Saddle Cover Issue w/Saddlebag

[JAS]

I love the look and utility of a saddlebag, thus I've tried a Sackville Bagboy and Swift Zeitgeist on Platy and Clem obtained from folks on this list.  Here's the issue:  I have Selle Anatomica leather saddles, the rainy times are coming to the Pacific Northwest and the saddle cover won't fit properly with the bags attached.  What's a girl to do?   

How do you protect your leather saddle when riding in the rain when you've got a saddle bag attached to the loops on the saddle?  Do you use a cover when riding or only when you're off the bike?  I'm not using a Brooks saddle...do the loops get in the way of the cover or is the Selle Anatomica design the problem?  I'm probably making a bigger deal out of this than necessary, but I don't want to wreck my saddle.  Must I remove the saddlebags and use a trunk bag and/or pannier for winter riding?  Is there a better solution?  I will look forward to your ideas.

Joyce

[Jay Lonner]

I don’t use one while riding, only while the bike is parked (you do have fenders, I hope). Mine is by Randi Jo (https://www.randijofab.com/collections/saddle-covers) and has cutouts for bag loops, she has templates for many saddles, including SA. You have time to sort it out, looks like there’s no rain in the forecast any time soon, sadly.

Jay Lonner

Bellingham, WA

Sent from my Atari 400

On Oct 11, 2022, at 6:26 PM, JAS <swanso...@gmail.com> wrote:

I love the look and utility of a saddlebag, thus I've tried a Sackville Bagboy and Swift Zeitgeist on Platy and Clem obtained from folks on this list.  Here's the issue:  I have Selle Anatomica leather saddles, the rainy times are coming to the Pacific Northwest and the saddle cover won't fit properly with the bags attached.  What's a girl to do?   

How do you protect your leather saddle when riding in the rain when you've got a saddle bag attached to the loops on the saddle?  Do you use a cover when riding or only when you're off the bike?  I'm not using a Brooks saddle...do the loops get in the way of the cover or is the Selle Anatomica design the problem?  I'm probably making a bigger deal out of this than necessary, but I don't want to wreck my saddle.  Must I remove the saddlebags and use a trunk bag and/or pannier for winter riding?  Is there a better solution?  I will look forward to your ideas.

Joyce

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[Brian Turner]

Second on the RandiJo cover. For my Brooks saddles, hers is a clever design that features an under-the-saddle piece that slips under, between the two saddle loops and then attaches via Velcro to the cover part under the nose…. Hard to explain unless you see it, but it’s the only cover I’ve been able to use effectively with a saddlebag attached. Additionally, there are two cutouts for the saddle loops in case you wanted to more permanently attach the cover and still use the loops for a bag (but I’m not sure why you’d want to do that IMO.

On Oct 11, 2022, at 12:43 PM, Jay Lonner <jay.l...@gmail.com> wrote:

I don’t use one while riding, only while the bike is parked (you do have fenders, I hope). Mine is by Randi Jo (https://www.randijofab.com/collections/saddle-covers) and has cutouts for bag loops, she has templates for many saddles, including SA. You have time to sort it out, looks like there’s no rain in the forecast any time soon, sadly.

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[Ryan Frahm]

Just a note to jump on the RandiJo cover, they are 4-5 weeks out. Mine should be shipping soon! Everything they make is fantastic. Also, get one asap. I had a Selle Anatomica that got a tiny shower, not even completely wet at all and it bubbled and pretty much destroyed it. Cover that thing up in any moisture!

[Joe Bernard]

Hi Joyce, 

I have this cover made my Brooks, it stretches over the back of the saddle and covers the bag loops. This pic shows it on a B17 but there's an adjuster thingy at the back (not the velcro strap, that's for rolling it up) and it fits kinda loose on my saddle, it should work on an SA. You wanna try it? Send me a shipping address and you can have it for the low low price of FREE! I inexplicably have two of these and hardly ever use even of them so it's all yours. 

Joe Bernard

joeremi62 gmail com

text 415 786 4623

[John Bokman]

Free is a good price. However, Randi Jo for the win! I have used her covers for years here in the PNW on different types of saddles. She makes different covers for different saddle shapes. I leave mine all year round. They last a very long time. Well worth the money.

John

Portland

[JAS]

Thank you all!  I'm grateful for your experience and advice.  Joe is sending me his Brooks cover and I will look into a Randi Jo option as well.  

--Joyce

[ascpgh]

Your rain jacket tail should extend far enough to cover for rainfall, a saddle cover for when you get off your bike.

Some of the comments about adding slots in the covers to permanently mount them may seem ridiculous until you imagine the cover rolled up, captive atop your bag lid until you need it and unfurl it and hook it under the nose. 

If it rains where you ride, you adapt to it. 

Andy Cheatham

Pittsburgh

[Patrick Moore]

Here in high desert NM I ride only infrequently in the rain (tho' the bulk of our rain falls during our summer "monsoon" in July, August, and September), and I use a cape which covers saddle as well as rider (and bar). But I do carry these in my kit bags and they work fine. These fit snugly around the perimeter of the saddle and don't interfere with saddlebags. Note that they don't fit tightly over the saddle itself, but I've not found that uncomfortable.

I get mine from my rug cleaner who comes once a year -- he hands them out to cover shoes while walking on just-cleaned carpets. They use to sell something similar as a reusable but disposable cover for food containers.

I've got a few stashed away, and will be happy to send you one if you like.

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Patrick Moore

Alburquerque, Nuevo Mexico, Etats Unis d'Amerique, Orbis Terrarum

[Patrick Moore]

Forgot to add that they serve as tool/bike kit rolls and, in any event, wad up very small and take up very little space.