Bikepacking Check Out: Bags Edition

 For any one in the UK Weecog do some nice custom frame bags.

 Anyone in south central Colorado, check out, Oveja Negra....

 anyone in arizona check out rogue panada.

 Anyone from Canada should check out Axiom. They make some perty neat stuff, like fully water resistant gear, made out of recycled fishnets.
I got they're wedge 2.8 saddle bag, use on both my hardtail, and rigid touring rig. Fit's a ton of gear, very light, and built like a tank. The material is very abrasion resistant, took over 70km of rubbing the back tire, not even a scratch on her. Best part, very reasonable prices, and supporting a good cause/company.
"Note: Not affiliated with them in any way. I just like em' so much, there what i'll kit out for any tour."
www.axiomgear.com

 @scottlink: I second Oveja!! super rad company

 anyone in the bay area check out outershell. sicky handmade stuff and custom goodness comes in camo too

 In Canada there's Onsight bags out of Squamish and Geosmina bags which are all waterproof.

 Here's an interactive map pf local bag makers, all over the world: a href="https://bikepacking.com/gear/bikepacking-gear-map/">Map of Bikepacking Bag Makers/a>

 For the Canadians, www.porcelainrocket.com is handmade in Calgary, Alberta.

 Topeak is made in China?

 @zoobab2: not really the point. The point is to find and support local bag-makers, of which there are a many across the world.

 Also from Canada is Thief Bikepacking, hand made in Jasper Alberta. www.thiefbikepacking.com

 Here in New Zealand, check out Stealth Bike Bags

 Second that! Check out Straight Cut Design for top quality bespoke bikepacking bags made in Scotland!

 Have to get you and Andy back to Colorado!

 @Jaylynx: Yessir!

 Rockgeist FTW. Their barjam setup is so secure. I can bomb singletrack all day long and it doesn’t budge. Awesome custom frame bag too.

 Good point, removed the word "full". And agreed that the 150mm dropper with 140mm travel is likely to be ambitious for but you can also just lower the dropper as much as the set-up allows if you're just testing that waters before committing to swapping out the post. This is a Check Out and not a full review so I can't comment on the functionality while out riding yet.

 Wolftooth makes a clamp that lets you limit dropper travel: www.wolftoothcomponents.com/products/valais-25

Probably a good idea for bikepacking!

 adding air to the rear shock for long road sections turns a dually into a "soft tail", and would keep the bag from rubbing the tire on bumps or g-outs in wash crossings.

 Yup, even without dropping her post, my wifes small Liv Hail experienced lots of tire rub against the seatbag until we really jacked up shock pressure and also used a webbing cinch strap to really pull the bag up tight to the seat. No chance at all of lowering the seatpost.

 Helicopter tape solves this

 @tlilly: Wow, never heard of this stuff, thanks. Is it very difficult to remove/does it ever damage paint?

 @man-wolf: I've applied and peeled off a lot of helicopter tape and it has never removed paint but depending on the brand can leave a lot of residue that is a pain to remove. Positives outweigh the negatives at least for me.

 @McKai: Thanks a lot for the info. I'm just finally getting into bikepacking after dreaming of it for years and will be doing it on a carbon frame for now. This seems like a great solution to preventing rub.

 As an aluminum rider, I really should've wrapped my frame before putting on a top tube bag, good-bye paint!

 @tlilly: also known as 3m paint protection film

 When I go back packing, I put my tiny cookset, sleeping bag, and a puffy jacket in the seat bag. Maybe, with the bag itself, we could call it an extra 10 lbs. Compared to the weight of the rider, it's nothing.

 @pmhobson: the comparison to the rider's weight is basically meaningless. The cargo will swing and rattle in a relatively high frequency since it is much less inert than the rider.

 @martn: Every bag I've used (Revelate and Porcelain Rocket) has been pretty stable. A sleeping bag and puffy jacket aren't what I would consider to be rattling objects. The cookset goes into the bag of the bag nearest the post, so it's all pretty stable. And it's hard to image that the small amount of swing that does exist doing anything to post at all.

 Not a good idea for droppers, but not due to the weight...the stanchion of the post gets rubbed horribly, increasing friction when you want to drop it, and letting dirt and muck past the seal. I learned that lesson once, then got a $ 30 rigid post for bikepacking

 @mnorris122: Wolf Tooth Valais protects your dropper stanchion and stabilizes the seat bag.

 @pmhobson: I don't mean anything rattling inside the bag. Every dropper post I've seen has at least a tiny bit of play. Compared to the rider's mass the bag will be too light to stop the play. Instead it will induce it and make the dropper's mechanism rattle as soon as you're not seated.
I've done some experimenting with an Ortlieb seat bag. The largest of the none-bikepacking-specifics. They mount to the saddle rails with a bracket. That bracket soon started rattling, so I added strapping. I also added a little clamped collar to fix it to the seatpost. That was the result: flic.kr/p/Kcba62
There was basically no movement between the bag and the saddle. Then I started hearing and feeling the mechanism of my Fox Transfer. That wasn't nice.
I asked the guys from Fox at Eurobike what they think of big seat bags concerning the wear of the seatpost's internals and as I expected, they didn't approve it. It sure would be interesting if any dropper post manufacturer approves dangling a few pounds of cargo with some nice leverage to the saddle. Maybe @sarahmoore would like to check with some as a sort of a follow up.

As for me, I'm lucky that I only ride hardtails, am rather tall and know a guy who can bend and braze steel tubes. I now run a small and light (330 grams including the bolts) custom rack that only fits the Surly Karate Monkey in XL and its only purpose is to carry a drybag strapped on top. And a trowel. This puts the weight lower and there is no movement at all, even in proper technical terrain. That's what it looked like last year in Slovenia: https://www.pinkbike.com/photo/18695988/

 @pmhobson: You do have a good point, but I'm not sure everyone is that careful when packing! It may not be a huge amount of weight, but it's acting like a lever multiplying that weight at an angle the post wasn't designed for. (some of those bags are pretty long!) Also it's "always" applying that weight on every bump VS a rider generally stands up or at least un-weights the seat to some degree naturally. So your dropper post is actually saved from the largest impacts from the rider weight.

I'm not saying NOT to do it or that your post is gonna just blow up on you or something. Just that it would probably increase the wear on your post and it would probably develop "play" quicker?

Also I'd be concerned about the wear some of those straps might cause on the sliding surfaces. When your post develops play it's usually designed to be rebuilt with ~low~ cost replacement parts to tighten things back up. But if you wear out the surface finish the replacement cost goes WAY up! (props to KS as they replaced the sliding parts on one of my posts for free once, but I think it was because they had developed something new/better??)

At any rate, I haven't bikepacked since the early 90's. I have seen a cheap post bend from one of those post mount racks. But it had a cooler with beer and firewood on top and at least it didn't break!!

 www.topeak.com/global/en/products/bottle-cage-mounts/1139-dp-mountwww.topeak.com/global/en/products/bottle-cage-mounts/1139-dp-mountv

That fixes the post rub problem, cool! (Sarah mentioned it, but didn't have it mounted)

 @mnorris122: I was imagining the same thing...

 Beards aside, if snobbery means supporting independent local businesses that produce quality kit instead of giving money to folk like Planet X then I'd rather be a snob every day of the week!

 @beardedbrambler: Case in point; that was pretty much spot on snobby behavior lauding your "clearly" superior buying decisions over somebody else's...

 @stiingya: I mostly read supporting indepent local businesses.. which is cool in my eyes.
But I got a beard, so maybe I am biased.

This will only lead to a classic mass produce vs boutique discussion

 @likehell: I think you read the part you wanted to? Look at all the comments on this page about "why didn't you mention such and such custom bags" or how many comments about showing bags on a trail bike as if it's some faux pa to bike pack without a purpose built rig.

Nobody should have to justify throwing some cheap bags on whatever bike they happen to own and heading out...

 @stiingya: Is it really such a bad thing to advocate for people to stop spending their money on shitty products that don't last?

 @beardedbrambler: You didn't offer up opinion or discussion on "buy once, cry once", VS "cheap and repeat". You reveled in bearded snobbery and then it's justified as philanthropy...

 @stiingya: That's simple, there's no justification for buying products that don't last, or to buy from companies that aren't seriously thinking about how they can reduce their environmental footprint. Unfortunately, that doesn't leave many options in certain areas of the industry but where bikepacking kit is concerned, there are plenty of options for indy manufacturers that are doing their bit.

Save your insults and go ride your bike.

 @beardedbrambler: You didn't offer up an opinion or discussion on putting your money where it saves the planet? You reveled in bearded snobbery and are now justifying it with environmentalism instead of philanthropy?

What kind of device are you commenting on these forums with? Your computer/tablet/phone made locally from environmentally friendly resources in a responsible manner that will easily recycle...?

 The Apidura Dropper Saddle Pack allows you to use your dropper post. These are all pictured on the same bike for consistency, but I agree that some are better suited to it than others!

 @sarahmoore: even if it works, why bikepack on an enduro bike? Much more frame space in an XC bike or trek has that 1120 which is rigid. you have a big heavy enduro bike with tons of gear on it. doesnt sound fun. should have put these on a better suited bike.

 It depends...if the saddle bad isn't too big, and with a "short" FS bike, you can still perfectly use the dropper. I use a 6L saddle bag when bikepacking on my remedy (150mm of travel), and I am still able to use almost the full 150mm (about 130mm i would say) travel of my dropper without touching the tyre (can happen from time to time on bigger compressions/jumps, but rarely).

 @sarahmoore: Pretty sure that bike has more travel than the 2" gap between the bag and the tire will allow for...

 @ifindbikesinteresting: Many people can't have the luxury of owning more than 1 bike I guess, so the best bikebacking bike is the one you own. And well, I really wouldn't try crossing the alps on a full rigid bike, or even a hardtail.

 I have done some extreme MTB unsupported long distance races and trust me, if you want to ride hard it's not good to have a large saddle pack. I personally hate large saddle packs for this purpose, not only that they can often rub your tyre on compressions but also you can't go behind the saddle (which is an pretty awful feeling) and also they tend to swivel all over the place. Basically they ruin your ride. I much prefer to have a bar pack, in frame pack a small seat bag and a backpack (it gives you back protection and removes weight from the bike which I personally like). These under large saddle paniers have use on road or verry light XC if you don't want to ride with a backack.

 @jurassicrider: well that makes sense, perhaps i am an idiot. meh, probably

 @ifindbikesinteresting: What if you wanted to ride long distance on terrain beyond what an xc bike can handle? Or ride somewhere with all your kit to do a bike park in another country?

 @sarahmoore: Your picture appears to be with the dropper compressed but not the shock. With both compressed at the same time you will only be able to use a 100mm dropper (or less) with a very small seat bag

www.pinkbike.com/photo/edit/?inList[]=18693502

 @ifindbikesinteresting: You're right, the correct number of bikes is N+1! This bike is 140mm though, so is it really an Enduro bike?

 @taprider: You are correct, dropper is down but shock is not compressed. And agreed that the 150mm dropper with 140mm travel is likely to be ambitious but you can also just lower the dropper as much as the set-up allows if you're just testing that waters before committing to swapping out the post. There's a reinforced skid plate on the bottom for a reason I reckon!

 @sarahmoore: ep1.pinkbike.org/p3pb18693502/p3pb18693502.jpg

 @sarahmoore: Did you use the only bike available for modelling these accessories and are people taking it way too seriously about dropper posts and suspension??

 @fatduke: I mean I also had a road bike at home at the time too but those don't really count...

 @sarahmoore: I think @ifindbikesinteresting is concerned about how the tire will be rolling while being pushed into the bag as the suspension works through its travel.
I myself find that disturbing - my precious bag would have a hole and my stuff would become pollution along the trail.

Not good.

 @IluvRIDING: this happens to me when I put stuff that's heavy in my seat pack, but now that I've bikepacked a few times, I've learned to put my lightest stuff in my seat pack and I don't even hardly feel it now. Definitely none of that swaying feeling.

 Kinda agree with this sentiment. You're not gonna be ripping trails when you've got 5L of water, a bunch of food, tent, camping gear, etc. in your bags rattling around. You're liable to break something, or at least really wear stuff out.

I only bikepack on my hardtail pretty much for this reason. WAY more storage capacity via frame bag, less stuff to break (nice when you're many miles from humanity much less a bike shop), and though it's a little bumpier it's not like I'm gonna be ripping trails with all that stuff strapped to my bike.

I have, however, set up camp and then taken all of my bags off and THEN gone for a rip on trails. But a modern-geo hardtail with dropper does that pretty well and I don't want to give up the storage capacity of a big frame bag on a hardtail.

 You don't have to bottom the dropper out EVERYTIME you use it. Just a little lower can be all the difference needed...

 @ifindbikesinteresting: Counterpoint: As someone who has bike packed with a beefy trail bike (150mm up front, 130 in the rear), I found some advantages compared to previous experiences on an XC and cross bike. Going uphill on some chunky fire road or trail you are basically guaranteed to be going very slow and spinning the granny gear (unless you are very fit), and the suspension allows small undulations to be absorbed better making it a smoother ride with less body input. Although you go slower you save energy by just being able to focus on smooth pedalling rather than manuevering small rocks.

Going downhill can be scary with lots of shit strapped on. Especially if its steeper or rockys. You kinda end up just pointing and praying cause a fully loader bike really feels glued to the ground and much less manoeuvrable. Pointing and praying is a lot less scary, and more fun, on a full sus. Your stuff gets less impact too, a big hardtail hit with a 10lb saddlebag pulls on the straps and stuff seemed to get looser faster.

Just my experience, but I have no qualms about taking the full sus out again.

 @ifindbikesinteresting:
When you bike from Auckland to Rotorua, you take the enduro. Trust me.

 I know dude, Deja' 'vu moment for sure! This article, from pb no less, sure hits home for us bikepackers . I guess blame it on all the info there stealing from are phones!
Lol!

 i have no idea what you just said

 ep1.pinkbike.org/p5pb18693625/p5pb18693625.jpg Already dressed for the fireworks. I gave up on using it for just a cook pot with food, since rocks kicked up by the front tire were denting the crap out of it

 Depends on your fitness level, where/what are you planning on riding too. If you do suffer, it may seem at the time to suck, but always remember, afterwards it will be so worth it! Coming from experience .

 My experience was, pretty much. The Goldilocks zone for routes that are rougher than roads, but not so rough that you're faster just walking, is pretty small. I actually had a surprising amount of fun tarmac road touring on bikes, which is saying something. But the mountain bike trips had hilariously low average speeds. I joked that you might as well take a wheelbarrow. I've decided I prefer just walking for overnight trips, you can hike to more interesting and less accessible places and it's less effort.

 Don’t forget the barmount coffee cup holder. Its great for beers too, I have it permanently mounted now!

 why? Does the 10ish lbs it carries torque the dropper more than the 100-200lbs of rider would? Or does it interfere with the dropping mechanism and potentially damage the stanchions? That seems to be fixed with the last option, no?

 I always cringe when I watch white people dance.

 @preach: I partly agree, but I cycled a very long distance with a a heavy backpack once, and my shoulders were so painful it took a long time to recover

 @nordland071285: this is my favourite anecdote!

 @preach: you do NOT want to ride long distances over multiple days with a backpack on your back.

 @rickybobby18: The Marines do it all the time. With rifles.

 @RayDolor: lol so? The marines aren't riding bikes and they aren't supposed to be having fun. They are often carrying 75-100 pounds of gear and many of them have chronic pain and sometimes permanent damage from it. If you look at historic photos of bicycle infantry, they were carrying most of their gear on their bikes. I'm talking frame bags, panniers, racks, bed rolls strapped to their handlebars, etc.

Backpacks are for backpacking.

 @scmalex: yEAH...cause biking is so much harder...yall are on crak...enjoy the ride.

 @rbarbier12: yes, because of the damage to the stanchion. Aside from the last option that you mentioned, or something like the wolf tooth Valais. The way she's got all the other bags setup will quickly ruin the coating on the stanchion from abrasion.

 @nordland071285: my man, hope you're doing well

 The amount of content the team has been putting out is amazing! Thanks @pinkbike!