Very much a newcomer to bike luggage, so wanting to get something that’s good but not too spend just in case I either a) don’t like the particular kit, or b) just don’t like bike packing.

As far as frame bags go, any reason not to get an Alpkit? I know that they’re not waterproof, but that generally means more ££. I know Lomo is a popular choice too, but pretty sure the shape wouldn’t be a great fit for my bike

There’s some very good value bags at Planet X that generally seem recommended as a toe-in-the-water purchase. Not used them myself.

I’ve got a Blackburn Outpost frame bag, zips out from a half bag to a full bag.
Comes in 3 sizes to fit a variety of frames. Medium fits my Krampus spot on.

Well made and though not fully waterproof my stuff hasn’t got wet yet.
Very good as a starter piece of kit.

Can be found online for between £30-40.

If you are close to one of the Alpkit shops then you could pop in and try one for size.

What are you looking to put in the frame bag? IME even the larger partial frame bags don’t hold quite as much as you think you should be able to get in them. It helps if you are very good at packing but it’s still not a lot. If the bag bulges too much then you start catching it with your knees/inner thighs.

I’ve a custom made Alpkit frame bag (came with the frame I bought SH) and I had one made for my wife’s fat bike. Decent enough quality. Water resistant but not waterproof but then anything that needs proper protection would be in a dry bag anyway.

I’ve no experience of either PlanetX or Lomo bikepacking bags as by the time they came on the market I’d already got the Wildcat equivalents.

That Blackburn is actually really interesting. Wasn’t keen on ditching bottle mounts but that’s swaying me. If there something to hold a bladder up near the port, or do you need a really long hose to be able to take a drink whilst riding?

whitestone

Member

If you are close to one of the Alpkit shops then you could pop in and try one for size.

Nowhere near unfortunately. Can’t think of any shop near me (Glasgow) that would be worth visiting for this sort of thing. Was also looking at Wildcat’s re-launch but they’re not expecting to be taking orders until the first part of next year now.

What are you looking to put in the frame bag?

Doing a 3 day trip but using B&Bs for this one, so don’t need massive amounts of luggage space. Going to see what I can get away with starting with the frame bag, then I’ve got a bar bag I can borrow for the trip anyway if required (highly likely it seems)

Pop into Lomo and try theirs. I have one. Can’t fault it, especially at the cost. It lived on my fatbike all winter and was handy for carrying extra layers/gloves etc.

For bikepacking I prefer to keep the frame free for water bottles and use seat/bar bags.

Lomo will mean taking off the down tube bottle cage, so a no-go. I’ve got room for a (shallow-ish) 50cm long bag, so the 40cm but quite deep Lomo does’t seem like the answer

Evans do carry a few bikepacking style bags but there’s no guarantee that any given shop will have what you want/need.

It’s one of those things that’s hard to make recommendations because every frame is different and we each have different demands of what we want the kit to do. When we started bikepacking (though we’d done similar before and just called it overnighting/bothying) there was only really Alpkit, Wildcat and I think Apidura available. You could get Revelate if you ordered it directly from the States. After lots of prevarication I went with Wildcat so now have a slight bias towards them.

Remember to only pack what you need, not what you want. There’s a big difference! Colin will also say that it’s better to invest in light and compact kit which is true but that’s further down the line. Of course using that good quality kit isn’t restricted to bikepacking – the per night cost of my quilt is now just over £1, a mixture of bikepacking, camping and sleepovers.

Last point: don’t panic when you see ultra light kit lists as that’s usually for UK summer. Once you get to this time of year things just get heavier and bulkier (though not by much).

Remember to only pack what you need, not what you want.

Indeed, trying to be a bit sensible but I can see how it can easily escalate!

I remembered that I’d posted my kit list before. It’s near the end of this thread:

Help with lowest bike packing gear ratios for bikepacking