Alchemy Goods (Ag) cycling bags – First look
Made from recycled inner tubes and seatbelts
Published:
As the name suggests, Alchemy Goods – or as their logo has it, Ag – specialise in turning something worthless into something valuable. In this case, old bike inner tubes and car seatbelts into cycling bags and accessories.
Why bags? Inner tubes are waterproof, durable, stain-resistant and, according to Ag, “develop a finish over time that gives them the soft feeling of a fine Italian leather”. And seatbelts are ideally suited for use as shoulder straps – after all, that’s what they’re designed to do in a car.
The Seattle-based company get old tubes from US outdoor chain REI and local bike shops, and scour car junkyards for belts. Unlike some recycled goods, the finished products are premium items, handmade in the USA and with pricetags to match – £75-£125 for the bags.
Each product is unique, with inner tube logos and even puncture patches clearly visible, and valve stems used as zip pullers. As well as backpacks, courier bags, laptop sleeves and even handbags, Ag also sell inner tube belts and wallets; check out the image gallery for more details. The company now have a dedicated UK website, www.agbags.co.uk, in addition to their US site, www.alchemygoods.com.
Authors
James Costley-White is the editor of Mountain Biking UK (MBUK), the UK's best-selling mountain biking magazine, founded in 1988. James, often known as JCW, has been an avid mountain biker since 1992, during which time he's amassed a huge amount of knowledge about the sport and masses of riding experience. He can regularly be found riding the trails around Bristol and south Wales. As well as editing MBUK, JCW contributes regular product reviews and other articles to the magazine. He's a fully-qualified professional journalist, certified as a senior reporter by the National Council for the Training of Journalists (NCTJ) and holds a postgraduate diploma in journalism from Cardiff University's School of Journalism, Media and Culture. As well as heading up MBUK, he's worked for other cycling titles including BikeRadar.com, ChopMTB.com and Triathlon Plus magazine, along with the Bristol Post, Western Daily Press, Gloucestershire Echo and Gloucester Citizen newspapers.
