Best gig bag for biking

daveriedstra

daveriedstra

Mar 17, 2010
33
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4,621
Guelph, ON
www.daveriedstra.com
#1
My current means of transportation to rehearsals is biking with a backpack style gig bag and my 50w traynor dynabass holding on to the pannier rack for dear life (aided by judicious strapping). My bag is on its way out, partly because the bottom strap button is poking through and catching on the amp strapping and partly because the bag's shoulder straps are tearing off.

Anyone have any recommendations for a decent bag in the sub $200 range that carries particularly HIGH (to avoid the bass hitting the amp)? Chest or hip straps (a la hiking packs) would be a huge bonus. The Mono Sleeve looks pretty decent for its price point but I don't think it will be high enough.

Interested in anecdotes/tips for bass+amp+bike combo too. Sorry if this is the wrong category, not sure where to post about cases.
 
#2
They won't be in your price range unless you score one used but the Mono M80 and Vertigo Bags are great in general and I routinely bike short distances with mine. I don't have any first hand experience with it but their new "Bass Sleeve" rings in at $150 and looks like it has the same straps. It might be an option for you.
 
#4
ABravado said:
They won't be in your price range unless you score one used but the Mono M80 and Vertigo Bags are great in general and I routinely bike short distances with mine. I don't have any first hand experience with it but their new "Bass Sleeve" rings in at $150 and looks like it has the same straps. It might be an option for you.
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I was looking at their site shortly before making this post, and all their bags look really solid! When you're biking, does your bag hang much below the back of your seat? That's about where it would start to interfere with my amp.

nico485 said:
This might be way UNDER your budget but I bought a cheap bag to haul my bass back and forth to jam sessions(in a car so I didn't need a whole lot of protection) but it's actually fairly nice. Has shoulder straps, decent amount of padding. Zippered front pockets. Might be worth checking out for $30.

Amazon.com: World Tour Deluxe 20mm Bass Guitar Gig Bag: Musical Instruments
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That bag looks fairly similar to mine (which is by Prestige), especially the bottom. On mine, the bass strap button broke through between the rubber foot and the zipper, and it looks like the same thing might happen with this one. But for $30 it looks like a good option indeed...
 
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#5
daveriedstra said:
I was looking at their site shortly before making this post, and all their bags look really solid! When you're biking, does your bag hang much below the back of your seat? That's about where it would start to interfere with my amp.
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It might interfere with your amp. Of all the "backpack" style bags I have used this one sits on the lower side.
 
#6
I used the cheapest warwick rockbag for a year or so - very light and thin padding and the bass sat really high - great for biking (I used to bike up to 12km ~ 7,5 miles twice a week for rehearsal). So far so good, but the straps are poor quality and started to fray to the point that I feared that they get completely loose and the gigbag would fall of my bag and behind me a big truck just rolls over it ...

My new gigbag is the mono sleeve but I haven't bike with it yet (still too cold in northern europe). But it feels like it coul dbe usable for biking. Another point about the mono sleeve - the bottom of the gigbag is so tight that it actually made a scratch to bare wood in the finish of my bass because the strap was still on the bass - if you get the sleeve always remove the strap (which I never used to do in 20+ years using all kind of gigbags).
 
#7
daveriedstra said:
Interested in anecdotes/tips for bass+amp+bike combo too. Sorry if this is the wrong category, not sure where to post about cases.
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When I was an undergrad way back circa 1980 I commuted to/from school by bicycle with a bass on my back. They didn't have fancy backpack-style straps on gig bags back then, so I had to jury-rig a contraption using nylon web straps and turnbuckles from a camping supply store. It was totally ghetto, but it did allow me to set the bass up pretty high on my back, which prevented the bottom of the gig bag from coming anywhere near the saddle or rear rack.

I haven't ridden with a bass on my back in decades, but when I first got a ProTec Contego hybrid gig bag one of my first thoughts was "I wish I'd had one of these back when I was commuting by bike!" Something about the Contego's backpack-style strap/harness arrangement makes me think it would be very secure while cycling, even moreso than the Mono M80 (which I also own). But I've never actually tried it, so I don't know how high you can get the straps.
 
#9
Bob_Ross said:
When I was an undergrad way back circa 1980 I commuted to/from school by bicycle with a bass on my back. They didn't have fancy backpack-style straps on gig bags back then, so I had to jury-rig a contraption using nylon web straps and turnbuckles from a camping supply store. It was totally ghetto, but it did allow me to set the bass up pretty high on my back, which prevented the bottom of the gig bag from coming anywhere near the saddle or rear rack.

I haven't ridden with a bass on my back in decades, but when I first got a ProTec Contego hybrid gig bag one of my first thoughts was "I wish I'd had one of these back when I was commuting by bike!" Something about the Contego's backpack-style strap/harness arrangement makes me think it would be very secure while cycling, even moreso than the Mono M80 (which I also own). But I've never actually tried it, so I don't know how high you can get the straps.
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That sounds a lot like how my amp is strapped down, but instead of turnbuckles I've got a winch and some knots. Maybe I should try Jerry-rigging a hip strap for my case with some extra strapping.

That Contego looks like it fits the bill! I really like that it has the chest straps, and the protection looks pretty good. The only thing is that the removable "suspension pads" look kind of dubious, but I guess if they're high density and the velcro is decent they should do a good job, right?
 
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