Tailfin Alloy AeroPack Frame Bag Bikepacking

Tailfin Alloy AeroPack – The Fastest Frame Storage

by 5

The Tailfin Alloy AeroPack is a bundle that includes everything you need to mount the rack with trunk onto your bike. Tailfin offer both carbon and alloy Aeropack with or without pannier mounts.

  • Brand: Tailfin
  • Product: Alloy AeroPack
  • From: tailfin.cc
  • Price: £275.00
  • Tested: by Amanda for 2 months
tailfin aeropack
AeroPack – Where the bag acts as the topstay

Things I liked:

  • Ease of fit/removal
  • Secure fit with zero noise
  • Reliably waterproof

Things I would change:

  • Shorter ‘easy access’ zipper so I can stick my hand in without undoing the top straps
  • Same for the stash pocket the other side
  • Include the option to add a light mount solution during checkout

This review is for an alloy Tailfin AeroPack where the trunk bag acts as the top bar of the rack as opposed to the rack with a top stay and the trunk added on top. This means that to remove the pack, I have to take the entire rack off, but thanks to it being three-point quick release mounts, this is a piece of pie. My rack doesn’t have pannier mounts. My setup would cost £275.00 for everything you see in this review.

Getting Started – How to buy

If you are purchasing a Tailfin rack and AeroPack you have several options at checkout. The choice of frame mounting or axle mounting is one of your biggest decisions, but I’ll be bold and say that you want the QR axle mount. Why? Well, frame mounts will sit the pack higher up which I doubt is useful unless you have a humongous bike frame. Axle concentric keeps everything tidy, and it’s really satisfying how neat the pack fits even with the QR mounts. For such a stable fit, you’d expect bulky connections, but the engineers have somehow worked magic around that.

You also need to weigh up the benefit of being able to remove the AeroPack without taking the entire rack off (Buying the rack with topstay and adding the bag on costs £339.00, so the convenience will cost you £64.00). If you’re bikepacking it’s more likely you’ll want to take the pack away from your bike, but I have just used a dry bag to carry items away with me and then quickly stuff them back in.

Another main choice is carbon vs alloy, which is on you and your bank balance. My setup switched to carbon would save roughly 130g and costs an extra £50.00. I’d really hate to drop my bike with a carbon rack on it, though…

Fitting the rack

Fingerless gloves on a frosty day made this take longer than usual!

How does it perform?

So you’ve spent all of 10 seconds attaching it to your bike, and it’s time to pack. The base of the trunk pack is sturdy and flat, so you can be quite neat with your items if that suits you. You can access the main pocket via a zip on the none drive-side, so for something you might want to grab in a hurry (waterproof?), make sure it’s near that zip.

The roll-top closure makes it easy to squeeze excess air out and get the pack as tidy as possible. There’s a buckle front and back to hold it down, and then you secure it with two straps over the top with ease, as your other buckles have securely closed it already.

The drive side zip pocket is for your multitool, cash, keys or whatever you want quick access to. Annoyingly, both of these zips are covered by the top straps so you still need to unclip one or both to get in these side entries.

Optional Extras

When you checkout there is a £6 upgrade option for the extended seatpost connector. To buy this separately it costs £15, so it’s worth making sure you know whether or not you’ll need it, and to make it easier I’d say that smaller bike frames need the extender (or, less than 100mm of exposed seatpost). The shorter your seatpost, the more the rack will tilt forward, so you need the extender to get it level. I initially fit this with the standard connector and couldn’t figure out why it nosed down under the saddle so much, but then I discovered they have the extender and it fits perfectly.

tailfin aeropack
Light mounts

The rear of the AeroPack has twin light mounts that work well for many lights that band or clip on. For any other lights, such as Exposure, you’ll need to buy a light mount. The options are a seatpost mimic mount (£20, 34.8g) or a fixed mount directly on the trunk bag (£20, 23.3g).

Is it overpriced?

No. We know that well designed and manufactured products come at a price. I can’t stress enough how incredible the design of this rack and accessories is. Rubber grommets in connecting parts to silence and secure them. Precision fit between all connecting parts, without an abundance of bolts. The quick release design somehow fits silently on any bike.

Tailfin knows its market. All products have a listed weight, right down to a 3g locking wheel nut. The website is clear and offers a visual of every option to help you choose the right solutions for your bike and needs. The instructions are equally as clear, but if you had any issues, the after sales support is excellent and there are plenty of YouTubers riding with these packs which is actually really useful for finding how it might fit on your bike.

Overall

I can’t really fault the Tailfin Alloy AeroPack and rack. It’s a breeze to fit, it can be removed in less than 10 seconds and goes back on just as quick. It doesn’t interfere with the ride, as it’s streamline and totally silent. Whether you need a good chunk of storage for a big adventure, or you just want the luxury of a bobble hat and insulated jacket at your café stop, if this is within budget, I can guarantee you’ll be relieved you have it. Another huge selling point is that this exact setup will fit my mountain bike, too.

P.S. Spiralling down a bikepacking YouTube hole, it seems the Tailfin AeroPack and rack are so aerodynamic they technically make you faster… Here’s a windtunnel video for anyone who actually cares about aerodynamics.

Join our mailing list to receive Singletrack editorial wisdom directly in your inbox.

Each newsletter is headed up by an exclusive editorial from our team and includes stories and news you don’t want to miss.

Signing up to our mailing list is not only a great way to keep up-to-date on all things Singletrack but it is also a great, free way to support us.

Sign up to receive awesome editorial content from Hannah every week.

We appreciate how handing over your email address is a mark of your trust in us. Check your inbox for our confirmation email and click the link to activate your newsletter.
We don’t spam! Read our privacy policy for more info.

Check out a previous newsletter here

While you’re here…

https://singletrackworld.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/buyers-guide-to-gravel-commuter-bikes/
https://singletrackworld.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/arkel-seatpacker-15-lonnng-term-review/

Review Info

Brand: Tailfin
Product: AeroPack Alloy
From: tailfin.cc
Price: £275.00
Tested: by Amanda for 2 months
Author Profile Picture
Amanda Wishart

Art Director

Amanda is our resident pedaller, who loves the climbs as much as the descents. No genre of biking is turned down, though she is happiest when at the top of a mountain with a wild descent ahead of her. If you ever want a chat about concussion recovery, dealing with a Womb of Doom or how best to fuel an endurance XC race, she's the one to email.

More posts from Amanda

Home Forums Tailfin Alloy AeroPack – The Fastest Frame Storage

Viewing 5 posts - 1 through 5 (of 5 total)
  • Tailfin Alloy AeroPack – The Fastest Frame Storage
  • shermer75
    Free Member

    Some good info here, including RD’s review:

    Tailfin questions

    the00
    Free Member

    The is the best review I have read in ages! Glowing praise yet also proper geeky nit picking which only a passionate enthusiast could think of. More like this please.

    I like the product too. I’m just not sure I need it.

    spooky_b329
    Full Member

    It’s a great product, a bit pricy but hopefully I’ll be using it for years to come. Much more accessible (and roomy) than a seat pack.

    If you have more than one bike, get the universal axle, it appears to fit just about any bike and can also double up as a spare should you ever leave your rear axle somewhere. The axle also seems to fit the old Revolution (Bob copy) trailer that used the skinny old (largely obsolete) QR axle, although I’ve not actually ridden anywhere to check.

    rOcKeTdOg
    Full Member

    Some good info here, including RD’s review:

    Nice one @shermer75 👍

    therevokid
    Free Member

    Love mine. Bit of a challenge on smaller frame/lower saddle setups but as stated so easy to swap bike to bike. I have one universal axle, 1 specific “boost” axle and even an old school qr one.

Viewing 5 posts - 1 through 5 (of 5 total)

You must be logged in to reply to this topic.