Bikepacking - a viable alternative to racks & panniers

Just use a regular rear rack and save about 100g more.

Don't know if Frankenbike would spring for a Tubus.

😬 probably not. Would attempt to weld my own though.

I actually just kept my old seatpost and will just remove the dropper if I want to go bikepacking on my MTB

seatpack turned upside down.

Or just mount a dry bag and strap it.

how are you finding the blackburn frame bag?? - im about to get one from wiggle. i like its expandable bit. mines a 20" top tube so the large looks a good fit.....

it's great tbh, no issues and I've done 2 week+ tours on it now.

Would recommend.

I have it as well and I am quite pleased with it for the money.
I would suggest upgrading the sewen velcro straps to some light weight double sided velcro.

I had one of these on sale from the tredz webiste recently, if you have a search about you can usually find a £5 off your order code too.

Haven't had a chance to use it yet but it seems to be put together right.

I’ve got a large one and like it. It’s 100% not waterproof in any way though, and it expands down a weird distance so you’re left with a bit of a gap between the bag and downtube.

thanks for all the info - shame its not waterproof - it did not say either way on the website - prob not too bothered about that though - i can wrap in tesco carriers anything thats needed to stay dry ;-)

I've often thought that this is the better way to go. If you took something like a Tortec ultralite which is only about 500g in the first place, you could just strap the bag straight onto it that would get the centre of gravity lower and you'd have a lot less hassle with the load shifting about when you are climbing. OK, so rack bags aren't cool, but there are quite a few light-weight racks that have a lot of "excess" struts that could be cut off. I wonder how much you could cut down a Blackburn EX1 rack and still have it survive?

Probably not much at all.

Me and a mate biked up to Greenman over the weekend. He opted for panniers and i went for the setup seen, with a small backpack (a mistake in hindsight).

For a ‘green’ festival i was expecting to see way more bikes to be honest. Nonetheless they put on free lockable bike storage as part of your ticket. I actually got my bike ticket signed by PSB and John Grant so had to beg for it back, of course.

The festival is just outside Crickhowell in the black mountains, South Wales. It’s a truly mind blowing setting. The ride up from Barrybados was very good. The usual 50ish miles up the taff trail, which is always a pleasure. Once you get upto Talybont reservoir you have two options, left for a 1.5km 23% downhill or right for a lovely 5.2 mile gravel track, both great. They lead to the same place on the far bank of the water and then onto Talybont on Usk. It’s 7 miles of rolling hills to the festival from there.

I think it’s a great festival to cycle to, it’s very accessible and would love to see more cyclists there next year. Hopefully i will take more pictures next year to boot, these are the only two.

Fishguard to Newport overnighter next weekend. Sustrans route 47 - Woop

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you built that quick

Haha not mine. Just the same frame. I just need a groupset though. Think I’ll go 10s sram for quick and cheap

Nothing wrong with 10s.

There seems to be some good deals on X5, I just ordered a set of new shifters for £30 and then got a long cage mech for £22.50 and a brand new SLX cassette for another £22.50

Link to the cassette? Or from eBay?
I’ve got a shifter. I think it’s X5 or X7
Brakes and cranks need to be sourced too

They've put the price up :(

https://www.merlincycles.com/shimano-slx-hg81-10-speed-cassette-49512.html

They do have Rotors for £70 though
https://www.merlincycles.com/rotor-3df-xc2-mtb-double-chainset-113696.html

The Shimano Deore M506 brakes on CRC are cheap atm

Rotors are cool but 5 bolt? I’ll buy 2nd hand and find something cheap. Think they’re bb30 also and frame is not. 1x only so no need for double

Anyone tried this from Alpkit and have anything positive to say about it.
Numo lightweight sleeping mat
With the 15% discount this weekend it seems a nice price.

mate picked one up last week when we rode through hathersage. seems happy with it. only slept on it two nights mind.

quality and size seemed good although didn't feel as tough in the hand as my thermarest

It's light, and packs down very small. I find it very comfy.
Downside, it's only air, so has very little insulating effect. Good for warmer nights, but when it's colder, go for something with a better R value. I've got an Airo for the winter.
Also, be careful how you store it. Be sure to air it to let any condensation inside it escape when not in use. Any moisture left inside can cause the materials to degrade, leaving you feeling somewhat deflated...

Got one a while back. It was absolutely great. Quite loud when moving about. Eventually developed a leak I couldn't find so I sent back to alpkit and paid a bit extra to upgrade to the cloud base which was also great, until it developed a leak I couldn't find so i sent back to alpkit, then receiving another cloud base as a replacement. There's a pattern emerging.