Russ Roca over at the new site The Epicurean Cyclist has some lush new photographs of the small canvas seat bag hanging from the back of his Brooks saddle and his personal review of the bag so far. What I liked about what Russ did in the review is focus on the capacity of the bag. Yes, it’s small, but it can hold a fair amount of practical cargo.

What I though was equally as interesting was the general concern about these bags and the elements. One of the things we need to do a better job of is, on the bag packaging, is explaining how to maximize the life of the bag by treating it for the elements. These bags, like some of the greatest canvas products of all time, such as Duluth Pack, are intended to weather a fair amount of abuse — with the proper treatment.

What most people tend to like about these bags is that they seem almost to live and breathe. They age and acquire the jpeterman/seinfield-esque “rich patina.” Russ also nailed the fact that our bags are meant to put this style of bag in the hands of the average cyclists who might agonize over price of other products in this genre. With that, as a company, we feel that our responsibility is to create a product which will get used and abused and hold up. Affordable? Yes. Cheaply made just to look nice? Not so much.

Remember, if you do have questions about Minnehaha bags, feel free to drop us a line.