Nearing the start now. My last change before the trip will be switching to 50 mm tires.
I pre-packed to check if all the gear fits. Everything is easily accessible.
The rear pannier holds my sleeping bag, hammock, pot, and stove. The middle compartment has clothes, and on top I’ve tucked in some soap and a toothbrush. The handlebar bag is for fuel.
I could rent a bikepacking saddle bag, but I already have this rear pannier. Do you think that’ll be a mistake on gravel?
by SpacecraftBathtub
6 Comments
you won’t find a saddle bag with that much storage. I think you are calling that rack top bag a pannier? it is not. A great set-up would be a smaller rack top bag and mini or micro panniers, but what you have should work- just make triple sure that its secured
Rear rack supremacy gang here. My opinion: for the vast majority of people and purposes, racks are better than seat bags. The weight is anchored lower on the bike and secured with more attachment points. A rack bag or pannier is usually easier to remove than a seat bag, and usually easier for accessing items. I’m someone who has never had a thigh gap, so having something strapped to my seatpost also rubs holes in my shorts.
I don’t see any mention of where your food is being stored, just separate it from your fuel. Without estimating the current weight of your various bags, my only input would be to see how many of the heavier items you can store in your frame bag to get the weight centered and lowered.
I’m a fan of racks and panniers but for off-road touring I think a saddle bag would be preferable due to the vibrations. That said I think you might not find a large enough saddle bag (they max out at around 13L) and you’ll probably be fine with that setup (it helps that you just have a bag strapped on the trunk and no hanging panniers), just make sure to bring some extra bolts in case something on the rack rattles loose.
What drybag is that on the back?
From the formfactor it might just be the one that I need for my setup.
I think the setup looks great and you’ll use capacity when using a bag for the seatpost.
I tour with a dry bag strapped to a rack. I use a 20l bag but could easily go up to 25-30l. I cinch it down hard with non elastic straps. I use voile but have used polyester straps. Bungee cords stretch too much. I’ve done this for road and light gravel. It works. It’s easy to pack. Easy to tuck clothing and sandals into the straps. No rub issues. Cheap. I personally don’t own panniers and don’t want them. I prefer the clean look of this.
You ain’t fitting all that stuff into a seat bag. The folks using seat bags are going ultra light. Imo, seat bags of the same (similar) volume are 25-33% smaller in real life.
My 17L seat bag holds less than my 13L sea to summit dry bag and my 20L sea to summit is insanely bigger than that seat bag.
I would stick with the rack and drybag.