Originally Posted by jpescatore

Nice, I went a similar way with mixed vendors on my Jamis what today is called a gravel bike. I can use the same setup on my carbon Domane but I weigh 225 and decided that adding more weight before I lose more weight would be pushing the wheels too close to the limit - so the Jamis is my touring bike with a bike packing setup, replacing my 1995 Trek 520 and traditional pannier approach. I pretty much only do "credit card" style touring - not camping or cooking.

For a recent 3 day tour in Florida, I didn't need the Oveja Front Loader bar bag, just the small handle bar bag add-on. For that trip, I actually didn't even use the top tube bag, either - warm weather made light packiing easier and the Revelate saddle bag and mini-framebag gave me enough room for what I needed to carry. Using SPD pedals and not really planning on much walking meant one pair of shoes was fine for that short trip, too.

The downsides: (1) Had to be careful about strapping up the saddle bag right or it would bounce into the rear tire; (2) Not a good way to hang a tail light to roll-up saddle bags but I jury rigged up some straps to do so. (3) Even the mini-frame bag and side load cages meant I really couldn't remove/insert water bottles while riding.


Jamis Renegade in bike packing mode