Aena Baggage

Now available for immediate shipping! A customer and I recently decided to head in a different direction with a bag order, but I went ahead and finished the bag, as I

was fond of the design and overall aesthetic of the bag. It's now available for sale (e-mail for price) or up for trade for a rear disc wheel and aero front wheel. The bag details are as follows:


Size Large
Black outer, black liner
Ballistic nylon base
Double lined outer pockets
Shoulder pad
The artwork was done by Mike Giant and used with permission. The print of the artwork is available for sale on his site.












In other news, Price went ahead and picked up a size large bag with an anatomically correct heart drawn by his girl friend. The red, blue, and black color scheme worked astonishingly well, and I was quite pleased with how it came out, as was Price.

Arena Baggage

Eric Stubbs asked me to be a sponsor for the Gainesville Bikes, Camera Action! photo-scavenger race in Gainvesille back in January. Along with several other local businesses and framebuilder Brendan McGrath of McGrath Bicycles, I pitched in with a prize (Brendan is actually building a custom frame for the first place winner!). It's a size large with a few additional features, and a Polaroid on the flap to commemorate the photography aspect of the race. Lucky Danny from Tallahassee won it for the best individual photo!

Shannon from Tallahassee also picked up a bag from me. It's the same medium/large hybrid that Mark got a while back with an outline of a beautiful ballerina dancing across the flap.












The annual Broken Hearts and Bike Parts race in Atlanta came around again (the third one!) to benefit the Sopo Bike Co-op. Amy rode an amazing race and won the bag in the end. I'm told a fellow named Austin snagged the hip pouch by getting a bonus for riding all the way out to Decatur and back. Speaking of which, now introducing the Arena Baggage hip pouch!

Arena Baggage

Well, it's time for a much needed update. I've been busier than usual and had a bit of a holiday run on bags to boot.

Zach got his order in early for this delightful bag for Sarah. It's a custom size, somewhere in between a large and a medium. It's as wide as a large, but not quite as deep, making it slightly more envelope-like. It's got a wonderful yellow and blue color scheme and a freshly redesigned 3/4" thick closed-cell foam shoulder pad.









Pat picked up a size large as a Christmas present to himself. It's got a small white bear with the word Libertas embroidered just below. Also included are reflective tails on the strap ends.













Megan went all out and surprised Mark with this delightful messenger bag. It's a custom size, based on a large, but made just a few inches narrower across the shoulders. It comes with freshly redesigned double lined outer pockets and a thick, comfortable shoulder pad.










Jenny picked up a custom bag to take to her office holiday party as a (very nice) Secret Santa gift. It's a custom size, designed to hold just a few file folders and notebooks. The company logo is sprawled across the front of the strap, and the orange, white, and grey color scheme is continued throughout the bag. Jenny's boss, who ended up receiving the bag, was more than pleased.

P.S. Jenny is really adorable, and it was a pleasure to work with her! (Not that all my customers aren't equally as enjoyable...)

Arena Baggage

I helped sponsor a bike race in Tallahassee October 27th. Unfortunately, I was not able to attend Talloween 2. Around 50 riders competed and I think the bags went to the first undead guy and the first undead gal. Custom frames and other goodies were among the other prizes. Tallahassee really knows how to throw a bike race, apparently.

Arena Baggage

*Sigh* It was a shame to send this one off. It truly was near and dear to my heart. For Adam of San Francisco in the great bag trade of '06. Size large, double layer bottom, compression straps, double outer pockets. I still have the sketches hanging up over my workspace.

Arena Baggage

After months of promising the world's best college graduation present, Nick finally came through with an order for a medium bag for his fiance Gwen. It's olive green with a grey liner and a Domo-Kun on the flap. Gwen can now be seen riding the streets of Boston with this bag and a shiny ring.









Brad hooked me up with some amazing flap designs for some bags (absolutely incredible - pictures to follow hopefully soon), and had me make him a size large. This bag has loads of extra features, include a ballistic bottom and double lined outer pockets. The Denver flag is appliqued across the flap, with a small penta-bike in the lower left. Brad has some incredible skills. More of his amazing work can be seen here.

Arena Baggage

Matt from Gainesville wanted a fully customized (flap and body) Extra Large bag. The state of Florida is angled across the flap, so it's perfectly horizontal when he puts it on. Matt wanted to incorporate part of his old, defunct faux-leather bag, so I used it to make the outer pockets. Matt also does a lot of bicycle touring (his Bradenton-Gainesville route is outlined on the flap) so he wanted to be able to extend the flap of the bag across his entire bike trailer for rain protection. Voila, a tarp/messenger bag hybrid is born! This bag comes complete with only one flap buckle, extra tie down straps, an over the right shoulder strap, and more other custom options than you can shake a stick at. Matt will be traveling all across the country this summer with his bag. See if you can spot him (he'll stick out like a sore thumb)!













Jaim'ee wanted a slightly modified size large (an inch or two shorter) with two red chickadees. She was going for gaudy with this bag, and the brown, red, gold, white combo certainly fit the bill. This bag comes complete with custom pockets, internal divider, cell phone holder, compression straps, and a reflective strip on the flap. I altered the strap slightly to fit a girl's body better.

Arena Baggage

Mark from Kentucky wanted a floating pyramid on a size large bag. After much, much debate, the vibrant and coordinating color scheme was settled upon. The bright colors give the bag a mystical, yet slightly playful appearance. The pyramid gives the bag an added depth, as it is made of the vinyl liner material to alter the texture of the image.

Arena Baggage

I wanted to make a nice bag for myself with all of the bells and whistles. This is a size large with a ballistic bottom layer, two 3d pockets, compression straps, and a few more goodies. I like muted color combinations, so I chose olive green with brown and maroon accents.

Arena Baggage

This seems like a more professional outlet for my work. I'll keep this updated with information about what I'm working on and pictures of my most recent projects.

First, a backlog of photos, starting with some of my most recent.

This one started as a rush job for Dane in Michigan, with a one day turnaround time from initial contact to shipment. The only guidelines were an anchor in the center, and "Learn_not2burn" across the bottom. It's a stripped down, basic size large.












Luke from Illinois got a little more creative and wanted a protein ribbon emblazoned across his back. It's a size large with a neon green ribbon and molecule spanning the flap. I've included the original inspiration for the bag, for comparison.












Nick from Gainesville decided he was bored with his green stripes (see below) and requested a large, purple octopus complete with reflective eyes on the flap of his medium bag.













Before he ditched Gainesville for Brooklyn, Adam snagged a large bag with a cuddly panda on it. Afraid he wouldn't be able to fight off all the girls flocking to its cuteness, he requested that a bloody panda claw be added. This bag also has double 3d outer pockets, a double cordura bottom layer, as well as an X-strap to distribute especially heavy loads over both shoulders.









Javier in California requested a large/extra large hybrid with the Spanish word for struggle, Lucha, embroidered across the bottom. This bag reminds me of a tuxedo with it's white and black color scheme. This bag includes an internal divider, U-lock holster, and external water bottle pocket.














This medium colored block bag was made for display in a craft fair in Orlando. After it didn't sell, I snagged it for personal, light-load use around town. The medium is the perfect size for summer classes and light picnics.











Lex at Bikes and More ordered a run of four size large messenger bags to sell in his shop. He requested two city themed bags, one flying anvil, and one road. This is what I came up with. As far as I know, only one is left in the shop.






















Nick from Gainesville started me off with my first sale. One extra large bag with neon green stripes across the flap. This bag used seat belt webbing for the strap, and an actual truck tarp for the liner. After I used these materials on my own bag for about a week, I realized it was a bad idea. Nick doesn't seem to mind though, as he's refused replacement of both.