Repurposing My 6-Pack Carrier

A while back my wife bought me a pretty sweet leather frame cinch from Walnut Studio. According to the website, it was originally designed to carry a bike polo mallet. But the item description indicates that the cinch is useful for carrying a 6-pack from the top tube. The very first time I used the frame cinch, it was to carry a 6-pack of beer across town. This was before I had accessorized my bike with a rear rack and panniers, so it was really my only way of carrying beer. With that said, carrying beer with the frame cinch is a bit of a pain in the ass; the 6-pack has a tendency of swinging back and forth and hitting my knees while I ride. For short rides, it's not such a big deal. For longer rides, it could become a problem. So since putting the rear rack and panniers on my bike, the frame cinch hasn't gotten much use. Until now.

I've been leaving my bike locked up to the rack in front of the building every day at work. I can bring it in to my office if I so choose, but I like to leave it outside where my coworkers can see it, in the hopes that maybe I'll inspire someone else to start riding to work. The problem is that the bike rack in front of the building is somehow scraping the paint off a section of my top tube.

Ginger suggested that I cover that area of my top tube with something, like bar tape, to protect it and keep it from getting worse. And then I remembered the leather frame cinch. I strapped the cinch on to the top tube of my frame and it looks pretty good. Even better, after using it for a full week, it seems to be doing a great job of protecting my frame while the bike is locked to the rack.