When we spotted Caleb Petersen’s epic Kona Explosif Bike Packing setup on San Util Design’s Instagram we knew we had to share it with you! Ignoring the insanely rad bike, we just had to know more about the super colorful bags so we reached out to Adam at SanUtil to find out more. “Caleb was an employee of mine over the summer and his personal project after hours was coming up with a bike packing set up for the fall. The quilted look was his creative take on what a sweet bag setup would look like.”
Caleb gave us the lowdown on how the Esplosif for trips “In the Panniers, I store clothes, my sleeping bag, and a stove. then in the frame bag, I have a rain jacket and snacks. The handlebar bag is home to patch kits, tubes, a multi-tool, and my phone, I strap the tent to that as well. And I bring my Nalgene and any extra food that I need in the bottle holsters.”
We just love that Adam gave Caleb free rein of the workshop to come up with this amazing technicolor dream bag setup and we wanted to know a bit more about Adam and his Colorado-based San Util operation.
“I started San Util in 2021 after a few years of learning to sew on some personal bags. Slowly more and more buddies wanted bags and I was having a hard time keeping up. I decided to drop one day a week at my day job and devote it to sewing and building the brand. After a few months, I ran a Kickstarter campaign and raised enough money to move into a real workshop, quit my full-time job, and focus on continually growing San Util. This was all over the course of about three years.
This past May we took another step in our story and moved into a new space on Main Street in Winter Park, Colorado. We now have a small team of people sewing and building bags in our workshop/retail space and are loving it. Back when I was starting what is now San Util I wanted to focus my brand on something I care a lot about, healthy spaces and boundaries. San Util (indirectly) means “without satisfaction” and it is a reminder that life isn’t supposed to be and won’t always give satisfaction. Too many times I get wrapped up in the end goal and what it is supposed to feel like that I forget to enjoy the peaks and the valleys through the journey.
Today we sew over 20 different templates of bags. We work with customers on custom frame bags, and people can pick their colors for hip packs, panniers, tool rolls, and many other products that we have designed, tested, and manufactured here in Winter Park. We’ve got a 400sqft retail space in the front of our production space and folks are encouraged to come in, look at the fabrics, and design their bag over some coffee or beer.”
Want to see your Kona bike packing setup featured here and on our social media channels? Just submit your bike via email to unpacked@konaworld.com with a full set of photos (the more the merrier) of your bike and a write-up letting us know what goes where. If the photos pass our quality control, not only will your bike get featured, but you will receive a an exclusive UNPACKED patch, it doesn't matter where you are in the world!
