Bikepacking - a viable alternative to racks & panniers

What Voile straps are those on top pic? Are they rack-specific straps? They would be neat

See also ROK straps.. (I use the commuter, 12mm width)
https://rokstraps.com/pages/rok-moto

In the end I resorted to the dry bag/Voile thing and used a cut up Ass Saver as a base like this (the saddle rail bit clips to the rack struts)..

Excellent, I did exactly the same with an IKEA flexible cutting board and some zip ties, total cost under £1.

https://www.ikea.com/gb/en/p/finfoerdela-bendable-chopping-board-green-bright-green-40559680/

Can't find any pictures but you can see a tiny bit of turquoise under the front of the drybag, shown also with ROK straps.

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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.

Tumbleweed Mini rack

Didn't realise these were so light. Have one in the shed that I should probably use more often.

Didn't realise these were so light. Have one in the shed that I should probably use more often.

Re-reading, they are bending the truth a little.. call it 600-650g for sake of comparision with Tailfin..

Mini Pannier Rack is strong and lightweight (around 560 grams without hardware)

Tortec Ultralite is 440g, apparently: https://www.sjscycles.co.uk/carriers-racks/tor-tec-ultralite-alloy-rear-cycle-rack-for-26-inch-700c-wheels-black/

I know. I’m waiting for the R&D division aero pack to be released, which looks much better.

The quoted weight is optimistic…..

SJS Customer Service:
Hi,

The original 400g weight listed is for the rack without any fittings, the weight on our scales including all of the supplied fittings is around 580g.

Not particularly relevant as it has no shelf but I’ve just ordered the Ortlieb Quick Rack light, I’ll weigh it when it arrives

aesthetics of tortecs are unacceptable according to the moodboard, tumbleweed just about acceptable, Tubus, perfect

Are Tortec Velocities not acceptable? (Only 38mm tyres though)

In that category Tubus fly is the winner followed by Airy

I'll be honest tubus fly looks great but it bends once loaded

I used this for a big ride this year and it worked perfectly with about 20kg.

Tortec Velocities

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fair

Can we get a thread title update to... Bikepacking - a viable alternative to swinging saddle bags?

Racks were one of the most popular things in bikepacking in 2023 afterall..
https://bikepacking.com/plog/top-12-articles-of-2023/

Tortec Velocities

Reviews on SJS suggest it's pretty tight for clearance, how has your experience been?

Saw this gizmo recently, thought it looked useful. Solves pack swing and adds bottle holders.

https://www.wohobike.com/products/xtouring-stabilizer-anti-sway

I can’t find a good photo, these are 38mm tyres.
It does sort of show the main drawback which is the rail is around 8cm above the tyre, which negates the advantage of the narrowness.
They are however only about £30 and quite light.

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I don't know what this swinging pack stuff is - my Revelate has never bothered me. Are you lot filling your saddle bags with bricks or something? I got the rack, because I have a dropper and I didn't want 3kg of sleep kit high on the bike (and plans are to go longer so capacity for future)

Love to see it. Could you share a pic in use?

I'm not sure if this is what your after, but here you go..

.. I thought it might be a bit wobbly but it's actually been rock solid. I guess whole thing weighs about 450g which, considering I'd probably put a 300g mudguard on if it wasn't there anyway, doesn't seem too bad..

I've toyed with the idea of trying something like this (also on the rack) instead..

.. but I'd probably just end up cutting the straps off and ultimately losing some storage/flexibility so would just be a vanity purchase really.

Nice. Had success with same set-up on an old Blackburn MTN rack with a wide platform.

Tailfin influencer spotted not using the aeropack... looks like a bespoke dyneema bag with top entry, might be exactly what @snoops is looking for..

More at https://bikepacking.com/plog/the-divide-film-lachlan-morton/

edit: it's somewhere in this 20 minute video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EPnYbp7DMjI

Prototype Carbon AeroPack, looks very proprietary.

I agree. The advantage of a rack seems to me just to have extra weight on there or the dropper situation.