Hello bikepacking friends!
After a couple of trips with the setup as seen in the images (Canyon Grizl with fork cages and a rear rack with Blackburn Outpost cages) I've noticed significant wear on all of the drybags. The orange bags are from sea to summit (ultra-sil), the black ones are from Canyon, intended to be used with the fork cages.
Is such wear to be expected (see last few images)? Or did I pack them wrong? I did bring a few rigid objects (powerbank, e-reader) which could have caused friction. The bags from Canyon feel a lot sturdier than the sea to summit ones (ultra-sil probably favours weight over resilience), but also one of the Canyon bags has a hole in it now.
Perhaps something like a harness for the bags would help, but them I'm wondering if small panniers are not more convenient.
Any thoughts or comments are welcome!
(and yes I did try to patch one with duct tape on the road, which I didn't expect to make it waterproof. It indeed didn't 😅)
by LtRampage
10 Comments
I’ve tried to use the thinner dry bags on lower parts of the bike (forks and down tube area) and have had the same issue. Any time you get dust in behind a point of contact, the constant friction ends up wearing through.
I have 400-denier bags on my front fork and they’ve been through a lot of scuffing without failure.
Look at ITIWIT 10 Liters https://www.decathlon.de/p/wasserfeste-tasche-10-l-orange/_/R-p-325042?mc=8584868&channable=4129b1696400343031383932397b&gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAjwhvi0BhA4EiwAX25ujzkegD4a9DB7kqA9UJi59M0tn57qa3zgE7UlnS-p5aWjXeIYr58yhxoCQyUQAvD_BwE&utm_campaign=de_t-perf_ct-shopp_n-brand-passion_ts-bra_f-cv_o-traf_xx-p-sea-s-b-n-g&utm_medium=cpc&utm_source=google&utm_term=4018929
I wouldn’t say those sea to summit ones are really meant for that much exposure (especially on a fork), rather to be used inside a rucksack while hiking to keep things dry in heavy rain. I use the ones from Planet X/Podsacs (UK based but still might give you an idea of what material is good to look for if they can’t be bought abroad) which are very heavy duty.
I’ve had some of those thinner dry bags that had holes within a few days in the wrong conditions. Now I stick to the heavier duty drybags, I’m less concerned about ultralight than having wet stuff because my drybags are full of holes. I have a few different brands (mostly now I just buy anything on sale), currently I’m using seal line bags on my fork and they seem to be holding up. The only place I use the “nano” and “UL” type drybags now is for storing things like electronics inside of other bags.
What /u/jarvischrist said about the lighter S2S bags. They’re for stuffing them inside other bags, not to be exposed like that.
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> (and yes I did try to patch one with duct tape on the road, which I didn’t expect to make it waterproof. It indeed didn’t 😅)
You want an inflatable SUP\kayak repair kit. Comes with a piece of rubber and cement. Makes it effectively waterproof.
Heavy duty dry bags will last. These are not meant to be exposed but rather used inside of another bag.
I have the heavier S2S bags and they hold up a lot better as well as having built in loops for securing them
Yeah I put holes in the sea to summit ultra-sil in one trip… just can’t take straps and solid stuff well. I’ve had better luck with their lightweight bags I believe and recently got the more durable big river bag and I don’t see it ripping any time soon.
Time will tell if it was worth the extra cash! Bikepacking is def rough on the bags…
I had the same wear on MEC nano dry bags. I tried to save weight and went for a lighter material. These bags are not really designed to be strapped to racks. They are more for dry storage paddling trips or backpacking.
The excessive vibration and grit of bikepacking chewed through them in less than a week.
I got my money back because the product was suggested but MEC staff, but it was not the right suggestion. You need rubberized dry bags, or something that can take this kind of abrasion.
Hope that helps.
I used the cheap “Ocean Pack” units with thicker material, as the Newboler dry bags were, despite being designed to fit with their narrow cage units, very expensive. However, the Oceans must be strapped cleanly and firmly on the fork legs and should never sway, as any friction against the tire will hole them accidentally. Those bags are better off strapped on the handlebar, on the rear rack bed, or, in my case, a 10-liter bag in the front basket.