Founded in 2009 by Remi Clermont and Andre Stewart, the performance-wear label Café du Cycliste is well known for creating some of the best cycling apparel with an added French twist. The brand has now taken its first foray into the bikepacking bags market with a range of bags designed to carry riders and their essential cargo in style. The new Café du Cycliste lineup includes top tube, frame, saddle, tool and handlebar bags.
As with all the Café du Cycliste kit, like their recently released hiking inspired Outland gravel shoe, these bags look so good you may be reluctant to use them on your wet and muddy gravel adventures. However, they aren't all about appearance, Café du Cycliste say they also pack a spec to back up the looks and should deliver everything required for the best gravel bike adventures, and we had a delve into the new range to see what they are all about.
Handlebar Pouch Bag
First up in the range is the fully waterproof Handlebar Pouch that is designed to carry your essentials on short escapades into the wilderness or for one-day local spins. The 2-liter capacity provides enough space for carrying tools, a rain jacket, snacks and valuables. With heat-sealed seams and AquaGuard YKK zips, your essentials should stay dry and secure, and Café du Cycliste says the pouch is easily accessible whilst on the move.
The Handlebar Pouch attaches with three fixture points at the handlebars and the headset/steering tube for secure mounting and should stay in place even when fully loaded on the trails. Quick-release buckles also make for easy attachment and release, and the pouch can be clipped handily onto other luggage when not on the bike. Unlike the rest of the range, this bag comes in Black with White branding, and the other bags in the collection come in an on-trend Khaki.
Top Tube Bag
The internal capacity of 1.5 liters on the top tube bag is said to offer practical and easily accessible storage space. It also has a rigid construction to hold its shape, with an aerodynamic, low-profile design. Attached using three fixing points that use large velcro straps it should offer plenty of stability, and they say the compact size of 10x37x5cm will cause no negative impact, like knee rub while riding.
Again, it is constructed with a fully waterproof fabric, heat-sealed seams and the AquaGuard YKK zips, keeping contents protected. The Top Tube Bag comes in the as-mentioned on-trend color of Khaki Green with Black logos and Orange zipper pullers.
Frame Bag
The Frame Bag also comes in the same styling of Khaki Green with Black logos and Orange zipper pullers, with a large 4-liter capacity. Café du Cycliste says it will easily carry a weekend’s worth of kit alongside other tools and essentials. The left-hand side has a small zipped compartment for valuables, whilst the right-side zipper allows access to the larger volume storage space that has a divider space for other those who like to be organized. There is also an opening at the front near the steerer to run a charging cable for your lights or GPS/Phone or a hose to a hydration bladder.
Like the rest of the collection, it's fully waterproof with welded seams to keep belongings dry around the clock. The bag should be easy to attach and release, with binding to secure to the top and downtubes using large Velcro straps, designed to fit snugly into all frame geometries with minimal movement whilst riding.
Bike Packing Saddle Bag
Designed for the best bikepacking adventures, the Saddle Pack has a whopping 10-liter capacity, that Café du Cycliste claim will easily take a single-person bivy, camping mat or lightweight sleeping bag, and still have the capacity for other smaller items of clothing and essentials.
The Saddle Bag features a robust shell outer section with an inner removable dry bag designed to keep belongings protected and easily accessible. The inner dry bag also features a compression valve to release air once belongings are packed allowing it to securely fit into the outer shell section.
The pack attaches to the seat-post with large nylon and Velcro straps with reinforced anti-vibration webbing and has a carabiner-style clip on the outside to attach the essential camping mug. The pack is claimed to have minimal movement whilst riding and has a quick-release clip on the saddle-rail strap to offer easy attachment and release. Handily the inner dry-bag part of the pack can be clipped over the shoulder or onto other luggage when not on the bike.
Tool Saddle Bag
Finally, the minimalist under-saddle Tool Saddle Bag has a 0.5-liter capacity and fits perfectly underneath the saddle, binding securely and snugly with a single durable velcro strap. It has plenty of space for on-the-go maintenance and will easily carry an inner tube, tire levers, multi-tool and CO2 inflator canister.
Pricing and availability
The entire collection is available now from Café Du Cycliste with some items in the collection showing as already out of stock on the Café Du Cycliste website. The items available are the Frame Bag at $130 / £98 / €100, the Saddle Bag at $221 / £167 / €170, and the Tool Bag at $59 / £44 / €45. Find all the information on the collection and all things Café du Cycliste at Cafeducycliste.com.
