Another Vintage Cannondale Casey Handlebar Bag

A couple of weeks ago, a reader contacted me saying that he had some cycling bags and other accessories laying around the house that came from his brother that he didn't have need of and wanted to know if I would like to have them.  Not one to say no to free stuff, I said sure.  We got to talking about cycling and it turns out that Cliff and his family used tour all over the country on their bikes and he shaded with me a wealth of knowledge about touring and cycling.

The box I received from Cliff, contained a Vintage Cannondale Casey handlebar bag, another Vintage handlebar bag made by Ventoura, a front rack from Veta and a very interesting bottle cage from Minoura which was labeled as a Pet Bottle Cage. Basically, it's a bottle cage made for holding soda bottles that are at least a liter.  However, what drew my attention the most was the red Casey handlebar bag because I thought it would look really good on the Bianchi and go with Banjo Brothers waterproof pannier.

The Casey only came with one strap and I thought about using the straps from the Ventoura but then I thought that a bungee cord would work better because I need a hook that will will grab onto the end of the fork because I don't have another eyelet to use.  It worked great!  However, I still might cannibalize the straps from my yellow Vintage Cannondale Casey handlebar bag because I know they work with my setup.

I really like how the two red bags compliment one another on the bike.  The yellow bag with the yellow bar tape never really worked for me but up until the other day I didn't really have any other options.  

I can't wait to start working on the Ventoura bag next.  I will be putting in a call to Wolfpit Iron works to have another handlebar bracket made and I will have to get serious about the light mount I want to put on the Surly, so I can start doing some night gravel grinder rides. 

Vintage Cannondale Casey Handlebar Bag

1982 Cannondale Catalog found at VintageCannondale.com

I won an eBay auction for a Vintage Cannondale (B017) Casey Handlebar bag.  I have been looking for one for quite some time.  Found a few on Craigslist but the sellers never got back to me and I had been trolling eBay for a couple of months and made a few bids only to some of the auctions exceed the amount I was willing to pay.

This yellow one popped up one day in early February and it was perfect for the Bianchi so I put in my max bid of $32.00 and crossed my fingers.  As you can see I ended up paying $31.00 and if you adjust the original amount for this bag for inflation since 1982, it would cost $48 so I actually saved money, from a purchasing stand point.  However, when I got the item the first thing I realized is that the bag's support frame isn't going to fit on a modern stem and 31.8mm handlebars.  DOH!

 

 My first thought was to go out and see if I could find some sort of thin metal bar and bend a bracket using pliers and my vice but I never got that far because I stopped in at the Bicycle Center and asked Shawn if he knew any metal workers figuring he might have had to use one in the past to have a metal frame welded.  Shawn recommended that I call this guy Austin who lives in Bridgewater and owns a company called Wolfpit Iron.

 

After explaining to Austin what I wanted to do and sent Austin a bunch of pictures.  As you can see in the top left picture the original frame is about an inch and a half and a modern stem is almost two inches wide where it clamps onto the bar.  The other issue I wanted to accommodate is where my GPS is mounted.  I asked Austin if he elongate the bracket from where it leaves the bars to connecting with the bag so I could keep my GPS mount on the bars as such.  He got back to me with a price and I said go for it.

I met Austin for coffee about week later and dropped off the original bracket on a stem with bars so that he had something to model off of.  He sent me this picture of the new bracket while epoxy coating was still drying.

I picked up the bracket the following week and had a do a little bending in my vice.  Initially it stat at about a 45 degree angle off the stem but after a few bending sessions I got it perfect!

It sits far enough away from the bars so that it doesn't conflict with my Garmin!  I took the bike out for a test right and I couldn't even tell it was there.

It was raining but I headed down to the lake for a quick test ride and I couldn't believe how nice the new bag is.  Couldn't tell it was there.  The Sefas Vida tires are really rocking on this bike.

My Singlespeed Commuter

After hitting 2,000 miles commuting goal last year, my goal this year is the quantity of commutes to take me to the 2,000 mile mark or even exceed it.  To get there, I am going to have to ride to work 100 times.  Last year, I rode to work 76 times and averaged 26 miles per commute on three different bikes.  This year, I am only going to ride one bike.

My Bianchi San Jose has been fun but for a while I wasn't sure I wanted to keep it.  I put it up on Craiglist but got no takers so I it's new purpose in life will be for commuting.  

I mounted my Serface Vida commuting tires on my rims and found that a 700x38c fits nicely on the Bianchi San Jose.  I used the Water Bottle Trick for chain tensioning but realized that will be the last time I can do that once the rear fender is mounted.  Speaking of fenders, the Planet Bike fenders that I had on the Cross Check went on rather smoothly and makes the bike look cool.

The last addition to the bike will be a vintage Cannondale Handlebar bag that I got from eBay the other day.  It's yellow and will match the bar tape. The only problem is that the bracket that it mounts to is made to fit only with old fashioned quill stems and 25.4 mm bars.

Someone suggested bending it to accommodate a wider stem but then I will loose the span from the bar to the bag and I will need to figure out some other way to mount my Garmin.  My best bet is to find some similar diameter bar and bend it myself to make it work.  This won't prohibit me commuting but it will be a nice to have for carrying stuff that I want to have within arm's reach while riding.