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Garmin needs to introduce an official saddle bag mount

7225836
over 4 years ago

Most riders I know use a saddle bag for spare tubes and minitools, which will occupy a significant length of their seat post, which may already be quite short. Therefore fitting a saddle bag and a Varia Taillight onto the seat post seems to be a challenge for most and impossible for some riders.

I just spent a few days exploring ways to mount my new Varia RTL515 to a Topeak Aero Wedge saddle bag in size S and the suggestions range from clever hacks to overpriced pieces of 3D-printed plastics. Neither of them seem very satisfying. As a european customer I don't feel comfortable ordering an expensive 3D-printed plastic clip from the US with long delivery times, significant shipping costs and potential customs fees. Neither should a customer be expected to permanently bolt their light  with custom DIY hacks to a potentially expensive saddle bag.

An officially sanctioned solution is needed here. This is not a question of price - an official solution might as well be expensive as long as it's reliable and widely available.

  • 0 over 3 years ago in reply to hmoffatt

    Good to know. Bag mounting points things down a bit. Seat post real estate  can be  scarce between  seat bags, trailer mounts , and a rear rack luggage.  I have also had my seat post mounted Burley trailer  knock lights off the seat bag. Would like to avoid things like that.  Apparently seat post bag bounce is not interfering with the radar, either. The QR mount  goes where the under seat rig wants to be, but it makes swapping the bag between bikes very  easy.  the bike above where it is used is a Dahon Mu foldie and with a loooong seat post , but one that needs to collapse with folding .

  • 0 over 3 years ago

    Here's what I made from parts bought on ebay:

    Varia radar bag mount

    The big spring-loaded clip came from one of these https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Rotatable-360-degree-Quick-Clip-Mount-for-GoPro-HERO-6-5-4-3-Backpack-Rucksack/253747891239 onto which I fixed a mount to fit an Edge into a GoPro socket (I can't find a link for one of those). The hinge allows for some adjustment of angle between the radar and the bag surface. The big clip might be too wide for the light loops provided on some bags. but there's some potential to reduce the width with a hacksaw.

  • 0 over 3 years ago

    If you use a Specialized saddle that has SWAT mount capabilities, there is another alternative to the 3D printed Shapeways mount. I found it on Amazon recently. The company is called Trigo, for the mount, and Corki for the Gopro adapter piece. $15 per piece for a total of $30; cheaper than Shapeways, and more durable.

  • 0 over 3 years ago in reply to tjj1664

    Whoa - what bike is that? Geometry looks a lot like my Tern Eclipse - which is the bike I'm about to Varia with zipties - I have a wedge pack from Topeak that I swap between bikes, so I need to have something tightly tied to the horizontal strap that will twist out to allow for charging. And your adapter presumably connects to the underseat scaffolding? That might work with the Topeak if there's space. What brand is it?

  • 0 over 3 years ago in reply to Stinkles

    bike：Dahon mu ex

    bike saddle：fizik

    Saddle bag：lezyne

    varia adapter：bup labs(for fizik)(https://buplabs.com)

  • 0 over 3 years ago in reply to hmoffatt

    Team zipties here - I only had white but I'll upgrade to black next time I'm at the hardware store, but I saw ZERO accuracy issues from bouncing - I'm assuming the cone is wide enough to account for even significant movement - mine is more or less vertical and the zipties hold it snugly against the back of the Topeak wedge pack on the strap there, but the pack itself moves and sways a little - again, no accuracy or false positives even on very bumpy terrain.

  • 0 over 3 years ago in reply to tjj1664

    Derp - forgot about that feature - I had a Dahon Vector previously so I should have recognized it anyway.

  • 0 over 3 years ago

    I agree, I've got 3 bikes and would like to swittch the RTL515 between them. They all  have some sort of tool/stuff bag.

  • 0 over 3 years ago in reply to 7736691

    I do just that.   I have attached an extra garmin quarter turn mount to the loop on the back of my saddle bag with the rubber bands.   It works.   I move the bag between my bikes or use the seatpost mount that came with the Varia if I don't use the bag.    

    I ordered an couple of extra garmin mounts with rubber bands off of amazon for about $10.   

    But I agree that Garmin should really provide some sort of simple, clip like mounting solution for the radar to fit onto saddle bags.