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I’ve decided to make some changes in the way obtaining Zugster bags works. Up until now I’ve been taking names down on a waiting list/build queue. And if everyone on the list followed through with an order, at the present rate it would take me somewhere between 3.5 and 4.5 years to work through that list.
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So, effectively immediately I’ll be finishing up the few custom orders that are currently in progress, and then I’ll be putting the custom-ordered Zugster queue on hold indefinitely.
Click through for more details.
I guess it was inevitable, and I’ve been lax in updating the website about it — but people keep getting in line faster than I can sew, so the inevitable happens; the wait gets longer. Realistically, it’s somewhere over 3 years now. Honestly, I’m not going to bother making estimates any longer – at that time length the variables are impossible to predict.
I thought it would be interesting to look back at 2009 and count up what I produced under the banner of this tiny business called Zugster. Here are the counts of all the bags I made in 2009, both stock and custom ordered. Its’s possible I missed one or two in this count, but not many.
Counts by Bag Type
14 – rando bags
8 – errand bags
6 – deluxe messengers
6 – standard messengers
4 – walkabouts
1 – backpack
Total: 39
I’ve decided that I will no longer offer applique’d and embroidered artwork as an option on my bags, effective immediately. The reasons for this are multiple, but the primary one is time. Zugster Bags is a part-time operation, and the artwork takes a lot of time, both to accomplish on a day to day basis, and to become really good at. What it comes down to is that I’d rather spend that time designing new bags and experimenting with new materials, not making the same thing over with different artwork – that part’s just not interesting to me. So other than a couple of orders currently in progress, no more. Anything that’s doable with a straight-stitch is still on the table – stripes and multi-color flaps, for example.
For anyone whom this disappoints, I apologize. I highly recommend Under the Weather, RELoad, Seagull Bags, and PAC as folks who can do a far better job than I could at turning anything you can imagine into high quality flap artwork.
I’ve recently received some more material, and have yet more on the way. Just arrived are more brown trim and a new purple trim color. Celery, Silver, and and Purple Cordura™ are back. Gray, yellow, tan, burgundy and red VCP for liners are also on the way. The colors page has been updated to reflect that (‘though I still need photos for the brown & purple trim).
Multicam™ camouflage Cordura™ is also available for ordering again. I will probably stock up on some of that later this summer. It costs more than twice what the solid colors do, so it will have a surcharge.
The Rando bags have proven very popular — 9 of the first 12 orders on my queue are for rando bags! SF local JimG got the first production model off the “line”, and fitted it with a really nice custom decaleur made with aluminum stock from a local hardware store. Speaking of decaleurs, the Velo Orange blog reports that decaleurs are about to go into production again, so I’ll be able to offer those pre-installed on rando bags when they’re available again.
The waxed canvas backpack I made recently has been very well received, having been blogged about twice in the 8 hours between when I posted the first photo and when it was delivered to its owner. It’s shown up on trackosaurus rex, Cycle Zine, and Bike Hugger
And if you like that, keep an eye out for the waxed canvas rando bag coming later this week.
This went out on the announce mailing list this morning. I was going to wait a few days before posting it on the website to give the patient folks on the announce list time to respond, but as they’ve already pushed the queue out to 12 months or so…
It’s that time — I’m finally ready to open up the queue for new orders. It’s been a long time coming and I thank you for your patience.
To cut to the chase – if you want to a spot in the build queue, send an email to sales@zugsterbags.com. First come, first served. There’s no deposit required. Keep reading for all the details, and news about new products below.
Last weekend I lent out the first rando bag prototype for testing, and completed a second, much larger prototype. This one is a little bit bigger than the popular (and large) Ostrich bag. Again, not for weight weenies, it weighs in at 1lb 15oz, or 880 grams.
It’s shown here attached to my Box Dog Pelican with a Velo-Orange decaleur. More details after the jump.
If you’ve visited this site before, you’ll notice that it looks completely different. Welcome to the new Zugsterbags.com! I think this is the 4th time I’ve re-designed it. For the most part, it’s structured the same as it always was, but has more room for presenting more information about the bags in a better structure, with less clutter. There are also far more images of each bag on the product pages.
Coming up – handle bar bags, panniers, and new ordering options, oh my! There’s more details on new products, new ordering options, how ordering is going to work, and when the order queue will be opened, after the jump.
If you’re thinking about ordering any tool bags or messenger bags from the Zugster Store, they must be placed by Noon, Pacific Time, on Saturday, December 20th. I’m leaving town to visit family on the 21st, so any order placed after the 20th will not ship until January 2nd.
Zugster bags has been featured in the December 2008 issue of San Francisco Magazine, along with other local San Francisco bag makers Lovelife, Ramblin’ Worker, Timbuk2 and Satchel Studio.
THE UTILITARIAN
Designed specifically for peddlers, Zugster Bags sit snuggly on your upper back, eliminating that annoying flopping factor. Owner Adam Alpern creates a custom-sewn design for each purchaser. Customers bring him ideas—a photograph of a tiger, say, or a drawing of a peace sign—that he re-creates by sewing fabric directly onto the bag. Alpern is a hobbyist with a day job, so he has only enough time to make four dozen bags a year. He’s currently booked up until the spring, so start thinking now about next year’s holiday gift list.
The Zugster Shop is open while supplies last. My stock of tool bags is all available for immediate online ordering. Makes great holiday gifts! It’s set up with PayPal ordering, which also accepts credit cards without the need to create a PayPal account.
Available Bags
Click a bag for details.
