Bikepacking - a viable alternative to racks & panniers

great report, brings back memories! cant wait to do this again.. nice bike too!

Need to track down a shop in the Midlands that sells something like this though - a recce of Brum's bike shops has drawn a blank, it appears bike packing hasn't made it to the Midlands yet.

Discovered that the Alpkit factory is an hour's drive away so will probably go there. From reading the last 10 or so pages it appears though that some people haven't had good experiences with Alpkit ? Thinking of either the 3L Kowari or the 8-13L Koala

Inspired by some of the DIY in this thread I tried my hand at making a little top tube bag. £5 worth of cordura, £1.10 for a zip and £1 of velcro. Its quite uneven and a bit asymetrical, but works fine really (except it wont be waterproof whatsoever). Happy with it for a first attempt:

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Thanks!

I've no doubt it's possible on a cross bike, I saw a chap coming the other way at one point on one, but I'm not sure how much fun it would be. Coming from a mountain bike background, before moving to road bikes later in life I've been puzzled by the cross bikes for anything other than racing cross or winter commuter if I'm honest. That's just me though, my wrists are accustomed to suspension of some form when it gets lumpy.

My bike was certainly slight overkill for the downs, but it's my only mountainbike and what all my bikepacking gear is orientated around. It also eats up flinty, gravelly descents without batting an eyelid. Much fun and very confidence inspiring even fully laden.

Tarp set up was a cheap thing off Ali Express, I'll try and find a link later. Used a small ground sheet as well so just like a small tent, just no inner and no poles to carry. Not sure how it would hold up in any serious weather. I managed to get everything connected to sleeping in the 13l dry bag up front (tarp, groundsheet, thermarest, sleepingbag travel pillow and pegs/guy line bits). I'd probably take my hammock if it was warmer, however there are not many woods on the second half which could have been interesting.

Looks good. How pro is your sewing machine? Wondering if I can convince my misses she needs a new project.....

Low res photos make it look much better than it actually is :)

I've honestly no idea. Its about 30-40 years old and the needle has likely never been replaced. Seems fine even with 3 layers of fairly thick fabric though

The side says 'Brother Celebrity 10' if that means anything to anyone

Great write up, looks like a fun weekend. Do you think it would be possible on a cross bike?

I've done it in a day on a traditional cantilevered cross bike. I'd say the perfect bike for it would be a monster cross thing with disc brakes.

Plenty of options for some more interesting descents off the ridge, particularly towards the eastern end. You'll be adding even more elevation though!

Can anyone recommend a good bag for drop bars?

My other half needs some luggage & snack capacity on an overnighter, so I'd like to get her a bar bag for food/essentials and a seatpack. Alpkit's stuff is the cheapest I know of - unfortunately I don't have the budget for Apidura or Revelate. Any other bags I should look at?

(I should say that her frame is super small so a frame bag of meaningful capacity is probably out of the question)

And @Scrabble that looks really awesome, I love your camping setup!

I like the smaller saddle bags from Carradice on the front, the zipped roll works quite well.

Can you waterproof cordura with wax? I;ve been meaning to have a pop at something similar myself but I'm not sure on the best fabric to start with.

Oh that's nice, thanks. Dunno why I didn't look into Carradice properly. Definitely up her street as far as style goes, too!

Not sure. I've read that anything sewn can never be 100% waterproof, because by nature youre putting a 'shitton' of holes into it (technical term). If you don't have much experience with sewing I wouldnt worry about waterproofing to start. I used a waterproof zip and waterproof fabric, but the seams are so badly done that it would fill with water pretty quickly. Getting even seams in corners is much more difficult than I anticipated

TLDR: maybe

I suppose you'd have to have taped seams for it to be waterproof - maybe a duct tape lining would work? (if that's a good idea, i'm serious. if it's stupid, i'm joking).

Quality write up. Looked like a fun trip. How fat are those tyres? Bike looks ace btw.

3.0. I'm a complete convert to plus tyres in anything other than a mud fest. I don't get to ride as often as I'd like, but this bike handles like a trail bike but with sooo much grip. On gravel or hard pack it just rips and makes me look a much better rider than i am.

Cool. Looks ace.

Do you have more pics of the bike? What is it?

I like this little fella - works on my feebly small frame as well.

https://www.ortlieb.com/en/Accessory-Pack/

Did 600k over Christmas in France with 13L seat post bag.

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Has anyone got some helicopter tape? Possibly close to N5.. leaving tomorrow evening and won't have time to buy online

Interesting comparison between pannier and bikepacking setups for the aeroz benefits:

http://www.cyclingabout.com/speed-difference-between-panniers-bikepacking-bags-aerodynamic-testing-results/

6.5-8.5% difference over 100km or 12-17 minutes at constant speed/wattage.

@hippy was having an argument over twitter about this

It was hardly an argument.

Someone picks an example of a huge, stuffed-for-display, saddle pack and suggests panniers would be better. Panniers have their place but so do saddle packs. No sane person would pack their saddle pack like the one in the picture so their arguing against it was pretty pointless. Panniers are shit for off-roading, heavier and less aero. They do allow you to carry more stuff and maintain better bike handling and they can be turned into backpacks conveniently, great for touring. Each has it's place but picking extreme examples of either to justify the other is stupid.

#hippyisalwaysright

panniers are also good to carry beer