Bikepacking - a viable alternative to racks & panniers

How i'll be rolling in france this year

Bulky light things in the saddle bag.

I might order a blackburn cargo cage for under the down tube

Ta very much - will email Restrap and see what their price is, in that case. Wasn't aware Ortlieb had a frame bag out yet so will check that out too.

Looks good, where and when are you going?

I'm thinking TT style bottle mounts on the rear of the saddle, probably make my own full frame bag, small ortlieb's out front and a specialized Pizza bag.

End of October, probably Roscoff to Santander. I personally don't like the pizza rack for panniers, I've toured with high mounted ones before and it makes you more unstable, hence why I switched to a surly 24 pack and low riders

Restrap said no to making custom frame bags, in case anyone was interested...

Lazy bastards.

Wildcat stuff is good, know a couple of people with custom frame bags and they'd very happy with them.

Was about to look at Wildcat but their website was being a bit slow - will check them out.

I'm wondering if the Alpkit ones can be that bad though, they seem to be half the price of all the competition (maybe just a case of you get what you pay for!)

Alpkit stuff is made in China, whereas some of the other big names in bikepacking are more local. I've never had an issue with Alpkit stuff, though I've not used any of their bikepacking bags.

Their framebags are made in house to order though I think.

They're making more and more of their bags in the UK now.

yeah pretty sure alpkit custom bags are made in uk, when I spoke to restrap about custom frame bags at bespoked this year they were tentative about them. I think since measurements are so specific etc and they can be a faff to make exactly how someone wants them it can be hard to actually charge how much they need to to make it viable for them (this opinion is 100% from my head and not based on anything but speculation). I suppose maybe because alpkit is a bigger operation and they are seen as more of a budget brand then it's not as big of a deal to them.

@RankinJ this is misinformation, apologies. Custom full frame bag is £110.

Measurements can be done with carboard cutouts carefully.

I won't comment on the quality of the other companies kit. The Restrap stuff is very good though and well tested.

https://reveal.bikepackingsecrets.com/main

Lolwat

Never Before Has This Much Bikepacking Information Been Compiled In One Place

They're clearly not following this thread then?

Of course someone tried to commercialise it..."secrets" lol

Well, they're not secret any more.

Retro bike packing will be all the rage soon.

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Wow how do you get those funny looking bags to hover like that?

Amazing innit.

I have these things called pannier racks. Panniers are a viable alternative to the viable alternative to panniers. I think.

alpkit stuff id proper budget, i'd steer clear.

IF restrap won't do a custom bag, TM said above they will. Go to wildcat. They stuff is top notch too. And beth is friendly and will make what you want. They're different to restrap in materials used. My restap bag has been bang on and not had an issue with it, good quality.

Which Drybag if Alpkit is naff? 13L.

hahaha rep

It's cheap so it sucks

... Alright