A hoy hoy

After a wee foray into bike camping last year I’d like to get a few more trips in.

Tempted by the Joey but would love some feedback of those who have purchased. Kanga 4xBettererer?

New baby at Christmas means I need to keep costs to a minimum but don’t want a lemon.

Thanks

Bought one this week, not used it yet. Consensus in the reviews is it is one of the better designs, and it’s among the cheapest.

I think the Joey is little more than a patch to keep a drybag from getting worn through on the cables, might be wrong, but that’s what it looks like.

Don’t know if you’ve seen this review http://bikepackersmagazine.com/alpkit-field-testing-part-two-bikepacking-accessories/

The Kanga can sit quite high above your handlebars so if you have bar mounted lights that might be a problem. The Joey is like a cut down Wildcat Lion (which is what I use but it’s considerably more expensive) but might be enough if you are only doing the occasional night.

I thought that, but if I’m carrying luggage I usually raise the bars up anyway as I find adding a few KG’s to the bike gives it a tendency to stall if the front wheel bumps into something, so raising the bars 2″ pushes my weight up/back and restores the front wheels tendancy to lift.

OTOH you could probably get a dynamo light under it (on a rigid bike or the road) if you wanted too it’s that high.

And it’s better than my DIY version (essentially the same, but padded with an old sleeping mat foam so much softer) which wouldn’t quite clear the front wheel at full compression.

The other advantage is being able to put a sleeping bag in a 13l or 20l bag, rather than a 7l (which it just about fits in), but then takes an hour or so of shivering to loft properly.

Trying to avoid sounding like I’m justifying it now that I’ve paid for it.

Cheers guys. Not thought about the kanga height and fowling my lights. The majority of our planned rides will have some night riding, good shout.

Not too worried about the weight.

@thisisnotaspoon, did it come with some straps to secure your dry bag or, as the photo on the website shows, just the velcro straps to secure it to the bars/crown?

I have both the kanga and the wildcat.

the kangas much better at its job imo.

Although as per above it can obstruct bar mounted lights – i just jimmyed up a crown mount for my light instead.

I dont have much room between the bars and front tire anyway – 26″ forks , 29er wheel , short headtube and short stem (its a brant design) so im happy to have it high and supported away from my wheel…

did it come with some straps to secure your dry bag or, as the photo on the website shows, just the velcro straps to secure it to the bars/crown?

Yes,

The two lower straps in the pic buckle into clasps on the back (which is actually the front) where those two little lines of grey stitching are just below the first lateral bit of webbing. Then the three straps shown loose in the photo go around the dry bag and clip into the male/female buckles attached to the harness, apart from the middle one, which just goes through it.

Basically all the weight is taken by the battens to the fork, the velcro just stops it falling forwards.

I find the Kanga a massive faff for no real benefit over a simpler design and a distinct disadvantage when it comes to putting GPS and lights on your bars.

how does it represent an issue getting gps onto your bars ? my gps lives on my bars …. infact my light would live there too – its just that the light cant get through the bar bag , it doesnt actually stop you putting things on your bars ….

Probably depends on your GPS and stem length. A long stem would push the harness forward making more space (and offer a better place for the GPS too).

Cheers one and all. Will go for the Joey me thinks as trips will be limited and no more than a day. Will always have a head torch for night rides but with a short stem the Koala would just sit to high on my bars to use the bar light.

Well yes. I could fit my light on my bars if all I want to do is reflect 2000 lumens straight into my face. 🙄

Well yes. I could fit my light on my bars if all I want to do is reflect 2000 lumens straight into my face.

Or mount it on your forks, or your head.

It’s a compromise, other designs compromise on clearance above the tyre. I’ve not run exclusively a bar mounted light off-road since the 90’s, so for me it’s a non issue. The wildcat style harness on the other hand didn’t clear the front tyre, which was a bigger issue.

That and if bikepacking I’d be likely be stopped if it’s dark, I doubt I’ve the fitness to ride dawn til dusk even at this time of year.

Begs the question, if you hate it so much, why do you have one?

I use the Revelate Harness on the front of my bike. I still mount my bar light on a bar extender

Kanga didn’t work for me at all – not sure whether the having a short and relatively low stem affected that. The bag sat way too high and ended up with lots of for-aft movement. I asked around at the time and I wasn’t the only one struggling.

The Wildcat harness works really well though – very secure and doesn’t foul cables or hoses. With an 8 litre dry-bag a bar-mounted light is still visible – however, there is obviously quite a big shadow cast. A 13 litre dry-bag will fit securely and with enough tyre clearance – just need to use a helmet-mounted light with that though.

OH has the kanga – only used on the cross bike really so far, and worked well. I was being cheap and bought the Joey. I have only had it on the bike in the garage with sleeping bag etc on it and wiggled the forks around, and it seems decent enough – though with more movement than the kanga. Like the OT, our trips are likely to only really be one night and not super hardcore, so, so far, I think it looks ok for the job at very good price. Could have probably made one myself, but it was just easier to click buy!

Begs the question, if you hate it so much, why do you have one?

I had to buy one to try it and find it failings, I still have it as I’m not going to subject it on a fellow rider!

I’ve been considering the Blackburn outpost handlebar roll, only because the bracket looks secure and doesn’t need to go near the fork crown. I’m aware that it has limited applications because it doesn’t like bendy bars or carbon, but seems like a decent option if you run ‘regular’ bars. OK prices for it too.

Revelate Harness, light and GPS
[url=https://flic.kr/p/oE4xXC]P1010496[/url] by Colin Cadden, on Flickr

Revelate Sweetroll, light and GPS
[url=https://flic.kr/p/nMbzNo]Enjoying the descent[/url] by Colin Cadden, on Flickr