Bikepacking - a viable alternative to racks & panniers

The rating is a limit, not a guide. 90PSI sounds bloody uncomfortable for days in the saddle. I don't find I get much pressure loss unless it's over months, but that's probably cos i run them tubeless.

I don't have them at 90PSI by the way. I just wrote that so people knew the limit.
I tend to get a fair amount on other bikes. All running tubes. Cheap tubes maybe?!

Think it really depends on the rubber compound. Those Clement XPlors lost a lot of air when I first set them up tubeless (they aren't supposed to be used tubeless), added some more stans fluid and after a week or so, they stopped losing air. Quite a few bubbles on the sidewalls where the fluid had been seeping through.

Rack mount, like this, in the front brake hole, wrapped in an innertube.

no more bag-sag.

(or just ditch bikepacking and get a rack because its better)

Neat idea, as long as there's little weight on there.

The one that comes with a Soma rack is pretty burly. You'd have to be really overfilling a 20l bag with waterbottles or something to bend it.

Interesting, so it's a proven thing?

Look like I mention the wrong one, it's the £50 one, the Kowari

https://www.alpkit.com/products/kowari

Could be better but my polish one have yet to arrived before I went off so end up having to order that one in an emergency.

Either way, pretty happy with its simplicity and for a couples days of light touring in hostel/b&b.

ya. I did it.

Just fitted the Porcelain Rocket Albert to my bike in preparation for the Highland Trail Race end of May. Great design, easy to install, and feels really solid.

looks good. smart using the rail clamp.

Scott is definitely still leading the way in terms of bikepacking bags! :)

Im vaguely planning a trip in the summer and the price of all the kit is a bit of a stumbling block. Anyone had experience with these saddlebags from AliExpress? Can't imagine the quality is great but at around £20 for the basic one and £35 for the supposedly waterproof one, perhaps it's worth a punt?

http://s.aliexpress.com/bEFfQJ7r

I'm in the same boat. I bought a metro porteur rack which for £30 I was pleasantly surprised at - fits the Straggler with minimum fettling and will take a 20l dry back with some webbing straps to hold it in place. Just need to get about 10-15l more storage so was looking at Blackburn outpost seatpost bags. I'm inclined to assume they're worth paying twice what those roswheels are but would be interested to know if that's true.

My fork doesn't have a brake hole, but neat idea. I would consider rack if i were carrying this stuff more often, but it's mainly a road bike and i do one-nighters once in a while when i'm not too busy with dad stuff

e: though i could go with something minimal like this:

I've got the waterproof one on order. I'll let you know if it's any good.

To be fair, they look really good for the money. You'd probably struggle to make one yourself for £18..... Even if you had a sewing machine driving license

I got one of those off eBay. The holes are too small and don't line up with the canti studs on my frame. Fixable, but sligthly annoying.

Agreed. His rolltop framebags are wonderful too. The amount of thought, and research is one aspect that makes them great, and the quality of the sewing on this seatpack is way better than other brands I've tried.

It's the little things, like you can tighten the straps on this bag while you're on the bike, just reach behind you and pull. Such a neat idea.

Did 80 miles, mostly off road with some really rough descents yesterday, this bag did not move at all. Gives me confidence it will survive the Highland trail race, unlike me.

He's one of the few people I've encountered in the bag making world who never rests on his laurels and is just happy to keep on churning out the same products. He never stops looking for ways to improve things and make them work even better.
Good luck on the HTR...are you posting a kit list? I love kit lists and bike setup posts! :)

yeah, I'll post something in the next week or so. I'll start riding fully loaded and kit testing next weekend I expect.

Which GPS did you use for the tour divide btw? And are you still using the same one?

I used my Garmin 800. It is not perfect, but all Garmins are shit in some sense. It crashed once and I lost ~8 miles before I noticed, and I didn't backup the activities or save to the SD card (duh), and it auto deleted day 1 to make space for new data. Lessons learned and that wont happen again. I got my day 1 data from Morgan, seeing as we rode side by side most of the day...

Yes, I'm still using the same device, and I just got another 800 on eBay for cheaps as a backup for HTR.

I have tried a Dakota 20, but the are a bit weird and bulky and I hate the mount and the fact you have to secure them with a lanyard in case they fly off on some bumpy trail. Happened to a guy I was riding with on Tour Divide, coming down the singletrack after Breckenridge, his flew off, and he spent ~2 hours looking for it!

I've been deliberating what to go for. I see loads of people still using the etrex, but the fact you can't charge them from a dynamo if you don't want to use AA's is a bit off putting. But then I keep reading in reviews of newer Garmins that the battery life is only around 5-6 hours if you're using navigation mode, which is the main function I want. So I'm guessing it would mean having them on near constant charge?

Unlike many others I like my garmin 800, and so far has never crashed on me. I'm not really interested in recording what I do, just the navigation. Navigation is good so long as you preload the route, I've always found the inbuilt navigation a bit cautious to take busier roads