Stat of the art

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On the 22nd of September 2017 I left Locarno (Switzerland) on the saddle of my MERIDA Scultura riding for 2700 km till Santiago de Compostela with 10 kg in a couple of rear bags. Bags that I’ve been hating every day during my path since the first rise on the Simplon. On the 18th of October, under a heavy rain and after 2700 km (600 km on dirt road), I reached Santiago de Compostela, in Portugal. Along the path I did my best to have the lighter equipment and by the end my bags were only 6 kg.

During my journey I analysed pros and cons of the status of my luggage and these are the conclusions:
1. A racing bike like the Merida Scultura is appropriate for such a journey
2. Tyres 700x25 with profiles and a box 11x40 are suitable
3. 6 kg of luggage is enough and probably 10 kg are too much
4. Bags:

• a. are mandatory for any long journey
• b. must be well fixed and stable
• c. lift up the barycentre and make the bike loosing its stability
• d. made the aerodynamic resistance higher: it’s impossible to go faster than 30 km/h
• e. on rises more than 12% grade the bags lift up the front wheel
• f. make the bike sensible to the side gust of wind maybe generated by the bus passage
• g. are bulky, not comfortable and not properly waterproof

Contents of the invention

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After 6 months of research and development and after some prototypes I patent Bikebags.ch a new and revolutionary bag:

• it has been made with carbon the bag weights only 0.7 kg. The economical version made in ABS weights 1.4 kg.
• It hooks easily to the central movement and to the backside hub
• 6 cm far from the ground and with a maximum height of 50 cm.
• The width can change from 8 cm near the central movement to 15 cm on the back of the front wheel.
• The bag has two hermetic opening parts to introduce objects, it’s completely waterproof
• The bag has a wide surface to be used by sponsors

ADVANTAGES OF BikeBags.ch

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Between April and July 2018 I made some tests and finally in August I ride my bike with the new bag from Barcelona to Locarno passing through Nice and the Camargue. The new journey was 1500 km long, 300 km of dirt road, and the BikeBags.ch was wonderful! Results of my trial were better than expected:

• The aerodynamic resistance was extremely low thanks to the 95% of reduction of the frontal obstacle compared with the traditional bags (image on the left)
• The stability was stronger thanks to the lower barycentre
• The riding was comfortable and sure till 70 km/h
• Perfect stability during hard braking
• Good stability of the frontal wheel with grade till 14%
• Even under heavy rain, the objects are dried thanks to the hermetical closure of the bag
• 90% of reduction of negative effects of lateral wind effects compared with traditional product
• The bag works also as a splash guard
• With a couple of easy clicks you can remove the bag and apply the shoulder strap
• The shape, the position on the bike, the visibility and functionality generate curiosity and interest by other bikers, specialized shops and sponsors.

Travel Camargue 1.8.2018

Content for the trip to Camargue

Contact

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Renzo Longhi
via Santa Maria 17
CH 6596 Gordola
Born on the 10th of June 1951
Telefono +41 79 621 05 48
Mail: info@bikebags.ch

Linkedin.com/in/renzo-longhi-a10bb317

Since 1992 I’ve been a researcher at SUPSI (University of Applied Sciences and Arts of Southern Switzerland) and manager of a research group. I was the coordinator of a number of Swiss National Projects funded by KTI.
Since 2006 I was Senior Researcher at SUPSI and founder of some laboratories there, coordinator of European research projects funded under FP5 and FP6 actions. In 2016 I retired closing my work relation with SUPSI- ICIMSI as Head of Bio & Environmental Tecnologys Lab.
Nowadays I’m managing an industrial consulting office and a shopfloor for prototype realization working with Swiss SMEs.