Traffic Cone Blog

A simple carabiner from any dollar store add length the straps. Buy a quality one from a camping store for extra strength.  In the spirit of K.I.S.S. I've tried to keep the straps of the TCB's One Size Fits Most.  And indeed they do. When the bag is laid flat and the top is opened completely, the strap lengths are cut as follows: Small TCB:  54" (or about 13" exposed length) Large TCB:  56" (or about 14" exposed length) It's better that they're a bit shorter than longer, because it's a real pain to make them shorter later (the join and strap anchoring stitches have to be in just the right place, ends cauterized with a flame and stitched etc etc - all by hand). But if you want to make them longer , it's simple. Buy an inexpensive, stylish black carabiner like the ones sold at the store I worked at*. Or you can get a real el cheapo kind from $2 stores. You simply insert the carabiner between the D-ring and snap hook at the b...

You can't tell a NYer how to look fashionable in Fashion Week - it's black and black. It's Fashion Week (Sep 13-19) - everyone wants to be seen - so how come I couldn't convince Lynne to wear her TCB orange side out when biking?   "I like it black!" she says, jumping on her folding bike after coming to my Chelsea Rec yoga class then eating a killer pad thai at Cafe Zemi. Looks like you can't take the black out of the NYer ...  Fortunately, the little loop for the blinky light on the orange side is elastic and stretchy, and can be flipped over the lip of the bag to light up the black side, as she has done in the pic above.  But the bag was meant for stayin' alive, and that's what both the orange color + elastic loop for your blinky light + the optional Lightweights reflectors are for.  Read my  TCB Night Visibility  rant. The Power of Two: I put all my stuff in an inner bag - a TCB in black mode - and pop it inside the larger TCB in orange mo...

UPDATE! As of Nov 2010 the Traffic Cone Bag comes standard with this 3M Scotchlite Strip . But you can still add these reflectors for even more bling. Read on .. For those who ride at night and want more visibility than their blinky light attached to the convenient elastic loop, I carry a small supply of Lightweights Reflector  'starter sets'. These are unpackaged single sheets of 16 ovals that you can arrange however you like. Here, I've used the entire sheet to make this flower pattern. You rub each down through its paper backing oval with a fingernail. Finally you peel off the paper backing, then dry iron briefly through a sheet of baking paper. The Lightweights starter sheet I sell for $5.   I'm feeling generous and will probably throw in 2 sheets until I run out.  Presto! Stayin' alive, stayin' alive ... Of course, you can attach them to the black side instead, but why would a minimalist metrosexual want to do that? They also go great ...

So far, TCB customers have sent along plenty of shots of the bag in orange mode, but few in black mode. So I thought I'd fill the void. This shot was taken in the lobby of the Standard Hotel, Chelsea, Manhattan. The dress is a Wolford Fatal tube - the perfect travelin' gal's glamor gear - imagine the leg one very black stocking for one very corpulent person, cut with scissors at the thigh and ankle, and that's pretty much the Wolford Fatale. As you can see, the TCB in black mode blends right in. It could (should?) be teamed with this getup in the 'musette' or 'little shoulder bag' mode. "I used the musette mode when I went to the opera" ventured Melanie (above), last seen with her TCB helping out at the Bike Friday booth for Escape New York , Sep 2009 - watch for Lindsay Lauder talking about this security feature at 1:10 min into the movie on that link. A whole new version will appear 1 October 2009: an inch wider all round, 2" deeper bl...

SEE ALL REVIEWS Write your review in the Comments below. Or, you may prefer to post on the TCB Facebook Fan Page . +++ Reviews prior to 2010: September 10, 2009: Lynette, The bag I won at your generous Weekday Cyclists raffle was so appreciated by Randy, when we recently biked from Lexington MA to (almost) Boston on their wonderful bike trails. She was so pleased with the design, workmanship, and usefulness. - Joseph Lauren Hefferon, principal of multi-award-winning Friday Friendly bicycle tour company Cicilsmo Classico , says: Ciao Lynette. I have been loving your Galdown Under Napsack...whatever you call it. One of our backpacks was stolen and we needed another one to carry water and extra layers. Now I am using it to carry my laptop . I love the bright color! April 14, 2009: Danny Chiang is a New York architect, Bike Friday owner and brevet aficionado - he likes the bag in "musette" mode. "It's a New York bag!" he declares. Shot in Chelse...

Y ep, guys like it to - Doug Faunt shows off his all-matching TCB look. Best thing is, if he decided to ditch the orange jacket, he'd still be seen ... Hi TCB folks, Bicycle bags are de rigueur, clearly! Take a look at this article 1. One of my Bike Friday customers, Angelo Zinna, would love to see a picture of a dog wearing, or being carried in, a TCB for his site: http://www.pleasefeedthedog.com/ http://www.pleasefeedthedog.com/ I told him I'd ask the folks who actually bought the bag, so if you can get your schnauzer's snout artfully noosed in the drawstring neck or carrying your stuff, be my guest! cc me too. 2. I have a handful of the current design remaining before switching to a new, more waterproof, ANSI standard material I've finally managed to source, thanks to Outdoor Wilderness Fabrics in Idaho. It's more the color of fresh squeeze orange juice - um, irradiated to high heaven. Although waterproof sounds "better". you have to remember you'...

Grace Lichtenstein - cyclist, blogger and former NYT journo recently reviewed the TCB on her blog: http://www.cyclingforboomers.com/search?q=traffic+cone+bag Thank you Grace! You summed it up to a T(CB). One aspect she didn't mention was its Made-in-Americaness, for which I am very proud.  Here's why (for Fastcompany.com) I'm starting to receive emails from spambots telling me that someone in China will make similar bags for $1.28 per one hundred - about 20 times cheaper than I get them made. Tempting? Not at all. I may never get rich but I'm glad to be stimulating the local economy. Grace wows 'em at the Hudson Guild All about the TCB

Here's another cool feature of the minimalist TCB design: SECURITY. MOVIE: Lindsay Lauder talks about the TCB security feature in the Escape New York Movie (at about 1:55 min in) By unclipping one or both of the snaphooks, you can secure the bag to the leg or arm of your chair, so prevent swipe-and-grabs in bars or restaurants. Or, perhaps it enables you to keep the bag off the ground rather than swimming in spilled tequila and peanut shells (but at least it's washable). The same snaphooks are what enable you to sling it to the handlebars or elsewhere of your bike, stroller, wheelchair ... Speaking of security, remember you can wear the bag with the black pocket against your back, thus protecting your stuff.  STRAPS TOO SHORT? The bag is designed to be minimal, one size fits most - with no unnecessary clips or adjustments. If you're big across the chest and you find the straps a bit short, you can add an extender like a carabiner or two between the snap hook an...

I just returned from a Bike Friday speaking tour in Georgia , where a number of my TCB 's were bought by local commuters. From Sorella Cycling Club member Gwyneth Lodge, who hosted my Cuba talk: I have loved the bag so far! I haven't actually used it on a bike yet, but have been carrying it around anyway as a cute casual bag. My city bike/bar bike is a fixed gear, and I just rode fixed for the first time last night at the velodrome. I'm confident I can handle fixed on the streets now, so I'll be back to my usual riding around town. That's what I really needed the bag for. A new little feature for the June 2009 run: a little elastic loop to hold a blinky light. It doesn't sound like a big deal, but in this day and age of overfeaturing (like supersizing only in features, not calories), my aim is to keep things as minimal and as simple as possible. Everything you need, and nothing you don't. The light I like to use with this bag is the one that...

After numerous false starts my Traffic Cone Bag has finally gotten a green light. Traffic Cone Bag Central Making it in NYC article on FastCompany.com It's being made in the famous yet increasingly impoverished Garment District of New York City - at a non-sweatshop price. "This use to be the fashion capital of America," said Caroline, who's made clothes for some big names in couture including Calvin Klein, Baby Phat and Tracey Reese. Like many immigrants she worked her way up from scratch to supervising a large cutting room staff and knowing every computerized cutting machine in the business. Then she was laid off. "The fashion companies shipped everything offshore, fired everyone - now look what's happened." The "now look" she's referring to isn't the latest way to team a sarong with a business suit and get away with it. Caroline (left) meets my mother (right) , a veteran of the clothing business herself,  having wo...

Please go to this page:  http://trafficconebag.blogspot.com/p/about-gal-traffic-cone-bag-made-in-new.html

THANK YOU to everyone who has already requested one of my signature Traffic Cone Bags (ordering details are on that link). I'd hoped the first batch would be ready for slipping down chimneys for Xmas 2008 (black side out of course), but on receiving the first sample I noticed a couple of things that could be improved, and I couldn't resist incorporating them. As many of you know am very particular about form flattering function . Perhaps you can instead order them as "New Year's Resolution to Cycle Safely By Day and Look Drop Dead Stylish by Night" gifts. They should be ready early January now - when it's too cold for many of you to ride anyway unless you're headed for Australia, Hawaii or Texas. I hope to have some available for sale at Arizona Camp in March. I raffled off a prototype at the 5 Borough Bike Club Christmas Party in NY. It was won by an official at Bike New York, Beth Katz. She called me the following morning and said she was off to a meet...