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    Advice for stacking while Bikepacking

    Hello friends 👋🏼

    I’m about to start my first longer bikepacking trip from Ravensburg to Lago di Garda and could use some advice.

    When I bought my bags, I unfortunately didn’t pay attention to whether my sleeping bag would fit into my front fork bags. I’ve now realized that it doesn’t fit.

    As an alternative, I’ve been thinking about using a 10-liter dry bag that I already own. My idea is to attach it to my Ortlieb rack pack using additional bike straps and mount it on top of the rear rack.
    I’d be interested to hear your opinions on this setup. Has anyone ridden with a similar arrangement before?

    During a short test ride, it actually felt quite stable and didn’t seem to cause any issues. However, it was only a very short ride, and I’m planning to do a longer test ride soon.

    Maybe some of you already have experience with this kind of setup and can tell me whether it’s a good solution or if there are any problems I should be aware of before heading out on a longer trip.

    Thanks in advance for any advice! 🚴‍♂️

    by Ok_Insurance7935

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    36 Comments

    1. Horror-Raisin-877 on

      Think it’s just a question if time until it falls off, but that being said, just a couple days ago here someone posted pics of their bike with just such a setup, so maybe it works 🤷

    2. Junior_Step_2441 on

      Stacking is less than ideal, but since it is just a sleeping bag which does not weight much, you can get away with doing this.

      I would step the Birks to the fork cages just because I think it would be funny 🤷‍♂️😂

    3. flower-power-123 on

      Maybe put both of them transversely rather than stacked? This is the limit of bikepacking tower builds. If you go higher than this then god will punish all of us by making incompatible bottom bracket standards.

      https://cf.preview.redd.it/cycling-across-mongolia-for-30-days-just-reached-the-v0-p858e4gxlz191.jpg?width=1080&crop=smart&auto=webp&s=438b0b80f720e3a459d39b5d55247fd40b8bf0ef

      https://www.reddit.com/r/bikepacking/comments/uyuf37/cycling_across_mongolia_for_30_days_just_reached/

    4. Mr-Blah on

      Traditionally you want the wait as low as possible for handling reasons.

      In your tests, make sure to go dwonhill at some decent speed to test if the setup has a death wobble issue or not.

      Not ideal, but it can sure work for a few days.

    6. Mike_a_bike on

      Seems quite likely to move if you ride some decent gravel but if you’ve tried it and you think it works… Then it works !

      However I would buy mini panniers (gravelpack maybe) and put the stuff from your drybag inside the panniers, and put the sleeping bag on the rack alone. Easier to access your stuff and more stable overall (weight seats lower)

    7. hotpot32 on

      I have that ortlieb roll bag…. it does not like to stay secured for long if the going gets rough.

      If you’re on smooth roads and you mostly cycle in the saddle, it will work, but its not ideal.

      If it’s your only option make sure the heaviest stuff is in the lowest bag to avoid the bike wanting to flip flop about.

    9. turxchk on

      I had something similar for my first trip, I needed to fix it several times a day as the bags shift, and it was a massive pain to retrieve stuff and strap the whole thing together each morning. Now I just run a small pannier on the side for extra stuff.

    11. _paquito on

      Yea I had basically this set up on my last trip. 10L dry bag on the bottom with clothes and toiletries, sleeping bag on top. For the bottom bag it worked best if I slapped it into a fairly oval shape before putting it on the back. Kind of like a loaf of bread so it would just sit there. The sleeping bag dry bag I kneel on to get all the air out before rolling it up, it rolls down to about 5L capacity. Strapped it all down with a bungee. It flopped over a couple times, usually due to my not making the bottom back shape well. But hung on for quite a while anyways in it’s flopped over state. 

      I also wrapped an old inner tube around the rack platform to reduce sliding around. 

    13. basslinesurfer on

      I would advise against stacking like that. Unless the top dry bag contains something very light and not fragile.
      You could just strap it to the handlebars instead? Or move some of that into a frame bag / panniers?
      Perhaps think of getting some rubber sandals, as they might get wet and will get dusty. Those are great but made of leather. 🙂

    15. Pawsy_Bear on

      Fall off and will be unstable causing steering twitch. Just don’t go out in any cross winds. You can imagine the problem as a big gust hits your rear stack.

      Need to get rid of the dork disk – it’s the plastic pacing on your cassette because if you leave it on your going to have shifting issues and dropped chain problems.

    17. Ok_Insurance7935 on

      First of all, a huge thank you to everyone who took the time to reply to my question. I really appreciate all the feedback, and I was genuinely surprised and happy that so many people were interested in the topic.

      After reading your comments, I gave it some more thought. Many of you were right that mounting the bag at the back looked a bit shaky, and I can definitely imagine it eventually coming loose or falling off.

      So I tried a different setup and mounted it to my aerobars instead. I tested two different options, and both seem to fit quite well. I’ve attached photos of both setups.

      What do you think? Which one looks better, and do you think either of these would work well in practice?

      Thanks again for all the helpful input!

      https://preview.redd.it/3ly4zwj5oo6h1.jpeg?width=4284&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=dbf50a7bd440c53cb72678ea113e0e4a5887979d

    18. apleasantpeninsula on

      they think they’re so sneaky putting the logo really low like that and they kinda are because it looks cool

    19. Pure_Khaos on

      Seems like you could maybe strap that dry bag inside the frame like a frame bag

    22. airjunkie on

      I use a cheap larger dry bag that can fit a sleeping bag and a tent. Input my sleeping mat in one of my front fork bags.

    23. 77sxela on

      I don’t get why people go all these lengths to avoid panniers. Especially on a route like op is considering, from somewhere in Germany to Lago di Garda.

      If it were somewhere in the wild – yeah, maybe. But there? Across the Alps? Maybe even along Via Claudia?

    24. Snoo-43127 on

      As others have said, you since you already have a pannier rack, why are you bothering with bikepacking bags? Panniers allow you to carry more, and it’s easier to get stuff out since they’re top load rather than end-load.

    25. IAMAfortunecookieAMA on

      Aerodynamics don’t matter that much. Just put them horizontal on that rack, one after another.

    27. T-Zwieback on

      I think you can make this work.

      First, strap the Ortlieb bag with your clipped Voile strap really tightly to the rack. I do that with my dry bag and it’s as solid as welded on. Then, put your second bag on top and loop two longer straps around the bottom of the rack platform and the two bags, again as tight as you can manage. I reckon that’ll be solid enough.

    28. WILDBO4R on

      every day we stray further and further from god

      and by god of course I mean panniers

    29. grantrules on

      I’ve been holding into my ortlieb front and backrollers waiting for the day that panniers become en vogue again and I think that time is soon upon us

    30. WonderfulDance6834 on

      It’s going to get annoying eventually. Get small panniers at some point.

    31. backlikeclap on

      I would not do this if I had a choice. 90% chance it will be fine… But if it fails you can easily destroy your back wheel and derailleur.

    32. Crocaman on

      If you cinch it down tight it’ll probably be fine, I’ve done something similar many times. You should probably get panniers though (look into kitty litter container panniers if you are the diy-ing type). If it does fall off, it’ll probably be fine too as it’s a soft sleeping bag, just reattach. This would more than likely not happen on paved roads near cars, only on rougher terrain with slower traffic (the only risk to your sleeping bag if it falls off)

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