Hi everyone, I’m new here, so I hope this post comes through properly. I’ve been doing shorter bikepacking trips for about two years now. I started with a five-day trip in Italy with pretty basic, light equipment, and since then most of my trips have been weekend rides of two to three nights. Last year I did a longer trip of around 1200 km from Switzerland to Spain, with a lot of harsh and changing weather, and that was the point where I really noticed how much upgrade potential my setup has. The main issue was simply space: I often felt like I didn’t have enough capacity to bring everything I actually needed or would have liked to have with me, especially when the weather got unpredictable. I also started strapping some things externally to the bags as the space was limited.
What I love about bikepacking is being outside, having experiences along the way rather than only focusing on the destination, and being able to travel in a cost-efficient way. Because I mostly camp in the wild, I almost always carry a sleeping bag, an air mattress, and either a tarp or a small tent. I don’t usually bring a full cooking setup because my friends and I often prefer takeout or simple sandwiches, but I do like to carry a bit more clothing than “ultralight” setups recommend, mainly because the weather can turn quickly. On top of that I bring a small towel, power banks to keep my electronics charged, and a decent set of tools and spares (spare tube, gear cable, brake pads, and sometimes even a spare chain) in case something breaks far from help.
Up to now I’ve been using a Scott Speedster 10 with a fairly standard bag setup, similar to that swtup in the image,a seat pack, frame bag and a front/handlebar bag, but overall the space has felt limited for the kind of trips I want to do.I mostly had a jacket and shirt strapped on the front bag and my sleeping bag strapped on the seat pack, which of course isnt optimal when it rains.
I recently bought an Otso Warakin Stainless, which seems much more suited for my riding, and since it has more mounting points I’d like to use this opportunity to rethink and upgrade my bag setup as well. I also started using aerobars on longer rides, and that makes it harder to mount a classic handlebar bag cleanly.
Im planning a longer multiweek trip trough the balkans later this year and im definitively underprepared in the packing aspect.
Given all that, what would you recommend as a good bag setup for this kind of bikepacking? I’m especially interested in what people run when they use aerobars (front luggage options, fork-mounted bags, racks vs. no racks, etc.), and what you would prioritize to gain useful volume without making the bike annoying to handle.
I must also add that my pedalling style kind of doesnt allow big framebags as i have
thick thighs and dont like to have my knees more outwards than needed.
by Then-Clerk-3653
2 Comments
can you be a bit more specific which kind of bike/tyres you will be doing, distance per day, whole trip, terrain, it does make a difference
I’m sure you are aware but it’s basically a cost thing. Instead of thinking more bag space think about upgrading your kit maybe? I’ve listed some things I’ve done below for both.
Bags:
If you’re struggling to mount the current handlebar bags there are some that go the other way such as the restrap race aero. But I have never had issue with a more stuff/dry bag type of handlebar bag such as Apidura expiditon with TT bars.
Rear rack that doesnt need pannier mounting points. Tailfin is annoyingly both very pricey and very good. Restrap also release the Switch Rack next month that looks good.
Pannier rack? Similar to the above but seen a bit more old school but a lot cheaper and need mounting points on the seat stays.
Both of the above could replace your seat bag and add bags to the side where panniers would be.
Get a top tube bag for snacks.
If your bike has other mounts look at things like the tailfin cargo cages that you can strap dry bags to.
Kit:
Tent, sleeping bag, mat and a few clothes I fit all in my handlebar bag. Sierra Designs high side 1, thermorest questar, some mat from a ultralight sub but thermarest also. I dont pack any in their original packing and just stuff them into the handlebar bag (apart from blow up mat).
If you mostly bikepack outside of winter you’ll likely not be in too cold temps meaning a smaller sleeping bag.
Backpacking ultralight gear is a good starting point but have to think a bit more on space than just weight.