I’ve been reviewing bikepacking frame bags for long enough to notice a distinct pattern. A new cottage frame bag manufacturer will open, specializing in making custom bags for whatever bike you ride and whatever you happen to need. Eventually, though, the one or two people in the business realize that if they actually want to make a career out of this frame bag thing, they’re going to have to scale up. And the moment they begin trying to grow, they realize that making custom bags inherently doesn’t scale.
Making each bag, with unique specs, by hand, is a labor-intensive process, which is precisely why Rogue Panda’s success is so interesting.
Rogue Panda still makes custom frame bags for literally any bike
Founded in 2014, Rogue Panda has grown to 10 employees working out of a 2,500-square-foot facility in Flagstaff, Arizona. Despite becoming one of the largest bike frame bag manufacturers in the country, Rogue Panda is still arguably the place to go if you want a custom frame bag for your bike.
If you visit their website, you’ll discover that Rogue Panda has over 1,000 frame specifications already on file, and that massive catalog probably already covers your bike. If it doesn’t, or you have something unique going on with your buildout, all you have to do is send them a picture of your bike, and their technology will automagically work out the specifications for the required frame bag.
In addition, the company provides 50 standard fabrics to choose from plus the ability to run a custom print, ensuring that your frame bag is guaranteed to be one-of-a-kind. There are plenty of other customizations, too, like side pockets, different types of attachments, reflective striping, and more.
According to the brand, over 12,700 satisfied customers have purchased Rogue Panda’s custom frame bags.
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Rogue Panda’s commercial success in making custom bags is so unusual that I had to sit down with owner and founder Nick Smolinske to learn how they manage it. “It’s kind of a tricky question to answer,” said Smolinske, saying he didn’t want to give away “the secret sauce.” But there are a few insights he was willing to share.
First, Rogue Panda “really [focuses] on the customer experience and the website, and trying to make it easy for someone to go on and order a bag, and just make that process as smooth as possible.”
Smolinske’s background in math and computer science has “come in handy,” as he’s designed a custom system with scripts and internal applications that streamlines the process from ordering to production. “I think our time to go from a photo of the bike to the finished product, and to take one of our saved templates and customize it to exactly the features the customer wanted, that time is very short, so that process is really streamlined,” said Smolinske.
Finally, the true “secret sauce” is production efficiency, which he was hesitant to elaborate on in too much detail. But he did give one example, saying they strive to “make it a smooth and efficient process, and also make it easy on our production workers’ hands.” For example, Rogue Panda waits to add any stiffening elements until the very end of the production process, which makes the fabric easier to work with.
Naturally, I had to test a bag out for myself. Here’s how it went.
Rogue Panda Frame Bag key specs
- Custom bag for full-suspension Pivot Trailcat SL, Size Medium
- EPL150 fabric with topo print
- Robust #10 YKK molded tooth zipper
- Side pocket
- Price: Starts at $195. Approximately $265 for this exact bag.
- Buy from Rogue Panda
My Pivot Trailcat SL was already in Rogue Panda’s extensive design database, so all I had to do was pick my fabric and a couple of features and send in the request. A couple of weeks later, my frame bag showed up, ready to install.
Many modern trail bikes now include extensive accessory attachment points inside the rear triangle, and Rogue Panda utilizes those bolt points for low-profile, secure mounting. My bag came with four bolts with large plastic heads, allowing me to easily mount the bag to the storage box in the down tube and the accessory mounts on the top tube. It was easy to reach into the bag and screw the bolts in — no tools required. There are still two straps on my bag to secure the front end around the top tube and down tube. Because of the shock’s position on the seat tube, there’s no connection between my bag and the seat tube.
My bag features robust zippers on both sides, with a narrow side pocket on the left-hand side and access to the main bag on the right-hand side.
Out on the trail with the Rogue Panda Frame Bag
By adding this frame bag to my Trailcat, I hope to haul my heaviest gear — mainly food — more securely and with less bouncing. As I’ve experimented with loading the bag, unfortunately, I’ve found that I can’t fit quite as much food as I’d hoped, but that comes from being 5′ 7″ and riding a size medium frame. But whatever space is available in the frame, Rogue Panda maximizes it. While it might have been easy for Rogue Panda to cut the bag straight up from the downtube to the toptube due to my vertical shock design, the bag actually angles up into the corner of the toptube and the seattube, making the most of every available cubic inch.
After stuffing the bag full of food, the robust zipper confidently secured all of that gear inside. Rogue Panda carefully chose the #10 YKK molded tooth zipper, one of the most robust zippers on the market, for their frame bags. I’ve had a frame bag zipper fail before, so I appreciate this robust part spec. But it does come with a downside: the zipper isn’t waterproof. “We’ve chosen non-waterproof zippers because they have incredible durability, and there aren’t any coated zips on the market that match these,” writes Rogue Panda.
I also appreciate the thin side pocket — a $30 upgrade over the standard frame bag. It’s perfect for a map, cell phone, or just about anything you might need to access in a hurry.
After an overnighter in the big mountains and a few days ripping around my local rock-strewn trails, I’ve found the Rogue Panda frame bag to ride confidently and securely, even when stuffed to the max. The bag is wide enough that it allows me to pack it plenty full, but it’s not so wide and floppy that the bag bulges and negatively impacts my pedal stroke. It’s the perfect blend of size and form factor.
Pros and cons of Rogue Panda Frame Bag
Pros
- Available for every bike
- Extremely customizable
- Easy to install
- Robust construction, especially the zipper
Cons
- Not waterproof
Bottom line
It’s clear why Rogue Panda has 12,700 satisfied customers: they’ll make a bag for any bike in existence. The bags are extremely customizable — forget boring black — and they’re robust and well-designed.
Really, what more can you ask for in a frame bag?
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