When I met Natsuko on a bicycle tour that was organized by mutual friends in Japan, she looked at my bike and equipment. “You don’t carry a musette bag?” she asked, puzzled.
Back then, I thought of musette bags as something pro racers used to carry water bottles from the team car to the front of the peloton. In fact, supporting riders were often called ‘water carriers.’ Yes, musette bags are useful for that (above), but that’s not the only reason to carry one.
Thinking about Natsuko’s comment, I realized how often I’d ridden home with just one hand on the handlebars, the other carrying my post-ride snack from the local bakery. Or worse, how often I had not stopped at the bakery, because I didn’t have a way to carry my snack.
Most musette bags I’d seen in the pro peloton were made from cotton, intended to last a few races, before being discarded—or thrown into the crowd of spectators who eagerly picked them up as a souvenirs. Other musette bags had buckles and closures and were simply to heavy and bulky to carry on every ride.
So we worked with our friends at Ostrich in Japan to make a lighter, smaller musette bag. Made from the same ultralight and ultra-strong Silnylon as the SL-100 Rinko bags, it’s not just the lightest musette bag in the world, but also one of the most affordable.
It’s got a single snap to close it. If you want to adjust the length of the strap, simply tie a knot to take up the extra length. This elegant simplicity is key to the low weight, small packing volume—and affordable price.
The Rene Herse Ultralight Musette Bag is the same (diminuitive) size as a TPU tube…
…and only half the weight. Replace your butyl spare tube with it’s TPU equivalent, and you’ll have space for the musette bag in even the smallest underseat bag. (And you’ll still save some weight.)
I carry my musette on every ride. I don’t think about it until I need it. Then it unfolds to carry breakfast for my fam, something they appreciate when I’m out for an early-morning ride. Or I get some produce from the local farmers’ market that I pass during my cool-down spin home.
The pink musette was a special gift from our friends at Ostrich, made from left-over fabric. The black musette is the one you can buy for $ 25. In all likelihood, it’ll become the most useful piece you carry on your rides.
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