We are fortunate to be living in a golden era of bike packing. Within a matter of minutes, you can velcro-on a clever system of bags and turn about any bike into a smartly loaded tourer. Just about any bike. But sometimes you need to carry something more robust than your packs can handle and you don’t want to commit to a full-blown rack. Or, if you happen to fall onto the smaller end of the sizing scale, slight sags in seat bags coupled with shorter seat tubes/big tires mean you are more prone to having your gear tap or drag on your rear wheel while you’re busy getting epic. You will also experience these problems if you have minimal seat tube extension due to low standover, bike type, or general preference.
Enter Portland Design Works’ new Bindle Rack, a lightweight, hollow-tubed aluminum rack that mounts to your seat post to keep your loads up and away from the rear wheel, opening up all sorts of new opportunities for loading your ride. It fits any seatpost diameter, pivots to your angle of choice, and you can load it over and under. For more on this, robust and stylin’ bottle cages, and rechargeable lights for any kind of adventure, journey past the jump…
The Bindle Rack, for some, will be a game-changer piece of equipment. PDW Marketing Manager and captain of Komorebi, a women’s adventure cycling team out of Portland, Jocelyn Gaudi (shown above with her team Breadwinner) spoke first hand about the necessity of the product from a small bike standpoint from the frustrating experiences of women on her team. The Bindle rack has been a boon to her teammates who have rigorously tested it in their epic forays over the season.
The rigid, pivoting platform ensures that any dry bags in any state (full, or droopy) stays securely up and away from your tire, no matter how short your seat tube or seat post may be. The beveled front of the platform with gates keeps gear and the rack body back and away from thighs, so you aren’t physically compensating for bulk in your pedal stroke. The Bindle Rack will be available next spring sub-$100 MSRP.
PDW has also rolled out several new aluminum cages, designed to be both fun and useful. Whether you’re a fan of birds or just need something to offset the otherwise serious nature of your build, these cages are as useful as they are ornamental. Because of the robust nature of their construction (formed aluminum plate), the cages hold on strong and do not rattle. They were also Komorebi tested, so Gaudi was able to vouch for their reliable nature in the field as below the downtube cages. “It’s just a solid cage.”
The Owl Cage comes in a classy black and metallic gold scheme while the Bird Cage is available in a soft-touch white coating (in addition to black and silver). All are available now at $20 MSRP.
Outside of cargo, PDW has been upgrading their light line. The Danger Zone (above left), featuring a pair of 0.5W LED lights, is now available in USB rechargeable form for $33 MSRP. Also, the new, highly acclaimed Aether Demon (above right) features a single, mighty 0.5W LED light and boasts up to a 175 hour run time (in “group ride” setting). This guy is available for $49 MSRP now.
