Index:
What is it?
I wanted to get a bag that would fit the battery on Bonnell 775 MX for couple of reasons:
- to protect the battery from elements, as there have been reports of discoloration of the aluminum (I think?) casing – nothin impacting functionality, but I like to take good care of things,
- for peace of mind and not to attract unnecessary attention – it’s a sad state of things that the hardware itself is targetted instead of the behaviors of owners (I’m referring to the drama around e-bike classes, confusion between e-bikes and e-moto, and skewed perception of e-bikes seen as somehow “cheating” 😉), but we’re living through times of personal accountability and common sense being rare, so it’s an attempt at minimizing unnecessary interactions so that I can focus on enjoying the trails, respectfully,
You can find detailed photos and my impressions below, but if this is all you’ll read, I can say immediately: I’m happy with the purchase, it met my needs, and the quality is great.
Where can I get one?
I ordered it from LOAM Equipment. They offer a variety of high-quality bags, and also completely custom designs, tailored to your needs and dimensions.
You can review that option, pricing, available materials and more, here:
If you are curious about the specific configuration I chose, it’s as follows:
- Material and Color: Black X-Pac VX21
- Zipper options: YKK #8 AQUAGAURD
- Top/Down tube attachment options: Reinforced Hook n Loop
- Note: no seat tube attachment, as that would conflict with the shock of course
It can take ~4 weeks for the bag to be made, and I suspect summer leads to highest backlog and increased timelines, but having held the resulting bag in my hands, I can say it’s worth it. Read on to find out how it all turned out.
Impressions, review, potential improvements
Detailed photos
The bag arrived packed well, and I also found a small gift inside (thank you to Rachel from LOAM Equip!):
Interestingly, the yellow/green liner inside was not an option I configured myself, but rather a design decision made by LOAM Equipment – I love it, it doesn’t show when the bag is installed, but gives it a nice touch when handling the bag, and the bright color of that liner makes it so that anything inside the pockets is easy to see:
Both sides have small cut-outs with velcro flaps to keep protected when not being accessed – those accommodate the charging port (on rider’s right side) and battery power button (on the left):
Installation
This process literally took just few minutes – there’s no need to even remove the battery, and the bag simply “slips on” from the side at the top, and then can be attached to the top and bottom tubes. Takes under 5 minutes on the first attempt, and once you see how everything fits, it’s only faster on future attempts.
For clean fit, I trimmed all the velctro straps to avoid anything “dangling” and snagging onto things – here’s how much was taken off:
How does it look on the bike
My frame is Large size, and the bug fits well without unexpected interactions with shock.
Proposed improvements
If I were to order one more bag, I’d recommend making few small adjustments – just to get closer to perfection 😉 I prepared the below reference to share on the Bonnell Facebook group to help other owners who may be considering getting one:
Impressions and overal rating
I’m very happy with the bag – from easy installation (and re-installation when cleaning the bike), through quality of materials and craftsmanship, to the fit. It appeast durable and helps accomplish the goals I had in mind.
The quality of sewing is great, bag has been cut very precisely, and you can see the side-to-side symmetry. There’s a think piece of “reinforcement” sewn into the top part to help it keep its shape – I think that also speaks to the quality.
The side pockets are very slim, as expected – considering that there’s a whole battery “inside” the bag, but are functional for storing some small, not too bulky items.
I have not observed any issue on battery thermals. However, if you live in a very hot place and this were to become a concern, you could simply cut off the pocket liner, and open the zipper for extra air flow. Luckily this does not appear to be something to worry about in PNW climate.
With that, let’s feast our eyes on the photos, as this was the cleanest the bag will ever be… 😉
I’d also like to give credit to Alex Blakesley and Chris Herman who shred their experiences of getting the bag made by LOAM Equipment on the Bonnell Facebook Group, which allowed us all to iterate on the designs – thank you!
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