Fakengers = good
May 3, 2008If there were no non-messengers buying proper messenger bags, how many messenger bag companies would exist, and how good would the bags be?
MESSENGER OF DOOM. Bastard bicyclist’s blog’s a big bag of bollocks.
Bicycle courier’s blog’s a load of bollocks
I bet you wish you hadn’t said that!
"[I] read somewhere that all these energy drinks are full of sugar or a derivative."
Really, Einstein? As opposed to what - chicken, rice and vegetables?Quote of much longer than a month
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Probably not as good, because there would be less profits, and less money to go into research and development.
I am not a courier, but I use a courier bag because I like it, and it keeps my stuff dry.
marko = no sense of irony
I sense the irony that I am not a courier, though I use that type of bag.
“Probably not as good, because there would be less profits, and less money to go into research and development.”
Spot on I think
There’s no way the small companies that make the best bags could exist just on the money from sales to couriers
And of course there’s the benefit that non-couriers might sell their bags on eB*y after a while, for example if the bag is too big for them, or they just get bored of it. It probably won’t be as worn as a bag that’s been used by a courier. Cheap second hand courier bags in good condition = good
hey marko, fuck fakengers.
if they all went under a bus the good companies would be just fine.
pac designs and bagaboo would be fine.
research and development happen by us wearing a bag for 10 hours and then telling someone what works, not in a lab somewhere.
look at what’s happened with the mass produced companies.
timbuktoo are shit. weak stitches and uncomfortable as hell.
crumpler are turning to shit. no waterproofing and only last a few months.
chrome aren’t as good as they used to be. the tarps are thinner and split quicker.
and none of them offer the warranty they used to.
what’s happening is the companies realize they can sell any weak ass shit cause it doesn’t have to stand a days work, it just has to look good.
they can get it sewn up in vietnam for 2c a bag and no-one gives a fuck.
don’t support fakenger companies any more, go buy a pac.
The big companies might be mass-producing mediocre weak shite, but lupine, what about all the ‘fakengers’ that buy Bagaboo bags, Archies Gro Bags, etc.? Surely fakengers are a good thing in that respect? Or would you rather they gave their money to the companies that make the shit bags?
i’m not a courier but i’ve got a bagaboo, i bought it from da factory ^^ i live not too far from it in Budapest. I like it.
I think there are 2 types of fakengers: fake-fakengers (weak clones those who slowly circling on the sidewalk in a courier bag etc.) & “real” fakengers like me, i often ownz professional messengers on the streets with my brakeless fix ^^ lupine, i say: fuck that who say fuck!
peace
What about all those fakengers who ride bikes? Not only do they use the messenger bags but they also have the nerves to use the same means of transport. Cheeky bastards.
I am definitely buying a Pac Designs Street small when my Chrome wears out.
It seems the tarp is going. What designs can I get on the Pac?
@lupine:
You’re a moron and should shut up. Not only was your comment stupid, badly written, and unfounded, but I take personal offense to being told to fuck off by an obtuse holier-than-thou courier.
Yes it’s too bad that some older companies are sacrificing quality to make a buck when they get popular. The rider -or courier- who is looking for a quality bag will always be able to find one though, so who cares if less discriminating buyers get a shit product? Go have a time-out until you calm down, the fakengers can’t hurt you if you’re under the covers.
@Marko:
Pac has a pile of designs to choose from (you can see them on their website) but they also do custom work. You send a picture, they make the bag. I’ve seem some truly BTN (…”Badder Than Ninja”) bags around T.O.
…and pt3r has it bang on, just because I choose to support a family and not to be a courier doesn’t make me any less needful of a sweet bag. I commute 20 min to work every day and need to keep my docs as dry as any delivery, so?
ah, evan.
do you think it makes it any easier on those of us who do this job to have fakengers around?
every new fakenger who wobbles down the road at 10Kph and rides into the side of a car, do you think people ask if they work for a company?
of course not. they just mutter about irresponsible couriers and blame us all.
for every one fakenger who may consider a Pac or BagaBoo, there are the thousand who just purchase a shiny new timbuktoo and support a system that is destined to simply make things worse.
as for templar and his L337 messenger skillz, see how you go with 70 miles under your belt for a day, then come race us that night. you can ownz whoever you like on the 30 minute commute to your office, but how do you go after 8 hours?
and shall we even descend into the mire that is the new fixed lifestyle?
perhaps not. i’m sure any comments i were to make would simply be badly written and unfounded.
just bear in mind that every time some fakenger screws up and plows a pedestrian or mangles a car, everyone here gets a hard time from the powers that be.
we’ve seen fines and harassment increase constantly as the popularity of our little lifestyle grows.
i know i’m not alone in hoping that the hipsters and fakengers soon find a new trend to lavish their time and energy on, and let us get back to our jobs.
MOD, i really have no problem with people who want to buy quality products from ethical companies who support their employees, in fact i applaud them for taking the time to find such companies. my annoyance comes with those who simply leap upon the nearest bandwagon with gay abandon and steer it straight into the closest wall. do we really want to be helping a company that promotes sweatshop practices?
marko, drop pat at pac designs an email and she’ll give you all the help you need.
buying from pac is going to get you a bag that will last a lifetime, and you’ll be supporting a fantastic company that has supported the messenger community for almost 20 years.
and lastly i suppose i should just point out to evan that off and on i’ve been doing this for 22 years and have raised and supported a family quite adequately. all fully bought and paid for with the wages of a courier, and without the support of a welfare state. i guess it’s all a matter of where you want to be, and what you want to do.
Bike messengers make me laugh – I love this blog and envy your life style sometimes. Cant imagine id have the guts to live on a shoestring, hand to mouth on a month to month basis – but it has to be said the majority of you got into it yourselves because you only love the image of it. You don’t absolutely have to do it but you pretend you do. You’re all “Fakengers” – the lot of you!
every time I hear about this fakenger stuff i’m feeling funny. here in Budapest most messengers use Ortlieb bags and the serious commuter’s choice is bagaboo. not because it looks good but it’s durable waterproof and comfortable. so in Budapest if you wear a courier bag every idiot and every messenger will know you are not a courier. i’ve never seen a non messenger with an Ortlieb bag just because he wanted to look like them. i’ll continue using my bagaboo for my daily commute because it’s practical. i don’t care if you call me a fakenger.
for the record i even saw pedestrians wearing bagaboo (maybe because it’s made here in Hungary and looks good), which is not that good idea. it’s extremely uncomfortable for walking when packed.
Andy – I know you’re not being 100% serious. But let me just point out that I became a bike courier because I was jobless for months. I simply couldn’t get a job, I got turned down for every job I applied for.
I was scraping by on my overdraft, then after that, I was scraping by on coins that I found lying around or down the sofa. I actually cut the bottom of the sofa to see if any money was in there, and lo and behold, there was 4 pounds in there.
I was surviving on about 50p a day for food – which would be a loaf of cheap white bread from Aldi (24p) and a tin of beans or two (11p each if I remember rightly).
So when I found the advert for the courier job it was almost a dream come true. I was going to have money! I was going to be able to afford proper food! And, less important, I was going to get to ride my bike a lot.
I didn’t even know anything about messengerism, I didn’t know there was a fixed wheel fashion, or ‘fakenger’ fashion or anything like that. I had no idea that some people thought messengers were cool or that you could get proper messenger bags. I didn’t even know that there was such thing as a fixed wheel bike.
So for me it had nothing to do with image!
I should have gone on the dole though, while I was jobless. That would have made things so much easier…
@lupine:
Nowhere in my post did I say anything about being able to ride for 8 hrs in traffic to do your job. I fully realize I’d get slaughtered on a bike with you guys; for the first month at least. I know enough couriers and read enough blogs like this one to understand a bit of what you take at work. I also know that what you make isn’t enough for what I want for my family. If you’ve done it then you’ve made sacrifices at home that I wasn’t willing to make with mine.
But all the same you missed my point.
What pissed me off enough to make such a strong reply to you is your particular and individual attitude problem. I’m not citing the general “messenger prejudice” that you suffer at work, I’m focusing on you personally. You have a notion that because something is branded or specific for your vocation that only you should be able to enjoy it. That is silly and childish. A mechanic doesn’t begrudge me my socket set or a mountain guide my hiking boots, so why do you need to have a problem with my cycling bag. Take your head out of your arse and realize that your self-perceived ownership of cycling and your whine about inexperienced urban riders is as naive and juvenile as your writing style.
Being on a bike all day has generated some fantastic innovations for being dry, comfortable, and efficient while riding. It’s pretty inevitable *and unavoidable* that other riders -even those not riding all day- are going to take advantage. So deal with it or hand in your phone. There’s no room in your line of work for Nancies.
This whole “my messenger bag is so comfortable/so great for commuting” doesn’t make a lot of sense to me. They are not cycling bags, they are messenger bags, and they are designed with one strap not for comfort but so a messenger can put packages into the bag and remove them without removing the whole bag. There is nothing about them that makes them more convenient for cycling than a small backpack, or any other bag for that matter. Common sense should assist you in concluding that a back-back with two straps with enough waterproof properties to withstand 10 minutes of rain will be more comfortable and practical (and cheaper). It’s for the way they look, and that’s fine, but why are people too afraid to admit that? Anyway most messengers probably where one-strap bags for the same reason: they like the way they look or thought these were the only kind of work bags you could buy.
thorn,
agree with you completely.
for a messenger who has to put stuff in a bag anywhere between 30 and 60 times a day, having something that will easily swing round one shoulder is a HUGE time saver.
if i only do 30 tags in a day, that’s still sixty times i have to access my bag. it’s a slow day that only has 30 jobs. 45 plus is a normal day.
if it only takes 20 seconds longer each time to put the bag on and off that’s half an hour a day.
but for commuting, a messenger bag is less stable, puts all the weigh over one shoulder, compresses the chest and hinders your breathing. if it weren’t for the half an hour a day, we’d all use backpacks.
1/3 the cost, just as waterproof as a crumpler, and much better to ride in.
it’s one reason that couriers who tend to do longer, heavier runs, but less of them per day are using the chrome and ortlieb backpacks so much. carry more weight, in greater comfort, with better stability.
same reason pat came up with the X-strap for the pac designs bags. it’s also one of the reasons that some of us laugh so hard at the commuters with their crumpler and timbuktoo bags hanging round their arses swaying in a light breeze.
and for evan again, how quickly do you think hikers would be pissed off if scarpa boots suddenly became the one must have fashion statement of the hipster community? if the cost of a vibram sole doubled in 18 months and the waiting list for a good set doubled as well? and if the companies what were producing good boots started making and using cheap knock offs so they could sell them while they were popular? how happy would the local mechanic be if every time they went to try and buy a cylinder compression gauge they could only find a cheap chinese knockoff and the cost of snap-on jumped 40%?
you’d probably find those examples somewhat peeved at the local bandwagon as well.
heh, anyone remember in the early 80’s when the cops had trouble filling orders of docs cause all the hipsters and punklite kiddies were buying them?
@lupine:
In the event that market pressures did cause these things, alternatives would spring up faster than the demand. People are always looking for a way to make money on a fad or trend. Some do this by cutting costs, cashing in, and making a mess of a product. Others do it by commitment to a quality product to create a reputation for such. My point remains that just because using a messenger bag is hip, it doesn’t mean its any harder to find a good bag than it used to be. You just have to look past the mainstream.
@Thom:
My Chrome bag is the most comfortable thing I’ve ever worn on a bike hands down. I’ve used two-strap bags and nothing sits and stays as well on my back. The various stabilizer straps keep it on better than any backpack. Yes it is more stylish too, which there is nothing wrong with either by the way. On top of all that, the flap design of almost all courier bags (single or double strap) makes them the most waterproof around.
I think I’m done flogging this horse. There’s nothing wrong with taking advantage of things discovered by working messengers; regardless of what childish ownership they might feel for them. When I ride to work, I’m comfortable and enjoy my gear. The rest of you can sod-off if you have a problem with it. I’m not one to hit pedestrians or do anything to make “real” cyclists (apparently now also called “bike messengers”) look bad. So I’m just going to keep riding to work – on my fixie, with my “messenger” bag, through traffic.
God, this is all so bleeding funny. You girls are great value! but you really should get a life I think. You’ll be winging about your Jimmy Choos next!
Some basic design theory – from someone who teaches it for a living…
Businesses are ultimately set up to make money – not as a charity to serve loyalty (those soon hit the dirt). Virtually all products go through evolutionary stages of development – from a new invention (expensive and over designed) to a business opportunity (strip out the excess feaytures to make some money) to a consumer item (manufacture solely for profit). Small ‘improvements’ and/or mutations keep the market afloat along with trends and fashions duping the punters with continual ‘newness’. This goes on and on until a new innovation wipes the floor and the whole cycle (scuse the pun) starts all over again.
Bike shit aint no different, and if you think so the you are deluded. Remember fixed aint anything new… they were the first bikes (before brakes and gears were added).
For the record I got myself a Rapha ‘commuter’ bag… cuz that is what I am – a commuter. Fookin pricey (£80!!) but so far so good… It’s got some really good features an all that a cyclist needs (don’t look that special mind), but most importantly it looks after this MacBook good and proper… which is key to my job (and as this laptop cost nearly as mucho as my bike I think that is a pretty important feature). I think it was worth the money.
keep pedaling eh and stop bloody grumbling (save that for something more important)!
Great blog MOD… you are doing a mighty fine job of it.
There would be one bag company. I use my bag to carry my lock when I go to the pub, to get my hair cut or for just poncing around and looking cool.
@Guinea Pig
Let’s see how long your Rapha bag lasts,I bet it does’nt outlive my Jimmy Choos!