I just splashed out on a straight cut framebag for the new hardtail.

I've had various bags over the years, all of which had velcro straps of some description. Opted for a shock cord / drawstring attached to the top tube this time (mainly as I thought it looked nice and might make the zip last longer).

Anyway if you've had a similar bag for a while how do you find the frame rub?

I'm historically lazy at bothering to helitape frames, but when I have 3x strips where the straps lie does the trick. I'm wondering if I'm going to have to tape the whole top tube or if the frame rub is more negligible as the load is spread out.

Thoughts / personal experience I voted please

Ive got one but im afraid I had the frame 3m taped when brand new....so I haven't noticed any issue.

The cord is tiny and i never noticed movement so id be inclined to say it's better than a velcro-strap solution.

I had one on the Straggler and I didn't bother wrapping the top tube. No significant rub that I can see but it always had full length mudguards so not mud getting sprayed up there. The same bag is now on my Stormchaser and I've ended up wrapping in vinyl film, just 'cos it's thin alloy instead of nice thick steel!

The cord and straps hold the bag really firmly so little wiggling around.

Ok, this is good news so far. I'll wait and see what the fit is like.

The frames a nice Matt finish so any tape is going to really stand out.

I think you can get matt heli tape, and if it's thin stuff then it'll probably look OK...?

You
I've got a wildcat one. 2nd one actually, as the first one got eaten by a very large rat. Anyway, I love the fact the zip doesn't get strained however, the tt does need to be taped as I have a bit of a groove in the paint on the very end of front of the tt where the tape was 10mm or so too short.