Specialized/Fjällräven Frame Bag

The Specialized/Fjällräven Frame Bag is weatherproof, looks attractive, and comes in a variety of sizes, making it ideal for bigger and smaller frames. Storage space varies depending on the size, but it's decent overall. The price is at the steeper end compared with others, though it does seem very good quality, but a couple of design niggles mean there's room for improvement before it can compete with the best bikepacking bags.

Need a frame bag to match your other S/F goodies, such as the Cave Pack or Top Tube Bag? Then this complementary Frame Bag will certainly be up your street. But only if you like it in green or black. A weird inconsistency in S/F's colour offerings mean it's not available in Ox Red or Ochre, as most others in the range are...

That's perhaps a minor quibble – you might like black or green, or you just don't really care – but it could be a deal breaker if you want all your bikepacking bags to match.

Unlike some frame bags that are deeper at the front and shallower at the rear, such as the Wizard Works Framebagradabra that I tested last year, the S/F Frame Bag is the same height all the way along. Though this looks neat, a possible downside is limited bottle storage and access, though that depends on the frame size and where your bottle cages mount.

Thankfully, the bag is available in three sizes to suit; as well as the medium on test there's small (£70) and large (£90), so you can choose the one that fits best.

The medium on test measures 47 x 11 x 6cm, weighs 300g, and has a 3L capacity. It actually fitted a little too easily inside my XL Ribble CGR Ti frame, with room to spare; the large would have been a much better fit as it's 5cm longer and 3cm taller.

So, it's definitely worth getting the right size for your frame. Its 6cm width is pretty standard for frame bags, and is narrow enough that it doesn't interfere with my knees on a ride.

Mounting

The bag attaches to your frame with Velcro straps – there are seven positions for these along the top to mount it to the top tube (nine in the large), along with two at the front and two at the rear.

As the bag was a bit short for my frame, I mounted it further forward, using only a single strap around the down tube and three along the top. The straps are fairly rudimentary Velcro and don't feel especially substantial, but they're seriously long so should accommodate most tube sizes. I had no issues with movement with this setup.

Carrying stuff

The bag has a straightforward single compartment design (with mesh pockets inside), with a two-way zip. The zip runs along the edge of the upper section of the bag rather than being located in the side panel. In theory this makes the contents easier to access from above, and it also means the side panels have that extra bit of depth to prevent larger items from coming out when you open the bag.

As I've found with some of the other S/F bags I've tested, the zippers feels a little stiff to operate – it's not something you're going to want to access on the move, unless you keep the zips open. I've said this before, but I prefer a one-way zip as it just keeps things simple, but that's personal preference. Having a two-way zip means you do have the option of keeping a small portion of the bag open for quick access to specific parts of the interior, though, without other items in the bag potentially falling out.

Inside there are three mesh pockets for organising your stuff, but they're not especially big. I wasn't able to store my iPhone 14 Pro, for example, and had to leave it loose in the main compartment. That's not an ideal scenario if you have other items in there that might scratch your device.

At the front of the bag there's a handy cable port, which I used to route my battery-powered Supernova front light. S/F says this is weather resistant, and I had no issues with water ingress during testing.

Material

As with other bags in the range, the exterior is made from S/F's own Vinylon F synthetic fibre, while the lining is 100% polyamide 210D. There's foam padding on the sides and base, along with a plastic stabilising panel in the top to help the bag keep its shape. The logos either side are reflective, too.

The lining is said to be waterproof, but as the seams aren't taped it's not technically fully sealed against the elements, so S/F calls the bag weather resistant. This tallies with my findings – I found that no water made its way inside during testing, even on pretty wet days; it's good enough for me to be comfortable taking it out on day trips or overnighters without worrying.

Value

In my experience the S/F bags are very good quality, so they should last a long time, helping to justify that £80 price tag; plus you get a decent amount of storage space and good weather resistance.

It's cheaper than the medium Wizard Works Framebagracadabra, which is also slightly smaller and not as weather resistant, though it is much lighter at a claimed 195g. It's handmade in the UK with very high quality materials and components, and there are lots of cool colour options, but at £95 it's quite a bit more expensive.

Also handmade in the UK are Restrap's various frame bags. We haven't tested the non-Race models on road.cc, but the Frame Bag - Medium gets you slightly more capacity at 3.5L, and is very light at a claimed 200g. It only comes in black, but it aces the S/F bag by being a tenner less. The large is £82.99 with a 4.5L capacity. We have tested the two Race Frame Bags – small (£79.99) and large (£89.99); there isn't a medium.

> 15 easy ways to carry stuff on your bike

You can pay less, though, and still be a winner. The LifeLine Adventure Frame Bag costs a frankly ludicrous £24.99, has 'great waterproofing' according to Matthew's review on off.road.cc, and also has a good zip. It's also available in three sizes to suit.

Conclusion

The Frame Bag is a decent choice overall. Though it has a couple of minor issues, there's plenty to like about it, including its weather resistance and durability, but there are cheaper options out there that would do just as good a job, if not better.

Verdict

Good quality frame bag but it's outclassed by the competition