[Closed] Cheap bikepacking kit.. initial review

As a fan of all things inexpensive (aka cheap) I've previously been amongst the early purchasers of glorious items like the argos £400 full carbon road bike (still going faultlessly, albeit doesn't see that much use), and the Voodoo Wazoo £400 fatbike (also operating faultlessly, although aside from a few 'because I can' mountain bike outings, its mostly used for commuting and casual rides with the missus).

So after a bikepacking episode where I was rocking the deeply unfashionable set of panniers versus my mates with the whole alpkit shop strapped to their bikes, everything was fine and the panniers were ok, although the weight distribution wasn't ideal.

Nonetheless I like buying stuff and tinkering with bikes so I recently decided to take a browse on aliexpress and gamble with some bikepacking kit from there... and here are the fresh out of the box initial impressions!

7l Handlebar roll
[img] http://tinyurl.com/y8xvjfsq [/img]
[img] http://tinyurl.com/ybcqfj75 [/img]

Something litre seatpack.
[img] http://tinyurl.com/ycjrhgpb [/img]
[img] http://tinyurl.com/y8ng9yw6 [/img]

Initial impressions are good - everything is where it ought to be, sensible things like a semi-rigid section to the seatpack under the saddle, additional fastening positions on the bar roll to accommodate various bar types, rubber flap underside the seatpack to keep off the worst of the muck.

So here's a trial fit on the bike. I binned off the drybag that came with the bar roll and stuck my tent in the roll instead - it's not fashionable to have a 2 person tent that stays upright in a breeze when bikepacking, but frankly once you include basha poles, it weighs the same as a tarp setup, albeit it doesn't pack as small as a tarp (my tarp setup fits inside the 7l drybag)

[img] http://tinyurl.com/y8lrtjsr [/img]

The additional fastening positions on the dry bag also serve as fixing points for [s]grenade pouches[/s] food / device holders within easy reach when riding - you can pick these up for £3-5 from most surplus stores. I didn't encounter any problems with them obstructing bar movement when trying out some sharp cornering during my 'down the street and back' test routine.

[img] http://tinyurl.com/y8qnrxwb [/img]

Seatpack is straightforward.. in the pictures I've only chucked in a lightweight sleeping bag, so there's plenty of room there for a set of evening clothes / cooking equipment. The elastic straps on the top I can see coming in handy if you want to keep a rain jacket on hand for the British summer

[img] http://tinyurl.com/yawykw3t [/img]

That pictures actually a bit rubbish as I've just shoved the rainjacket there.. here done with a bit more care

[img] http://tinyurl.com/y944swzx [/img]

I'll come back to this thread once it's seen some real use and weather. Lingering questions for me are what to do with a thermarest - I'm leaning towards using a bigger drybag in the bar roll and putting it and the tent in that, and I'll be eyeing up frame bags next, although I'm reticent on this as I still have them associated with the 80's when I remember them as rubbish.

Areas of doubt.. the seatpack isn't any easier than any other saddle bag to attach and remove - to be fair I haven't seen any other manufacturers doing better on this, but I was hoping that bikepacking would see some improvement in this area.

The cost? £23 for the bar roll + drybag, and I think it was £30 odd for the seatpack. No affiliation, just my take on the kit.