money, and welding practice finally yielded two frames by the summer of 2010. From there, Andrew “started to take those around town where bike messengers were hanging out.” The LOW frames were an instant hit, and that was the origin of LOW Bicycles.
Today, besides offering four different track models, LOW is dipping into the resurgent aluminum road and cross market with their new MkI road and cross frames—all made in their 500 square foot shop so tidy you would think you just walked into a boutique car shop. Here’s what he has to say for himself.
The Interview
Andrew Low. Photo: Stephen Lam/Element.ly
Why aluminum? I like the look of oversized tubing as opposed to steel frames but I also wanted to make racing bikes and aluminum is a great material for that, dollar per dollar it’s the most effective material for racing. It’s really versatile in that you can make a really stiff bike and you can make really comfortable bike contrary to popular belief.
It’s just how you shape the tubes.
Aluminum is softer than steel and it’s not as rigid and brittle as epoxy which you find in carbon fiber.
How many frames do you make now? 12 frames every four weeks, and we stop 4 weeks out of the year. So that’s about 120 bikes a year.
Describe your bikes in five words: Beautiful, aggressive, well-designed, well-made, fast.
Why #thismachinekillscarbon? Because if you get on our bikes you won’t feel any disadvantage because you’re on an aluminum bike. I came up with that hashtag myself. The full quote is “this machine kills carbon and your preconceived notion of superiority.”
That’s what we’re setting out to do with our road bike. It started happening now in the industry where big brands are investing into high-end aluminum bikes. Specialized with their Allez which is a beautiful bike in my opinion. Some people are starting to realize that barring from buying the highest end carbon frame you can get just as good if not better performance out of aluminum. One of my bikes will ride much better than a similar-priced carbon bike. You’ll feel the difference.
Uphill or downhill: Downhill.
Favorite riding place: Riding in Marin is awesome, riding through traffic is fun. I used to love riding the city loop
Shaped aluminum tubes ready to be cajoled into a frame. Photo: Stephen Lam/Element.ly
One thing people don’t know about you: I am working on getting my pilot license.
Favorite music: Bands that I grown up loving: the Ramones. Jonathan Richmond, jimmy Hendrix, Lou reed, a lot of stuff from late 70s, early 80s. I play the guitar.
What are you most proud of? That I’ve able to keep this going for five years. Most businesses fail within the first year. I am proud that it took off to begin with. We have a shit ton of struggle keeping the business going. But I am just really proud that I did something people like. For me that’s awesome. It’s validating.
Andrew hard at work. Photo: Stephen Lam/Element.ly
How long does it take to produce one frame: About 30 hours per bike.
Morning or night person: Both. I don’t sleep that much. I go to bed late and wake up early.
Windsurfer, Ocean Beach, San Francisco. Photo: Nathan Weyland/Element.ly
Since El Nino arrived, I’ve developed a disappointing relationship with Ocean Beach.
I don’t need to tell you about the paddle out on a winter day—diving under the heavy blows of crushing surf, dragging your board by the leash, lungs gasping, across the sandy bottom. The roar of a freezing sea ringing in your ears.
Sometimes, the reward is worth all of this punishment, the better surfer you are the more likely this is to be true. I’m a novice. Most of the time it seems I would have been better off staying in bed.
Waves, the ubiquitous object of pursuit, are only part of the Ocean Beach equation for me. I believe Ocean Beach is not a windy four-mile beach break, but rather a wormhole, a gateway to another universe.
I spent four years in the Coast Guard, mostly aboard 378-foot Cutter class ships that traversed the Pacific from the Bering Sea to the coast of Ecuador. The surface of the open ocean, a constantly changing landscape where the boundary between sea and sky blurred and disappeared, thrilled me. It had been six years since I felt that feeling the first time I made it out at Ocean Beach on a windy day.
Waves breaking on the outer bar, Ocean Beach, San Francisco. Photo: Nathan Weyland/Element.ly
William Finnigan writes “Ocean Beach in the Winter is a wilderness, as raw and red-clawed as any place in the Rocky Mountains.” It is that and more, like a distant but related planet. The only other object that made this trip through the wormhole was you’re board, you’re tiny cutter. Clinging to this lifeline, paddling the peaks and valleys of this watery wilderness, is enthralling to the point of addiction.
The frustration comes with my ineptness as a surfer. By the time I make it out, my arms are useless noodles hanging off my shoulders. Mustering the energy to chase after sloppy peaks rolling in to the south or north of me is challenging. When I do get myself in the right position, my nerve usually fails. Dropping in on these heavy, overhead slabs of foaming water, knowing the price of failure is a solid thrashing followed by another paddle out … I usually pass at the last second, clutching my board and letting the precipice slip by along with any chance at glory.
This is surfing at Ocean Beach for me during the Winter. Not really surfing as most would know it, just a guy with a board in the open sea, pelted by wind spray and whooping at the top of his lungs, unable to hear himself over the roar of the waves.
A little bit of smoke from the welding.
Photo: Stephen Lam/Element.ly
Di-Acro Model 4 hand-operated bender awaiting orders.
Photo: Stephen Lam/Element.ly
Disco ball, a must have for every office.
Photo: Stephen Lam/Element.ly
Cutting metal.
Photo: Stephen Lam/Element.ly
A beauty shot of Cameron's personal Falconer.
Photo: Stephen Lam/Element.ly
Cameron's favorite tool: his hand-made chainstay subassembly fixture
Photo: Stephen Lam/Element.ly
Cameron welding away.
Photo: Stephen Lam/Element.ly
Shavings from the milling machine.
Photo: Stephen Lam/Element.ly
The workshop whiteboard
Photo: Stephen Lam/Element.ly
A well-used lathe.
Photo: Stephen Lam/Element.ly
Frame welding jig.
Photo: Stephen Lam/Element.ly
Cameron working away inside his shop in San Francisco's Bayview district
Photo: Stephen Lam/Element.ly
While many bike frames are made with exotic materials these days, Cameron Falconer, of Falconer Cycles, uses good old-fashioned steel.
Located in the Bayview district, a stone’s throw away from the original Trouble Coffee company, Cameron is one of a handful of frame builders that calls San Francisco home, not to mention the dude’s quite a fixture in the local cross-country/cyclocross racing scene.
Instead of complicated tube shapes, which which have become the norm, Cameron is out to build simple and functional, TIG-welded steel bikes. They are precision-made tools that are meant to be used/ridden/abused day in and day out. That’s no BS.
It’s been three and a half years since Cameron got into building bikes full time. We met up with Cameron recently while he was working on a special non bike-related project for a buddy. But what the heck, we chatted anyway.
Five words to describe your bikes:
Simple. Practical. Forms follow function. Tools first.
Best part about the job:
The best thing is being able to do something creative and be able to constantly refine what I do in trying to improve it. I find it pretty rewarding, to see people riding my bikes and enjoying it.
Once I deliver the bike to somebody it’s theirs and they can do whatever they want with it quite honestly. They can cut it up and make pry bars, bongs out of it. That’s not really my business but I prefer, much prefer people to ride them. And they do. It’s always really nice running into somebody and having them do something cool and having a cool experience on something I made. That’s what keeps me going.
Cameron. Photo: Stephen Lam/Element.ly
First thing you would do as a captain of a pirate ship:
Assumed I already only have one leg, I would make everyone brush their teeth, hygiene is important.
Uphill or downhill:
There’s no preference there, I like them both.
Describe your idea of a perfect holiday:
Ride a bike at somewhere interesting with people I like on mountain bikes … Bunch of real high places in Colorado. Oakridge, Oregon. I’d love to go to the Alps, never been there. A lot of places are just in the big mountains, pretty unique spots.
What’s it like at the transition from being a welder at a metal fabrication shop to a bike builder?
There were some challenges. I already knew the frame building trade from work at Ed Litton and a few other friends. I think you just keep getting better at what you do so I would never claim to say the stuff I made is perfect.
Design inspirations:
Ed Litton whom I worked for, Rick Hunter of Hunter Cycles whom I’ve raced for and still race on a team supported by him. I started racing for him in 1997. He’s been a super big influence on me. Sean Walling at Soulcraft. I am really lucky to have a lot of my friends around here who do this for a living. They’re really good folks and we help each other out, so there’s definitely a lot of cross-pollination going on.
As far as inspiration goes most of my inspiration are people who do stuff that I think is really well executed and really simple.
The local frame-building scene here is amazing. There are tons of talented people doing it.
How much would you charge to wash all the windows in Marin?
Let’s say there’s an average of 15 windows in a building, and how many buildings are in Marin County anyway … 100,000 at least? So a couple million windows give or take. Assumed that’s a few year’s work I would guess, it’ll be pretty monotonous so I want to see $150k a year to do that. Half a million would be cool. Someone would have to pay for my gas too.
Thoughts about the new wave of axle, bottom bracket standard and disc brakes? Does that affect you in anyway?
Yes it does. It matters. Thru axles are generally a good thing, particularly with disc brakes. The boost standard that’s coming right now is also potentially a good thing for real strength. Most of the new BB standards I think are a waste of time… Other than the new T47 standard. That’ll be a good useful standard.
In my world I think it is going to be adopted by a lot of people. There are benefits for people like me for sure but I don’t see it as a necessity in particularly for steel builders. If you’re building titanium where you need bigger diameter tubes there are some definite benefits to it. In steel, there are benefits as well. You can run different cranks and such. It’s easier.
Dummy axles. Photo: Stephen Lam/Element.ly
Hardest part of the job:
It would be being responsible for every aspect of it. You’re the CEO but you’re also the janitor. So whenever something goes wrong or right it’s your fault. Whatever responsibility there is in here is all mine and it can be a bit much sometimes.
What would you cook for your friends:
Same thing I cook most nights probably. Big pile of vegetables and some sausages.
Chosen superpower?
My girlfriend asked a question like that the other night. We were watching a skateboarding video at a friend’s house and she was like if you can speak every language or skateboard like these guys … and both my friend and I were like we want to skate like these guys. It’s like defying gravity. I see it as nearly a super power. I would love to be able to get on a skateboard and do super high-level skateboard tricks. It’s totally outside of my world. I am the world’s worst skateboarder. It’s close enough to be a super power for my taste.
Guilty pleasures? Not really. Honestly I don’t watch whatever housewives, Real Housewives of Beverly Hills or anything. I don’t even watch TV.
Favorite cocktail: Good proper margarita.
Getting ready to weld. Photo: Stephen Lam/Element.ly
If you get to be any animal what would you be?
Maybe a marmot. Because they get to hang around in the rocks in altitude at beautiful places and sleep all winter.
Anything else you would like to add? Any tips for those who are looking into building bikes?
As far as people wanting to learn how to build bikes, don’t have any illusion to it … it’s a hard way to make a living and certainly not the best way to make money. It’s rewarding in a lot of ways but it sure as hell isn’t easy.
The stuff I make, I feel like if you’re buying from somebody you’re buying the tangible representation of what they think is important. So you should buy a bike from someone you get along with the best, regardless who that is, and whose world view in regards to cycling best matches yours.
