Ouch!

[Nana8]

I have a Medium Cafe Bag with the strap and shoulder pad that came with it. I discovered, rather painfully, that I should probably look for an alternative shoulder pad to switch out with the original. It seems that with a tank top or various summer tops the original shoulder pad digs into my shoulder. No soft gripping material here. Mine has very pointy "teeth" on the underside of the shoulder pad. I thought about replacing the whole strap but mine is permanently attached on one side to the bag.

Any thoughts would be appreciated. Thanks!

[backpack]

Try to find one of those grippy sleves that bikers use to protect their pants and legs from bike chain grease.

Place on top of pointy strap, problem solved!

[Nana8]

Thank you, Backpack! Great suggestion! It shouldn't be too hard to find and there is a bike shop not far from me. Thanks again!

[backpack]

I and other Tom Bihn bike enthusiasts have been getting the idea that Tom Bihn could make a fabulous set of bike, trike accessories which would look good as stand alone bags and be sturdy.

Somebody suggested that the first accessory could be a pant/leg protector.

Dyneema is strong and lightweight and an Aplix® hook and loop closure would make it stay on.

Another model in Ballistic Nylon could be made for BMX riders.

[Nana8]

I and other Tom Bihn bike enthusiasts have been getting the idea that Tom Bihn could make a fabulous set of bike, trike accessories which would look good as stand alone bags and be sturdy.

Somebody suggested that the first accessory could be a pant/leg protector.

Dyneema is strong and lightweight and an Aplix® hook and loop closure would make it stay on.

Another model in Ballistic Nylon could be made for BMX riders.

I think that is a wonderful idea and know of a number of enthusiasts would be waiting in line to purchase QUALITY accessories.

[Nana8]

Update...

Ok, it was a great suggestion in the beginning -- the little pant leg retainer to cover the spiky shoulder "pad" on my medium cafe bag. I took my beloved cafe bag to the bike shop and was assisted by a very nice fellow who has now fallen in love with TB bags. I set my cafe bag on the counter and the fellow's eyes lit up. "Where did you get that bag?", he asked with an almost "coveting" tone in his voice. I told him, a discussion ensued but alas that was not enough. We spent about 40 minutes perusing the TB web site and I swear he drooled all over his keyboard! TB has gained a new customer! He was bowled over by the quality of materials and the workmanship.

Back to the cover for the spiky shoulder "pad" . The pant thing (I don't know what it is called) we found one that fit but didn't stay on the spikes. While carrying the bag however, it slipped off so many times I finally gave up and returned it.

It it possible to switch out the "spikes" with an absolute pad? Or, can the strap itself be replaced?

[backpack]

Slide the grippy, pointy insert all the way to the end of the strap and wear the strap bare.

It is made of seatbelt material so it should stay on contact with bare skin or light tops, especially if you wear it cross shoulder.

[Darcy]

We spent about 40 minutes perusing the TB web site and I swear he drooled all over his keyboard!

That's a great story! The strap on your bag is sewn-in, and can't really be replaced with any kind of strap we currently make. You can either cut the grippy pad off or slide it down like backpack suggested, and/or wait while we come up with some ideas for ways to wrap Ultrasuede around the grippy pad that would work (not as easy as one would think.) We can send the "strap wraps" to both you and backpack to test for us.

[Nana8]

Sounds great, Darcy! For now, I think I will just slide it down. The thought of cutting into anything on my Cafe bags causes me pain! I look forward to testing out the new covers! Thanks so very much! Liz

[Nana8]

Slide the grippy, pointy insert all the way to the end of the strap and wear the strap bare.

It is made of seatbelt material so it should stay on in contact with bare skin or light tops, especially if you wear it cross shoulder.

I think this might be the perfect solution for now. See Darcy's thoughts on a cover below.

Thanks you!!

[Darcy]

Don't be shy about sending me an email to remind me...we'll be working on it, but encouragement always helps.

[ozone]

If there's no dedicated TB solution, something like this might work (although it's probably a bit big).

https://www.crumpler.ca/flash/flash.aspx#/english/product-details/shoulder-pad-sp01a.html

[Nana8]

Thank you both Darcy & ozone! The Crumpler solution looks good but, you are right, it is a bit large, but not to be ruled out yet!