Bikepacking - a viable alternative to racks & panniers

Weight of stuff for me is meaningless. I'm >90kg riding a massive steel 29er.

My OMM rack is cheaper but weighs maybe 1-150g more than the whole setup here.

But the "pack" will depend on what you put on it. So, if you were carrying fuck all, it could be argued that my setup is lighter. On the other end of the scale, I can carry more than the Aeropack, ~30kg with the axle mounts so there's that.

https://oldmanmountain.com/product/divide-bike-rack/

The Ortlieb Quick Rack, which I also now own (ffs) weighs half as much as the OMM but doesn't have the flat top plate so you'd need to find a hard-based top loader bag or add some rigid plastic before strapping on a dry bag.

https://bikepacking.com/gear/ortlieb-quick-rack-review/

Quick access items go up front anyway so the whole top loader thing seems a bit pointless to me.

So the game is: beat this price and weight with same functionality using non-proprietary parts…

Caveats, this is very US focused kit but that's what I picked up (not in the picture above). Can certainly go lighter with other dry bags and doesn't meet the same functionality criteria.

Tumbleweed Mini rack (560g/£115), or the T (500g)
ROK straps, (30g/£15)
Rogue Panda Gila Dry bag, (160g/£40)
IKEA Cutting board, (20g, £1)

TOTAL: 770g / £171

The alloy tailfin with top bag is £380 and over a kilo depending on config. Don't think it works with a dropper either.

You could probably get a Tubus rack (600g) and Ortlieb RC Trunk Bag (800g) reasonably close in weight and at a much lower in price.

I doubt you're going to win this one unless you can get some second hand bargains.

People don't want to admit it but tailfin exists for a reason, and that reason is that people are willing to pay money to save meaninglessly low amounts of weight.