Bikepacking - a viable alternative to racks & panniers

How did your mate with the straggler (?) fare comfort-wise on the ridgeway?

Do you mean the Bombers? Same as On One Midge, I love the shape of them.

Alpkit to release new range of bags next week, including a bar bag with an integrated holster: https://www.alpkit.com/products/tivaro-13

Looks a bit more sturdy than the previous stuff.

How did your mate with the straggler (?) fare comfort-wise on the ridgeway?

That was me. I was mostly good in terms of comfort actually, but a more upright position may have been nicer on the shoulders.

I recently put some knobbly tyres on mine but have only done about an hour of trails on it (it was actually my first time off-road - an mtbing mate has been pestering me for a while to give it whirl). I did find myself wishing for a more upright position.

I'd love a large Analoko please! Ooh er!

https://www.alpkit.com/products/analoko-large

Yep. So comfortable!

Fair enough, although I don't mind popping over to EC4R. It wasn't just postage, saves you about £13 over ordering from SJS.
Have PMd.

Can anyone recommend a route?

Want to take a train out of London sat am. Ride, camp, ride the next day. (Maybe back to London?)

Gpx route would be good

Mixture of gravel and road..

I didn't do much on the gravel side of things (a bit near Symonds Yat and Tintern Abbey, you could tweak the route to do more if you wanted) but I did a great trip a few weeks ago - train to Bristol Parkway open return (so did a modified route back the same way the next day), cycle over the Severn and up the Wye Valley and then across into the Brecon Beacons, up over Hay bluff towards Hay on Wye to camp out. Roughly reverse course the next day, taking in some of the different bits in the Wye valley.

Beautiful scenery throughout and really varied. Can dig out a GPX route when I get a chance, but I was really pleased with how well the trip went.

Would also be interested in that route wot you just said. I don't get much opportunity for overnight passes (work + 2yo = no free time) and have been trying to plan a route from Bristol for this year. What sort of distance was that and how much trafficky road vs. pleasant path/track was there?

The Ridgeway is perfect then.

Ignoring the ride to / from Paddington to get the train, it was about 75miles each day. It was mostly road rather than path / track but predominately really quiet country roads - very few segments had much traffic at all. The only bits that stand out as a bit car heavy were the route across from Abergavenny to Symonds Yat (on day 2 - the equivalent E to W route on day 1 was lovely), and the first few miles in South Wales going up from Chepstow.

Ah ok, that sounds about right. 75 was my upper limit for a pleasant day in the saddle vs being totally destroyed on the 2nd day and then having to be up at 6 looking after a child the following day! I'm in bristol, can just hop on the bike and go too.

I was definitely glad I have my mtb, 2" tyres, upright position and larger range cassette all made glad i took that over my cross bike.

@M_A_X @Landslide Interesting that you got on well with the Love mud bombers, I really didn't get on with the shape, drops are way too short. I ended up with some Ritchey VentureMax Comp Super comfy, better drop, nice position for the hoods. Of course, it's a very personal thing the shape of flared bars.

http://www.ubyk.co.uk/ritchey-comp-venturemax-bars/66507

All those things make me glad too ;)

thanks, i would love to see that route for another time

I think we're going to do south downs way, winchester - eastbourn, wild camping halfway

The very reason I bought a Genesis Vagabond over a croix de fer.

and @M_A_X

Route out for the ride I discussed above is attached - this is the GPX file of where i actually went so may be worth checking for any wrong turns before just following!

1 Attachment

• 22_04_17.gpx

Brilliant - thanks for this. I'll let you know how it goes if I end up doing it.

Any alternatives to Topeak midloaders? Can't seem to find the 4.5 litre one for a decent price. Considering travelling lighter on this year's dunrun than rack and pannier...

Get a restrap...do the measuring thing, but the small one is spot on for most things you need

Anyone had any issues w/ restrap? Have the saddlebag and handlebar holsters. The handlebar holster has never worked - the straps to tighten (like on a backpack) instantly come loose which means the stitching has started to tear, and I can only use it with bungees. Also with drop handlebars/exposed cables I managed to snap the gear cables on my most recent trip through Wales. Not sure there's a solution to that. And wondering whether it was just the particular handlebar bag i bought that was the issue rather than a design fault?
The paracord on the saddlebag holster also spontaneously snapped on said Wales trip. Was easily fixed with cable ties but no idea why it happened...don't think it was at capacity, but could be wrong.

Anyone got a Rab Altus Gillet and know what size it packs to can't find any info on it, weight is similar to the microlight bit not sure if the synthetic material makes it bulkier than the microlight?