Bikepacking - a viable alternative to racks & panniers

True if you haven’t a French colleague in the office that can book in advance any damn restaurant/bar/cafe for you in real time 😁

France has the worst food in Europe imo.

You've never been to Montenegro then?

I think France is worse, because there's an expectation it should be good and it's either shit or doesn't exist/never opens.

"oh I'm sorry sir, the kitchen is only open from 19:17 to 19:19 on the 3rd Tuesday of every second month, we have terrible coffee though if you would like that instead?"

I have actually and it was still better than France. Everywhere open pretty late too.

I think France is worse, because there's an expectation it should be good and it's either shit or doesn't exist/never opens

100% this. Also, hardest place to be vegan
I’ve found.

But croissants... And Jambon Fromage baguettes!

DONE!

Cheers. I have cooking kit so that seals it. I’ll bung a rack on and run 2 x 30l panniers and the fork bags.

Maybe they're better now, but the liquid stove I had 20 years ago was a bit of a pain to get the pressure up. Canisters are widely available, work well, and are easier to to travel with provided you can get canisters after your flight. Maybe if you're doing massive tours across Central Asia or something the liquid might be better?
Primus, jetboil, MSR all popular here in NZ.

These look a bit weird, but seem light and easily packed.
https://www.purestep.co.uk/
Not hideously priced either.

Anyone doing Jennride next weekend?

There are a few examples of people added a bottle cage mount onto a rear rack to either take additional water bottles, or in my case to add a couple of fork bags on the rack to provide additional carrying capacity without using panniers). Has anyone any experience of using rivnuts and the best ones to use?
EDIT - why wouldn’t I just use a nylock nut and bolt the gorilla cage directly to the mounting plate? The back isn’t hidden or difficult to get at.

It just strap small drybags to the panniers?
I use two 8l Alpkit drybags and they're perfect. Held in place with either the standard straps, or fake Voile straps.

https://www.lfgss.com/conversations/387084/

Hopefully someone can help me or has come across the same problem - what’s the best seat pack (/system) for a small bike please? There isn’t enough room for two straps on the seatpost (there is only about 5cm showing above the frame), and there isn’t a huge amount of height between the bottom of the back of the saddle and the mudguard, so it has to come up on quite a steep angle near to the saddle.

What’s best / most stable? There are so many of them! I think it only needs to be 8-12l not 14/16. Thank you!

Barley?

Wildcat.cc always had one of the best reputations for a saddlebag with no sway. The company has changed owners a couple of times but think the designs are the same. holsters more than a self container bag with straps, and definitely small.

Other options, revelatory spinelock (if they still do them?) mechanically latches onto the saddle rails rather than just webbing, ditto for Alpkit new fangled support that adds a stiffener attached to the saddle rails.

If it hasn’t be soft webbing straps, then have a look and see what those riding full suss bikes have. Often used with a stansion protectors for a dropper, and are generally smaller and more stable as it’s assumed the bikes get thrown about a bit more!

If it doesn’t have to be a rocket style saddle bag, then a more traditional Carradice as mentioned with a mini rack is probably your best bet for volume vs depth.

Lots of tips in this article:
https://bikepacking.com/plan/bikepacking-guide-for-shorter-riders/

A basic rack with a drybag on top seems to be a popular option.

https://bikepacking.com/bikes/2023-highland-trail-550-rigs/

Isla knows.

A rack and side bags, plus small drybag on top.

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Thank you all - that is extremely helpful

Restrap bumper bar is never in stock. Does anyone make anything similar? My handlebar bag usually compresses cables to the extent that gear changing is awkward. Or maybe I can just try running the cables behind the bars/headset? Hmm.

If you have a space on your steerer. SJS/Thorn have a T accessory bar that can be used either as a mount or support to push the bag away from the head tube. Mount it under the stem, strap bag tk this and hey presto, but more space. There’s other options too for different lengths and angles if you have a browse

Source

Those are my bags and like the idiot I am there isn't a single visible label on them anywhere.