Sea Otter 2017: Ortleib’s New Bike Luggage

A couple of years ago, Ortlieb launched a neat new range of frame bags that carried on its principle of waterproof luggage, but in a frame mounted soft-sided style. They were pretty huge, to be honest, and were only really going to work if you were on the mother of all trips. There’s now a new range coming out later in the year with a more medium sized outlook…

Medium sized seat bag in the works

Medium sized frame bag is ideal for day rides and smaller trips

We’ll come back to that cockpit bag in a minute

The accessory bag remains, but there’s a new smaller bar bag that will fit drop bars if needed.

Super reliable metal buckles and waterproof welded seams.

The cockpit pack doesn’t have a waterproof zip, so there’s a clever rubber gaiter with water drain holes.

These new ‘Gravel packs’ are smaller panniers for people who don’t want frame packs – or who’ve overpacked…

They’ll run front or rear

This EPP (expanded polypropylene) rack box is ideal for bringing chilled beer or cheese home.

The box itself it light and insulated enough to not need ice to keep things cool. Picnic anyone?

Chipps Chippendale

Singletrackworld's Editor At Large

With 23 years as Editor of Singletrack World Magazine, Chipps is the longest-running mountain bike magazine editor in the world. He started in the bike trade in 1990 and became a full time mountain bike journalist at the start of 1994. Over the last 30 years as a bike writer and photographer, he has seen mountain bike culture flourish, strengthen and diversify and bike technology go from rigid steel frames to fully suspended carbon fibre (and sometimes back to rigid steel as well.)