Product review: Jandd Frame Pac
Do your summer plans include a day ride on your road bike or shredding some trails on your mountain bike? How about a fully-loaded tour or a casual trip across town with nothing but your lock and keys? Well, consider this humble gem of convenience: the Frame Pac(k) by Jandd Mountaineering.
As the name might suggest, the Frame Pac nestles inside the main triangle of a standard bicycle frame. Though certainly not compatible with all frame types (many “step-thru” frames, very large frames, and our mechanic Carl’s amazing “Y-frame”, to name a few), I have found that Jandd’s Frame Pac fits snuggly on all of my personal rides, including mountain and road bikes with both horizontal and sloping top-tubes. Having never used a frame pack before, you may have noticed that the space in the middle of your frame is terribly underutilized and it also happens to be very easy to access. A frame pack will fill this void with ease and provide you with a significant amount of storage space that you can access even while riding—making it a great place to keep snacks! At its 3 liter capacity, Jandd’s Frame Pac will easily stow a compact U-lock, tool kit, extra tubes, snacks, phone, keys, wallet, lights, AND a light jacket.
I have found the Frame Pac to be incredibly useful for everything from very extended day trips that require multiple articles of clothing, to in-town rides that I prefer to make without a back-pack or saddle bags. I have even found my Jandd Pac to be wonderfully convenient for storing maps, cameras, and clues that needed to be accessed with ease for scavenger hunts, alley cats, and the like.
If I had one complaint about the Frame Pac it would be that it could be more water-resistant than it is. However, since I am more likely to use the pack for recreational purposes rather than commuting, it has not been a terrible problem and, regardless, at only $36 you can’t expect the pack to do everything. As with all Jandd’s products, the Frame Pac is made right here in North America (US and Mexico) and comes with a lifetime guarantee against manufacturer defects—just look for the bag with cute dogs on the tag wearing little doggy packs.
As always, if you find this review to be compelling, come on down to the Community Cycling Center and support your local non-profit bike shop. Pick up a Jandd Frame Pac today and enjoy your ride and your snacks!