What you got and why?

Ive got the current big 3 on my radar and cant make my. Mind up …..

Im having a tangle frame bag so tempted just to pull trigger on viscacha or possibly. A pika – need to measure but no denying that 125 quid is alot to stomach….when alpkit is 60 and wildcat is 65 ….

Anyone used all three and able to offer a balanced view ?

Any one got any alternatives ? – i might just use my carradice camper longflap for my trip this weekend – my uraltour seat pack has done its last tour , cheap cheerful , annoying but served good purpose.

Which was a fine set up although i had too much weight on my back due to lack of frame bag.

All i really had in the longflap was clothes and my stove/pot. – ill probably have even less in it this weekend and i can see it bouncing about alot …..

Was a better set up , much more balanced and less weight on the back but the saddle bag needed to be strung up with paracord every day by the end of the last trip , it just gave up 🙁

I’m awfully tempted by the “pocket and bag” designs like the Terrapin though I’d like to see one on my bike before committing as the shape might end up too deep.

http://www.backcountrybiking.co.uk/product/terrapin-bikepacking/

For the cost of postage you could try my Viscacha, though there have been a few wee design changes recently.

Should find some helpful info here: http://bearbonesbikepacking.blogspot.co.uk/

I’ve done carradice, good but can be very heavy when full and difficult to get back over the seat and a bodged diy seat pack, moved too much.

Next trip I am going tor try a cut down and modified rear rack with dry bag lashed to the top. I’ve ridden with a dry sack tied to a rear rack before and its no hindrance to sliding off the back of the saddle, its secure and lower than a seat pack, by minimising the rack I don’t think the weight will be much either. Cheap option too as I have a dry back and a old rack to cannibalise.

Now you mention it …. Ive done that before too thebrick. That might be a good option combined with my full frame bag for this weekend. Dry bag lashed to a carradice lsqr rack, worked well actually.

Edit , just noticed you offer colin , im actually in norway all week so im packing my bike tonight and getting in off the 15:15 and headin straight to linn of dee

Polish for me

£57 before shipping. I wore a hole in mine after a week of mucky Highlands conditions, but it was where it was rubbing on the hard plastic crudcatcher. It was the outer layer of two. Not totally waterproof mind.

These look to be worth a look
http://bridgestreet.cc/products/

Doesnt sound like a good endorsement for the polish one then, ive also discounted. The apidura stuff for similar reasons 3 folkik now wit them havve worn holes in. …. Which is why im erring towards the viscasha , the alpkit looks a bit light duty also – although nooneiknow has worn through theirs yet…. Not seen a wild at up close yet ….my riding buddy next weekend has one though.

I’ve got an alpkit one you could have for cheapie if you want it. Worked very well for a wee West Highland Way trip last year but I don’t use it much.

I’ve the Wildcat Tiger seat post harness. At first I used an Exped dry bag in it but that didn’t sit quite right, or rather I could never pack it adequately that it didn’t sag if not completely stuffed. I now use an Alpkit tapered Airlock dry bag in it and that’s much better. It’s a somewhat tougher material than the Exped so better suited to the seat post area where a lot of dirt gets thrown up. Some people use the Alpkit on its own but I’ve not tried that.

I’ve not tried any of the others so can’t comment on how they compare.

I used a wildcat tiger with a tapered airlok in Iceland, my mate used the alpkit koala. He wasn’t to impressed with the koala but the tiger was pretty unnoticeable which I guess means it did its job well.

Wildcat Tiger with the tapered Alpkit dry bag inside it.

Wildcat Ocelot in the frame so space for water bottles = nothing on my back

Alpkit Stem Cell, for snacks and camera.

Alpkit Kanga on the front with an Alpkit drybag. Perfect for 4 days and 3 nights wild camping around Northumberland this summer.

Tip – If you don’t have much room to carry kit you don’t end up filling it with stuff you’re not going to need.

Terrapin for me…
Speaking of which, if you want to borrow it Collin, you’re more than welcome..

It’s the bikepacking swapshop!

Thanks for the offer Nick. I should really just pop round the corner and a word with Andy and Rob at backcountrybiking seeing as how they are so close 🙂

The exped bags are a bit lightweight, I have put a couple on a septets rack and due to grit getting between the bag and rack, worn clear holes in them – my error but not recommend for anything that’d get gritty.

Revelate / Epic bag here, haven’t used much in anger yet but it’s great to faster to the seat post and buckles down nicely. ..

Yes, the Exped sacks need to be inside something that can take the brunt of the wear and tear. You can then use them to keep important stuff dry.

Always worth checking the bags after a ride for any wear points and figure out ways to stop that wear.

yes, even some plumbing insulation or bubblewrap might have helped, my fault really, seatpost rack on hard tail / SS will always get huge amount of bounce 🙁

I have a Pika and Tangle, not used in earnest though. I chose the Pika so it would fit on CDF where there isn’t a huge amount of seatpost showing.

Theae look very good quality and hand made in leeds as a bonus 😉
Saddle Bags

Theae look very good quality and hand made in leeds as a bonus
http://restrap.co.uk/index.php?route=product/category&path=59_64_66

Looks like it’d double up for one of these:

Your looking well nick 😉

Hahah!! Cheers Mick. 😀

The hole I wore in the Polish one was totally my fault – I left it rubbing on a gritty crudcatcher for 500 miles. I’d buy another,but will easily patch mine.

I think I saw Apidura have got a drybag version.
I’ll try to hunt down a piccie, though how to post it on here…..

I am far too old for kipping in the hedge bottom but I do like point to point mtb trips so I do have various bits of bike luggage. Although a fan of Alpkit I find the seat bag a real faff to attach tightly. When it first arrived it took ages to work out what went where and even now I know it still seems to take ages especially when packing in the rain! According to the website they are working on an improved version so hopefully that will sort it. Are the other bags recommended here any simpler to secure ?

I’ve been impressed with the Wildcat Tiger.
I have the medium and small versions and have used both on all sorts of bikes and trips.
Things I like:
-Dry bag comes out so I can hang it above my hammock, or take it into a cafe. This is why I loved the design in the first place and it’s been as useful as I thought it would be.
-The rubberised broad strap around the seat post can be tightened really effectively which really stops any sway at all. To begin with I thought that it was the saddle straps that would be the main stabilisers, but I’ve revised that view.
-Really tough – they both still look like new.

Things to be aware of:
-Occasionally, with a mixed load, things can settle in a way that mean a re-tension is necessary. Just once though.
-You do have to be careful with packing if not using a tapered bag inside. I still haven’t got around to buying a tapered bag, so I have a routine of what order to pack things so that nothing rubs on my thighs.

I got the small for my son’s bike, but ended up using it quite a bit for all-day trips on my CX bike, especially in Winter. Frequent access isn’t as easy as a frame bag or ‘lioness’, but it’s fine for a change of jacket and a lunch stop and I’m not really a fan of things which strap to my painted frame bits.

(Disclaimer – I do design work for Wildcat Gear)

I went on ebay and bought a load of fabric, webbing, clips, velcro etc and made my own.

Being tall I have lots of seatpost to play with so went for a vertical design that doesn’t put as much strain on the seatpost, sways less and makes it less of a problem to get over the back of the saddle.

I’ve got apidura. I think it’s good kit, fits well and is secure, but I think you have to make sure it doesn’t swing around to avoid wear. I use mine day in day out for my work commute, saves wearing a ruck sack. But due to pack sizes varying you have to make sure it’s fitted nice and snug.

One thing I will say is I wouldn’t trust the water proofness, In one particular heavy downpour stuff inside was damp. I use a separate dry sack inside.

The frame bags fits quite a surprising amount.

I had a good look around this summer before doing a 4 day bikepacking trip in the alps (which was awesome). I ended up going for pretty much a full alpkit setup bag wise as they seemed to be the cheapest and best that I could find. Echo the waterproofness comment though, it’s definitely worth putting stuff in a thin drybag inside it, which has the added advantage that you can leave the seatpack on the bike and the bag you bring under your tarp (or into the tent) is clean as seatpacks get very dirty very quickly

Here is the bike on top of Anterne pass (a 2257m high col with about 75% hike a bike to get up but an awesome 1500m descent down the other side to get down to chamonix!) I did some seriously fast/steep/techy/rough descents with it setup like this and didn’t have any problems with it coming loose or hitting my legs.

Did you just behead one half of Daft Punk?

One thing not mentioned is that the removable roll-top dry bag makes an excellent pillow. A pillow of some sort is my one “essential luxury” as I struggle to sleep well without one.

A general point: I use my seat pack for sleeping bag, etc. and have the (down) sleeping bag inside a bivvy bag inside the roll-top. Defence in depth 😆

Next trip I am going tor try a cut down and modified rear rack with dry bag lashed to the top.

I thought of doing this and got shot down in flames, not currently in vogue 🙂

I still plan on trying it though – I intend to buy a rack for other purposes anyway.

PS Wildcat are also handmade in the UK, Brecon in fact.

@molgrips The problem I see with that is that the straps would be stress points and rub on the dry bag. The seat bag harnesses spread the load and reduce the risk of wearing holes in the bag.

I’ve got an alpkit saddlebag, no complaints except it’s not quite waterproof in the real pissing rain, which means it needs a drybag inside, which makes me question why have a drybag closure on it rather than make it a more open/harness style?

On the plus side, podsacs weigh nothing and it means you can have 3+ small bags in there (down jacket, sleeping bag, cooking, waterproof,whatever) which means the sleeping bag is dry when all you need is the waterproof rather than unpacking everything.

I’ve also go one of those Ibera £17 frame bags, again not waterproof, but it holds a cheap (gelert?) one man tent and hasn’t died yet.

Frame harness is a DIY job, not tried it properly yet, webbing straps between bars and fork crown, then a section of thick camping mat stitched into some waterpoof material. TBH it looks crap and is probably quite heavy so I might replace it.

The wear and the waterproofness is the reason I went for the Wildcat Ocelot. With seatpacks, the thing that you’re actually paying your money for is the attachment to the bike and the compression/ load stabilisation.

On the Ocelot, that’s all you get, leaving the waterproofing (which is often a consumable) to be renewed/beefed up as necessary. Means you can go for big/ small/ light/ heavy duty as you need. And if you do manage to wear a hole in the holster, you’re not compromising the waterproofing.

If there’s any chance of thigh or calf rub, I’ll have it. I have big thighs of power, even the rubber band for my rear light annoys me on some bikes… As does my front mech.

I have big thighs of power, even the rubber band for my rear light annoys me on some bikes… As does my front mech

Your thighs hit the front mech 😯

My calves hit the front mech, just to be clear 🙂

One thing to point out, is if you want to pack multiple items separately, a holster style seatpack might not be so helpful

For example, you want dry kit in a dry bag, then maybe wet waterproofs/tarp/bivi bag. Then maybe wet goods (like whiskey or fuel)

The all in one packs mean you can dry bag individual bits but there’s no risk of stuff falling out

Clearly this is possible with a holster if you use more than one drybag