As with most things their is too much choice… 😀

I have a few items of the Alpkit kit (which I love) Kanga harness with dual bag, a possum and a fuel pod.

At the moment on the rear I have a Topeak QR beam rack with a dry bag strapped to it, but I want to replace it with a saddle bag, but which one?

My first choice is the Alpkit Koala (which would match all my existing kit, but its out of stock at the moment).

I know there are lots of threads about this, so which one do you use?

Revelate one, it’s great, secures nicely and very stable. Have lent it out as well, and good reviews from those borrowing it too.

I too have a Topeak beam rack, which has been used well. Out of interest, how do you stop (on rough and gritty off-road stuff) the grit getting between bag and rack and wearing the bag into frayed bits? Foam, bubble wrap? tape? Have used bungee straps but maybe webbing more secure..

Carradice

I use to have a very thin piece of soft rubber, if I remember correctly it was 1 of a set of 3 camping chopping boards from Tesco 🙂

I zipped tied it to the rack, so it has taken most of the wear.

Just found them….we were going to chuck them away because we could not get rid of that horrible rubber smell of them 😉

http://www.tesco.com/direct/tesco-flexi-index-chopping-mats-3pk/488-8643.prd

Carradice +1

Carradice (with SQR rack mount) +2

ace Mounty – might give those a try for next trip. I think a combo of the bungee straps not being secure enough, and bits of dirt & grit getting chucked into the gap between bag and rack meant I ended up with some unexpected holes in the dry bags 🙁

Which Revelate saddle bag do you have?

ah – should have said eh!
Viscacha – https://www.revelatedesigns.com/index.cfm/store.catalog/seat-bags/Viscacha

It’s very durable, and once you get the hang of the straps – almost could do with colour coding – it’s very adaptable in capacity – holds a lot of stuff, very securely.

Viscacha works for me. Lots of the alternatives suffer from tail waggle though Wildcat stuff is well designed and seem to have the problem licked.

Ok, so is the Viscacha worth the £115??? 😉

I’m very pleased with mine.

depends how much you think you’ll use it, or experiment with other stuff then regret getting decent kit to begin with! Maybe try the Wildcat alternative?

You’ll never need another saddle bag, that’s for sure..

Carradice SQR Tour – 16 litre capacity.

Excellent piece of kit.

£74 at SJS Cycles

Herself uses an Arkel Tailrider trunk bag with an Arkel Randonneur seat post rack. Its been pretty reliable and has done a few tours including Tuscany trails last month. It seems pretty waterproof as well (certainly much better than the Apidura bag I was using).

depends how much you think you’ll use it, or experiment with other stuff then regret getting decent kit to begin with! Maybe try the Wildcat alternative?

You’ll never need another saddle bag, that’s for sure..

My thoughts too……I have experimented with a couple of items and I have have not been impressed with the end results, hence why I am now looking to get something decent and use it!

I know from experience that in some kit, you get what you pay for, so if you guys are more than happy that it does the job well, then £115 is worth it IMO.

It looks like I will be selling some kit that doesn’t work for me and investing it into something that does the job!

The Viscacha is great, wildcat if you like the idea of a separate drybag option. I have to say I like the look of the ortlieb full waterproof option too. Greg May and a couple of Czech guys were using outlier bags on the Tour Divide this year. Looks bomber.

My alpkit rear harness has been brilliant after trying a few different routes like your self i settled on the wildcat as it worked .

….so well i bought the wife one too for her bike 🙂

Carradice SQR Tour is indeed a fabulous piece of kit. Bomb proof but sadly 1.2kgs compared to a Koala which is 300gms. Op I have a Koala spare I was thinking of selling if any use?

Op I have a Koala spare I was thinking of selling if any use?

What colour is it? (it would have to match my existing Alpkit kit) 😉

How much would you take for it?

Email in profile if you need it.

Its Blue – Ill try to remember to dig it out later 🙂

I have a full Revelate set up, like it a lot

Also have a Carradice SQR Slim, used on my Brompton every now and then. Would like to use it off road for bikepacking, but might be handy if you’re off road commuting with a laptop