At Interbike last September, Josh stopped by the Apidura booth to talk with James about some exciting new additions to their bike packing line.
We are excited to get the new items in stock, the Apidura line has been a nice addition and has been selling well.
[Video Transcription]
Hi James, show me the new products. So, we have a new frame bag. Yes, so the Full Frame Bag should be available around Christmas (2015). We did a lot of research with different frame geometry sizes. We are trying to insure the frame packs we are producing, since we do not do custom, actually fit 90% of the bike people are riding.
Inside the pack is a removable shelf, so the pack is almost split in half. I idea being you can run a hydration bladder in the top half and then you will want to keep things like tools and all the heavy stuff nice and low on the bike, which makes the handling a bit nicer and keeps the center of gravity low. We have a little hole so you can bring the hydration hose through there.
How many sizes are you going to make?
I think we will do 3 different sizes, small, medium and large. We will have 2 different versions, a version for the road and one for mountain bikes.
How will you handle compatibility on certain bikes?
We are working on a compatibility chart, which bag works with which bike and size.
New for next year (2016) we are introducing a waterproof line. This is a welded seam, rather than sewing them. We use a similar material to a dry bag, but it is not quite as stiff as a dry bag. It took us quite a long time to get the balance between weight and durability. Because if you are welding you are applying heat to the fabric and the fabric thins a little bit and it can effect some of the strength of the fabric. So it has been a long time in development. The seat bag is fully waterproof but not submersible. We are very excited about that line.
You said you would do a similar product for the handlebar bag?
Yes, we are going to be introducing a waterproof handlebar pack as well and hopefully rolling it out throughout the rest of the product line as well.
Will carry both versions?
For the time being, we will be running both lines. The waterproof line will be priced at a slight premium to the sewn line. It will be interesting to see how much it cannibalizes the sewn line. From the research we have done it is inconclusive.
It may take a little more time to get out the waterproof frame bags, but it is very much on the radar.
The other product we are working on is the feedbag, which will sit between the stem and the handlebars.
So all new products are coming out in 2016?
Yes, we will probably be doubling the number of products we have.