Columbia College - Design student work inside - Feedback Please :)

Hi chainlinkers,

I'm a Product Design (industrial design, designed objects, call it what you want) major at Columbia College, and my studio class is working with Po Campo - a local company that makes really cool handbags that fit on the bike.

We're looking to expand their line, and one of the several concepts I'm designing is a transformable seat bag. The idea behind it is that it would be fixed to the bike for stashing stuff like a lock or your wallet/small handbag while you ride. Then when you arrive at your destination, empty the bag and flip it over the seat to keep it dry if it rains.

Here's a rough prototype being tested - gotta watch out for those sudden downpours :)


This isn't the finished design - far from it - I would love to hear constructive feedback from other riders

Thanks for looking!

-Gabe

(my team has a blog for our project with the other things we're working on - feel free to leave feedback there too!)

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Permalink Reply by nik was here on October 26, 2009 at 11:48am
interesting design. I'm curious if the whole bag is necessary as the cover. I'm thinking about how camelbak integrates covers into their bags. something similar could be used to cover the seat and the bag maybe. When you get another prototype, let one loose and I'd be willing to try it out and give some feedback.

Columbia '05
Permalink Reply by Leah on October 26, 2009 at 4:25pm
What a fun project!!

Could there be a way for the bag could detach, leaving the cover still on the bike and able to be flipped to cover the seat? That way, you could use the bag once you're at your destination, and you wouldn't have to empty it entirely? But I'm someone who tends to carry stuff when I ride (probably too much), so I might not be your target user :)

Keep us posted!
Permalink Reply by GabeW (not the other Gabe) on October 27, 2009 at 2:16am
Thanks for the critique guys, those are some good ideas. Maybe the cover could zip out and unzip from the bag...

and you might be my target user leah :) I carry a ton when I ride too, but was thinking about those times when I don't really need to carry more than a lock and some money (for the bar, etc...). I always fee like I brought a big bag for nothing. Then again, I'm not the one this is being designed for.

I'd like to bring more prototypes to a bike shop on a weekend to let people try it, I'll post when I'm ready to do that.

Thanks again, keep it coming

(nik - were you PD at columbia and do you work in the city?)
Permalink Reply by Maria Boustead on October 30, 2009 at 4:03am
Hey Gabe - great idea for getting feedback from the community!
Permalink Reply by RodimusPrime on October 30, 2009 at 5:22pm
-building off of nik's suggestion
maybe instead of the bag itself as a seatcover, you could make a zip-up hood type thing where the seat cover rolls up inside a flap in the bag ( like in windbreakers). that way you could still keep an item or two within the bag, while covering the seat.
Permalink Reply by J on October 31, 2009 at 9:01am
I wonder whether making the bag itself into the saddle cover isn't over designing? The idea that you need to empty the bag in order to use it as a cover isn't great.

But there is, I think, a market for really cute, well designed rain covers. I have used the Brooks and Velox ones -- they are waterproof, and do fold down really small, but as with all things these days, style counts. As others have pointed out, you're really only competing against shower caps and shopping bags! If you made unique, colorful ones using the same fabrics of the bags, that would be very unique.
Permalink Reply by Cullen Carter on November 3, 2009 at 2:35am
I've never worried about cycling on a wet seat after a downpour. I was more concerned with riding on wet streets.

If I were to purchase a bike-bag, I'd only use it for carrying my trinkets...

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