Bikepacking - a viable alternative to racks & panniers

Something that sort of ties in with what Passhunter was asking earlier as well, is the public transport aspect. I've been trying to figure out some long weekend type solo missions to do this year, and I don't want to drive, but I find the train stuff awkward and I never know which lines are terrible for taking a bike on etc. A pooled resource of what works well from various places would be pretty handy, I think – could just be my own fear of trying something and it being shit though

Wow! That sounds great. Your routes are a great inspiration to me! Excited to see a website.

I often feel the same. Sadly I think that in this country, even when you think the bike/train stuff is sorted there's always a risk that you'll get screwed. You can have a space booked and find that the bike spot is filled with luggage, or on a train without booking you can find that there's 12 other people with bikes who are trying to get on at the same time.

But in the end, these problems tend not to be totally fatal, and any bike trip has a risk of things going wrong, you just have to keep your chin up.
Maybe try plotting some day rides from a station you're thinking of journeying to so you can get the hang of that train before you try and do it on a strict deadline with a week's worth of gear and accomodation pre booked.

If you want a single pretty solid suggestion, I found the train to the King Alfreds Way start in Winchester very painless.

Yeah that one is definitely on my list, I'm in Worthing so I can get to Winchester v easily and as much as the train is full of riders heading off for the SDW its not an issue with Southern carriages.

Initially I was trying to figure out how to get to Frontier 300 (I will probably end up driving to the finish and taking their shuttle, the train is ludicrously expensive and would involve travelling at peak times). I then started trying to plan something for around the Peak/Lakes/Wales etc, and I'm sure there must be good combinations of getting to Manc/Sheffield and then spurring off from there so as to leave London post-peak and arrive at X pre evening rush.

aha, fuck driving, all the routes I've done start and finish at train stations - even the one in slovenia!

The bag, length ways, is rigid due to a tent being in there, I assume the straps had loosened off. Ive got the accessory pack for the front now, which has its own straps which can be fed over the bars for more support.

I'll have to mess about with it in the next wee while, maybe get back to ya. Cheers.

I am most of the way to finishing a website where they'll be catalogued

well, this is exciting.

Does anyone use the Geosmina brand of bags?

I want to get a bigger / better fitting frame pack for commuting and one of these measures up pretty good, and they're significantly reduced compared to apidura etc.

Spanish brand. Are you in the UK? Might have dramas with import, etc if they're not already there. I looked into them a while back but never went any further than eyeballing the website.

No I’m in NZ and they’re in stock with a local retailer.

Literally half the price of an apidura

Not used either I'm afraid.

What say you, forumites?!

I am looking for the alloy tailfin rack and bag for my partner. She is attending the Montañas Vacìas route in a group of women organised by Lael Wilcox and Komoot.

Does anybody want to get rid of one or would be willing to borrow/rent out their tailfin?

Fjallraven and Specialized are making lifestyle pencil cases for your bike now. The pannier buckets look interesting.

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I want to hate it, but anything that get's people involved in bikes in OK.

Tbh it looks like the most innovative commercial idea for carrying stuff on a bike in a long time.

Bottom picture is like an outtake from a wes anderson film

I think the buckets are a great idea. A net across the top to stop stuff jumping out and some drainage holes in bottom and I think it’s sorted.

Reminds me of the kitty litter classics that are surprisingly popular in US touring circles: https://www.rei.com/blog/cycle/diy-make-your-own-bucket-bike-panniers

Yes! I made one of these out of a water jug but I messed up the attachment

I think the idea is you use a backpack inside the bucket. That way you can grab everything at once.

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Just looking and they do an option with a cover for an extra 9 quid (edit: it's 64 quid for the cover yikes!).

I think these look great, good for shopping, shoving a nice back pack in rather than having to drag a pannier around with you.

https://www.fjallraven.com/uk/en-gb/clothes/fjallraven-specialized/sf-cave-lid-pack?_t_q=Cool+cave&_t_hit.id=Luminos_Storefront_Web_Features_Catalog_Product_Domain_CommonProduct/CatalogContent_9f1b6965-a5f7-4f5c-a9fa-c5ec8de4afb5_en-GB&_t_hit.pos=4&_t_tags=andquerymatch%2clanguage%3aen%2csiteid%3a162d49d9-f0ac-4d2d-a110-e8143f6ca828&_t_id=XfHlwBS_A-ZUAGF7PvEKDQ%3d%3d

The bucket weighs 1.5kg and the pack that goes with it is like £120 :/

Yeah I've moved to looking at the hacks posted by Passhunting just above

I am much more interested in this little stem rack. Does anybody know what made that is?

EDIT: okay seems like this is going to be part of a second drop later this year as a support for a bar bag?

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