Douchebags The Savage Bike Bag Preview

by Simon Tuck · 09/10/2018

Douchebags The Savage Bike Bag Preview

Simon Tuck

Douchebags The Savage Bike Bag is a storage or travel bag for bikes. It has an internal aluminium frame and padding designed to protect a bike during transit

When packed down The Savage is a bit easier to store.

Douchebags started off when in 2009 Swedish free-ski legend Jon Olsson and Norwegian product designer Truls Brataas were talking about their love of skiing and the problems they had with transporting all their kit. By 2012 they had started the company Douchebags with their solution to the problem.

Douchebags first bike bag ‘The Tour’ was designed in collaboration with Team Sky mechanics,

Fast forward to 2018. Hot off the back of sponsoring Team Sky in 2016 and collaborating with their mechanics on The Tour Bike Bag, they now offer The Savage Bike Bag. Whereas The Tour had EVA side pods so you didn’t have to take your handlebars off, The Savage does require removal of the bars, but this does mean it’s a bit skinnier. The Savage is designed to fit most bikes whether they have flat or drop bars.

It’s a big old beastie, but should be lighter and easier to store than a hard case, whilst still providing good protection.

The Savage Bike Bag is 145cm long and 30cm wide. The full height is 87cm, but it packs down to 38cm high for storage. Once packed down, there are straps to secure it in the compressed state. These straps tuck into a pocket which is sealed with hook and loop fastening. You get the flexibility of a soft bag with its lower weight, easier storage when empty and slightly more forgiving load-space, and the protection of the racing-car-inspired aluminium frame of the DB Roll Cage.

There’s a wheel pocket on either side of the bag. They’re protected with a solid panel either side, and an internal rod.

The integrated wheel compartments take up to 29” wheels and have built-in protection. All wear and tear points and high-stress areas are reinforced with webbing and Hypalon fabric for durability. A fork protector clips onto the DB Roll Cage. It has a padded pocket for flat bars, and an optional extra called the Road Bike Adaptor which secures drop handlebars. This is my only issue with The Savage so far. Douchebags say that this is ‘The One’ bag for all bikes, yet you have to buy a separate adaptor to carry a road bike as it was designed to be used.

The DB Roll Cage has separable joints so it can be stowed away.

We’ll see how it goes. I’ve got at least one trip to make in the near future so I’ll be able to tell you how easy the bag is in use, and more importantly how easy it is to pack and unpack.