Bike Packing Equipment

[LewisRidley]

Having found inspiration from the infamous NoGo Tour last year and a variety of other similar feats, I’ve planned to ride solo between Geneva and Nice in early September, consisting of 500 miles & 26,000ft of elevation gain across 8 days. I will be staying in hotels & Airbnb’s, therefore i’m aiming to travel as light as possible.

Having never previously bike packed i have a few questions regarding equipment and bike transportation;

i’m torn between a frame bag or a saddle bag? Are there any main differences i should be aware of apart from placement & centre of gravity.

What size (litre) of bags would you recommended based on the need to transport limited clothing and tools?

Any equipment you’ve found particularly useful, which you hadn’t expected to need?

Any recommendations on tried and tested equipment, especially frame or saddle bags would be much appreciated.

How do people transport their bikes when flying in to one location and flying out of a different location?

My current thought process is to use a bike cardboard box, then recycle this at Geneva airport and upon arrival in Nice get a bike shop to re-package my bike in a similar manner. I appreciate a cardboard box doesn’t provide as much protection as a hard case, but having looked at shipping a hard box between Geneva & Nice the prices are extortionate.

Are there any alternative methods that are similarly cost effective that i could use?

Additionally if anyone has any tips or insights for travelling specifically Alps, they’re welcomed.

Thanks in advance

[trswem]

I did 500 miles across Washington State in 2015, similar elevation I think. I used panniers with ortlieb bags on the back, and then a drybag sitting on top of the panniers. I also had a bag on my handlebars. The ortliebs did pretty nice because it kept the weight really low, and out of my way while riding. The drybag I had sitting on top was a bad idea though, just brought to much weight up too high. When I was climbing at 5mph out of the saddle and swinging the bike around, it was less than ideal. I would have loved to have had a frame bag to disburse some of that weight, but I ride a 49cm frame and there just wasn’t room for it. The handlebar bags were really a luxury, having snacks and phones and things like that easily accessible was nice.

As far as gear that I brought that I was thankful for, literally nothing . I wouldn’t say I ‘over-packed’, but I was cursing every extra ounce on those mountain passes. Having clean soft pajamas and comfy non-bike shoes was always welcome at the end of the day though. But give every single thing you bring a lot of scrutiny, as they say, ounce equal pounds and pounds equal pain. If I were to do that a trip again, I bet my weight would be cut in half.

Have fun man, bike trips are awesome experiences!

[Russ_Harper]

I bikepack with my Fatbike and i’ve been using Revelate packs which work really well. They have bags for everywhere which fit really securely.
If you Google Rob Britton who rides for Team Rally, he did a bikepack trip from Calgary to Victoria to prepare for Worlds. He shared his setup and how things went, it was an interesting read.

[Ultrawolf]

huge Revelate fan here too!

[BillyWaldman]

Revelate make good stuff, but there are other brands that are pushing the limits a bit more. Check our Rockgeist, super high quality and they’ve probably done more zipper research then any brand out there.

A big saddlebag can have some sway to it, it also limits you from getting behind your saddle, if you need to….it does act like a fender though
Frame bags are great, but they do limit you water bottle storage.

Volume of storage is based on temps, how much roughing it you want to do, and resupplys.

[A_AMAN]

I used a Revelate top tube bag for about 5 years, the zipper broke, and I sent it back for repairs, fully expecting to pay since I have used it so much. But they just fully warrantied it! The stuff lasts a long time, and the customer service is great.

Some newer bike bag manufacturers are trying to take advantage of the new market but stick with the OGs.

[GoLongThenGoHome]

Keep it light. For an 8 day hotel and B&B tour you should be fine with just one set of clothes for the evening and one for when on the bike. The Alps are hot during day and cold at night. An insulated gilet over a lightweight fleece can work well for the evenings.

I can highly recommend Merrell Vapor glove shoes for your off bike footwear. I take mine on any bike tours I do. Men - Vapor Glove 5 - Low | Merrell . Lightweight, compact, and fine for wandering about.

Most villages have free public drinking water troughs in the central squares. No need to carry masses of water. Just enough to next village or pass.

Have a bag either top tube or handlebar for keeping your valuables in. They can then be quickly removed from bike if leaving it whilst going inside a building etc.

Organise the contents of whatever you carry in different coloured dry bags. You’ll then be able to quickly identify what you want in whatever luggage option you go for.

Regarding weather it’s mostly dry in the mornings with heat building during day and afternoon thunderstorms or rain. Early starts and finishes work best to beat storms.

As for airport. Cardboard boxes work well with plumbers pipe lagging, tape, bubble wrap etc protecting everything. You can often get the cardboard for free from bike shops near airports or ask most shops. Hardware shop for the pipe lagging and tape etc.

[bobw]

Since bikepacking and ITTs (self supported MTB races) are my “thing” here’s my take…

It takes time and experimentation to figure out what works for you. There’ll be things you are willing to compromise on and others you won’t. I doubt that I do two trips where I’m packing things the same way.

Consider what you need rather than what you want, don’t take stuff “just in case”. After each trip make three piles of your kit:

• what you used
• what you didn’t use.
• emergency stuff like first aid kit, tools, spares.

Next trip, don’t take anything from the second pile.

That leads to bags. Don’t assume you’ll need all the bags and the biggest bags - you’ll just be tempted to fill them. Bigger and heavier bags affect the bike handling quite noticeably. There’s two “styles”: integrated bags and separate harnesses and bags. I prefer the latter because:

• you can fit different sized bags depending on the trip: my front harnes (Wildcat) will take from 5L to 30L.
• you can pack and unpack the bag off the bike which is much more convenient.
• If the bag wears out or is damaged it’s just a matter of replacing that, a few dollars/quid/Euros rather than a hundred or more.

Here’s one of my bikes set up for an overnighter:

And the same bike set up for a trip using a hammock:

Here’s a “race” setup (this was for the French Divide, two weeks of riding across France)

Same bike and harnesses, just different bags depending on what I’m taking.

Trail food, spares and the like go in Stem Cells, top tube bags and the like.

Bikepacking.com do group roundups of bags so check those out. Usually they are the smaller manufacturers like Revelate, Rockgeist, etc. rather than the rebranded stuff of the major gear suppliers.

Unless you are truly out in the wilderness you’ll be passing shops, cafés, etc. so restock and eat there then you just need stuff for breakfast and on the trail.

Cardboard boxes are fine for shipping bikes in, just get loads of pipe lagging, remember to put a spacer between the dropouts so the frame/forks don’t get bent, use some clothing to pad out the box so the bike doesn’t move. Just remember that luggage handlers aren’t interested in your bike, it’s just a box to load/unload so take care but don’t over worry.

[Russ_Harper]

I have a Rockgeist frame bag which i love. I’ve used it a bunch of times and it’s solid. I do use the Revelate Tangle bag for lighter journeys and it’s been great.