Have you ever fumbled and struggled with remounting a saddle bag after a trail-side repair? Or, while getting ready to do said trail-side repair, had to completely empty it to get to the item you need? I know, first world problems, right? Well, you’ll suffer no more with Redshift Sports’ new Quickdraw Saddle Bag.

(Photos / Ron Frazelle)

The new Quickdraw Saddle Bag is built around solving exactly those types of problems. The bag’s biggest selling point for me is the magnetic mounting system. It’s paired with a single strap that stays attached to your saddle rails.

This system lets you detach or reattach the bag with one hand while the other holds your bike. No more unthreading straps or wrestling with buckles on the side of the road.

Not Discipline-Specific…

That header was kind of a joke… kind of.

The bag will work great across road, gravel, mountain, and commuter bikes. And, since it mounts to the saddle rails rather than the seatpost, it’s fully compatible with dropper posts and suspension seatposts.

Don’t fret if you ride multiple bikes; a second strap ($19.99 USD) is the ticket. The second strap will let you swap the same bag between your bikes without any fitment or reattachment hassle.

The Inside of the Bag is My Favorite

My typical saddlebag contents: I carry a small pump on the bike.

Inside, the bag opens like a suitcase. I actually find this very refreshing. This means your tools and tubes stay where they’re supposed to and don’t tumble out when you unzip it.

The high-visibility interior lining helps you spot your gear quickly (seriously, every black bag should have a non-black interior). I run mine with a tire plug kit, a multi-tool, an electric inflator, and a chain plier/tire lever tool, and sometimes, an occasional Clif Bar,

All cinched up and ready to close up

With my snack inside.

And a convenient, dedicated neoprene pocket keeps your multitool or other small items. Keeping things organized and separate is kinda my jam when it comes to bags like this. And this one is well done!

The small size weight…

… and, my Ornot saddlebag weight. Although not apples-to-apples, I thought you might like to know.

What Size Will Fit What?

The biggest difference between the two sizes is the thickness. You’ll find that the smaller size is a little too thin for some inner tubes, and other bulky items. The picture above shows the small bag with a Tubolito S Gravel tube rolled up (which RedShift says should fit) – you could make it fit rolled up like this, but it wouldn’t be ideal. In order to make it fit better, you’d have to unroll it and ‘fold’ it to better fit the shape of the bag.

The specifications below are from the Redshift website:

Small:

• Internal Dimensions: 120mm x 80mm x 50mm (.48 Liters)
• Weight: 106g
• Capacity: road and narrow tire gravel, specific examples include:
  • 700 x 43 TPU tube, electric pump, mini tool, tire levers/tire plug tool
  • 700 x 50 TPU tube, mini tool, tire levers
  • 29 x 2.4 TPU tube, mini tool, compact tire levers
  • 700 x 43 Butyl tube, mini tool, compact tire levers
  • 700 x 50 Butyl tube, compact tire levers

Medium: 

• Internal Dimensions: 120mm x 80mm x 65mm (.66 Liters)
• Weight: 114g
• Capacity: MTB and wider tire gravel, specific examples include:
  • 29 x 2.4 TPU tube, mini tool, 2 x CO2, compact tire levers
  • 29 x 2.4 TPU tube, mini tool, electric pump
  • 700 x 50 Butyl tube, mini tool and tire levers OR 2 x CO2s
  • 29 x 2.4 Butyl tube, mini tool

Medium size weight without strap

First Impressions

Zach and I have had these bags for a month or so. And we both agree, it’s one of our new favorite small saddle bags. I’ve used it mostly on my gravel bike, but have run it on my MTB occasionally as well. While on my MTB, the dropper worked like a charm; I don’t have the bag loaded down with nonsense, but still, the dropper ran as it normally does.

On my gravel bike, it effortlessly stores the few things I would normally shove in a saddlebag. The size of the small bag was a little misleading. It looks really small, but holds a surprizing amount of bike bits.

Just to test the limits of the bag’s storage capacity, I did try to shove some winter gloves in there with my normal gear. I was not successful.

Installation, Step 1

Installation, Step 2

If overstuffing is a thing you normally do with saddle bags, then the Quickdraw medium size would be better for you. The Quickdraw saddle bag comes in two sizes: small (106g) for road and narrow-tire gravel, and medium (114g) for mountain biking and wider-tire gravel setups.

Installation, step 3

Magnetic for the Win

The game-changing feature of the Redshift Quicksilver saddle bag is the mounting system. The fact that the strap stays put on your saddle is where the magic happens. The saddle bag itself is very well made and understated in its appearance.

It is so easy to attach the bag back under the saddle, and the additional security of the surrounding strap keeps things tight and quiet. I think the micro-engineering that created the rotating rail mounts on the strap is genius. The way they rotate to fit whatever saddle rails you’re rocking is really cool, and it makes the strap so easy to use.

That rotation is critical due to the differing rail geometries that the bag will encounter. On saddles with longer exposed rails, it will mount to the flat parallel rails along the bottom. On saddles with shorter rails, and/or on seatposts with bulky protrusions (SRAM AXS dropper post batteries, setback posts, etc.), you will have to mount the clips on the vertical, angled sections of the rails. These are usually also angled apart slightly, which means the clips have to angle out as well.

Initially, you might find it a bit challenging to get the clips and strap to stay in place on the angled section of the saddle rails, but we’ve found that after a week or so, the clips develop a bit of memory and it stays in place better to make it a cinch to install or remove the bag.

In Conclusion

I would recommend this bag system to anyone who rocks a saddle bag on their steed. It’s intuitive, unique, and well-crafted. Not to mention it’s reasonably priced.

I would very strongly suggest that you get the extra straps if you have more than one bike – that would make swapping a single saddle bag between bikes a 5-second process, instead of a drawn-out ordeal when you’re trying to get out the door to ride.

Redshift Sports has a reputation for thinking outside the box and designing some really high-quality, innovative, versatile, and unique bike bits. The new Quickdraw Saddlebag system is no different. And for $70, you can’t miss.

Quickdraw Saddle Bag Retail & Detail

Retail: $69.99 (both sizes), $19.99 (extra strap)

• Weight: 106g and 114g
• Material: abrasion-resistant fabric with reflective elements
• Durable weather-proof zipper and construction

Both saddle bag sizes are backed by a lifetime warranty and a 90-day risk-free trial. So, what are ya waiting for? Get your own, or click the link below for more details.

RedShiftSports.com