Bikepacking - a viable alternative to racks & panniers

So after encountering the common problem of wanting to stuff everything and the kitchen sink into my homemade frame bag and thus making it very difficult to zip up. I thought I'd try my hand at a full frame bag with roll top closure borrowing heavily from Porcelain Rocket's Orbiter bag. This was the most time consuming bag I've ever made, partly because I also put a pocket with a concealed zip on the other side, but I'm really happy with the result.

2 Attachments

I've also made a 'stem cell' or feed bag style bag and tentatively put up a thread in classifieds to see if anyone wants to buy any from me to save me from getting hit by a car recovery stage/unemployment boredom.

1 Attachment

Bags look great!
Where did you get/what material are you using? I've been thinking of making some myself.
(good luck on the recovery too)

Thanks, the black cordura used for lining I bought from a UK website which was called point north if I remember and the camo stuff came from a market in Cambodia. I lived there for a couple of years and just about every town market in the country sells camo clothing, strangely enough a lot of it is korean surplus.

Hmm, a trip to Cambodia seems a bit excessive for a few meters of fabric! Point North looks like just the job though. Thanks!

You can't beat the look of a fully kitted out bikepacking bike! :)

Thanks, it's nowhere near as slick looking as your English cycles rig though!

Easier to achieve when you design the frame and the bags. :)

Did Berlin to Rome this year with 3 mates - 1864km / 16890m elevation on 48/17 singlespeed. Bikepacking setup consisted of restrap saddle bag and sleeping bag strapped to the handlebars. Couchsurfed all the way so didn't have to bring a tent which makes it all quite a bit easier. Couldn't be happier with the saddle bag, will probably add a small restrap frame bag in the future...
Getting up the dolomites was actually "easier" than going down some of the steeper downhills at the end of a long day... Thinking about doing Berlin to Barcelona next summer along the atlantic coast and through the pyrenees - any recommendations on the way?

1 Attachment

Epic for sure.
Downhill with brakes was hard?

Mostly how much you have to stay focused on the road when all you can think about is pizza and lambrusco...

Gotcha

Bags for Front Rack (porteur style) - what are my options?

What's the consensus of saddle pack vs frame bag, and which one is best value?

planning on riding to Cornwall after Christmas over 2-3 days, credit card touring, so don't need a load of stuff, so plan to pack pretty light, but don't really want to carry a bag on my back!

thinking shorts, t-shirt and down jacket plus standard bike spares!

I prefer saddle pack because framebags interfere with my knees but they need to be tightly packed to not sway around so getting stuff regularly in and out is a no go.
Seatpack for overnight stuff.
Framebag for food and often accessed stuff.

Saddlepack for light big stuff (ie. down jackets, sleep kit, etc)
Framebag for heavier more often accessed stuff - electronics, food, sunscreen (lol), some tools, etc

Depending on when you're going you could borrow some of my kit, I'll not be able to ride over xmas/ny much.

Mack or ILE. The Mack is simple and nice and he'll do custom sizes if you ask nicely. No handles make it a bit weird carrying it off bike. ILE is well made with loads of small pockets and 'features'. Easy to carry. It's quite wide though, if your using drop bars you wont have much room left for shifting.

Anyone want a 20l Speshy Burra Burra for £50? Used once to transport some flip flops across London's famous London.

The pizza bag?

My bad, should have specified. The saddle bag.

This made me chuckle. From the bicyclepubes instagram account. Could be good for GT frames

1 Attachment

I’ve got a Planet X frame bag and it’s around 2 inches too long. Is there a magic simple way to shorten it or is it an unpick and re sew option only?

Take it to your local taylor / dry cleaner and ask?

I saw an article somewhere about some bags-

The general concept was a polycarbonate plate that mounted to the fork legs, then the bags strapped on to the plate. Don't suppose anyone knows the brand?

http://www.freeparable.com/gorillaclip

Gorilla clip?