mdilthey

They're here... Didn't expect this, to be honest, but it looks like good stuff!

Singletrack Magazine | Ortlieb Launches Waterproof Bikepacking Range

fietsbob

Market share , they want a big slice of it, & why not. ? their seam welded gear works & your stuff stays Dry.

alan s 

Little late to the game, but maybe this will start a price war.

fietsbob

I doubt the Germans will lower their wages , more likely Automate more parts of the process.

Tourist in MSN

Another link.
Ortlieb Handlebar-Pack Review - BIKEPACKING.com

I do not think Ortlieb would know how to start a price war.

Before I bought my Carradice Nelson Longflap, I considered one of these. But, I am sticking with the Longflap.
CarraDry SQR Bag

mdilthey

I like Carradice bags. Only thing stopping me is that I already own regular framebags.

I always look for smaller cottage bagmakers before buying from larger manufacturers. There will be plenty of sales for Ortlieb from others. That said, I love my Ortlieb panniers and can't stomach the cost of some of the "cottage" pannier makers...

BobG

How does one mount a bike with a high seat bag attached? Leg over just in front of the seatpost? Youthful dexterity? This Orlieb bag is the most absurdly high butt-load I've seen yet! I can't kick a leg front ways over the top tube even when it's steeply sloping. Am I missing something?

jonc123

All of the bags are on the Ortlieb USA site with pricing.

Bike Packing ? Ortlieb USA

I gotta get this hat...it comes in yellow and matches my panniers perfectly!

https://ortliebusa.com/product/rain-hat/

fietsbob

You can lay the bike on the ground, step over it, then pick it up Underneath You.

Done so when my hip joint hurt.

Tourist in MSN

NOTE: EDITED A FEW HOURS LATER:

I bend my knee quite sharply before I swing my knee over the top tube in front of the saddle. The one foot on the ground is probably more forward when I get on than it is for most people when they swing their leg over the saddle, as I am pretty close to the handlebars when I swing my knee over, only a few inches behind the bars. One of my bikes has pretty high bottom bracket - meaning a pretty high saddle too. That bike I have to lean the bike a bit more to one side to get a bit more clearance to swing my knee over the top tube. It is easier to do on my bikes with a sloping top tube where there is a lot of standover height.

I do not have one of those high bags, I just get on my bikes this way because my hip does not have the flexibility that it used to towards the side.

enigmaT120

I've quit swinging my leg up over the seat, and just hook it over in front, over the top tube. Too many times I got lazy and snagged the seat.

Does everybody who tours with frame packs like that have to carry a hydration pack, due to water bottle spots being taken up by the bag?

Tim_Iowa

Some folks put their bottles in the frame pack.
Some folks put their hydration bladder in the frame pack.

If the fork has cage mounts (like the pictured Salsa), you can mount your bottles on the fork legs.

alan s 

Mountain bikepackers tend to use a backpack to carry water and extra stuff, but there are plenty of places to carry water other than inside the triangle or behind the saddle like the tri folks. Handlebars, under the downtube, or fork work fine, but may not be as accessible, which is not always a priority when touring. Carrying water low on the bike is nice for weight distribution, so some locations are not ideal.

dim

LOL ... there are a zillion refugees in Germany (with million more on the way) .... they are all unemployed and will work for cheap

but saying that, and looking closely at pannier bags, I still prefer the UK Carradice (especially the canvas ones such as Super C... very classy and hand made) ... if you have valuables that need waterproofing, place them in tupperware plastic containers or plastic bags then put them in your pannier bags

to me, Ortlieb looks 'plasticsy'

Happy Feet

I watched a video on the Ortlieb site and it seems the seat bag is held to the post with a single attachment point. Am I missing something or does that seem like a lot of cantilever? I picture it flexing at the mid point if you land off a jump hard.

Other than that I like the handle bar bag idea (opening at both ends) and the frame bag, though I doubt I would spend that much for them.

Tourist in MSN

Depends on how big the frame bag is. I got lucky and found a bag that fit perfectly if I have one bottle on the seat tube.



Or in this photo I had a bottle below the down tube too. I was not really touring in this photo, just mountain biking on my expedition bike.



Some people use a smaller frame bag that leaves room below the bag for a bottle above the downtube.

robow

I would like some opinions here. Do you think the bike pictured above is carrying more gear than you could get in two panniers? Assuming you can attach either a front or rear rack, what is the advantage of bike bags? I'm not sure I get it. Mind you I'm not dissing it, I would just like to understand. Thanks

jbphilly

Nope. I've done tours on my Pugsley with just those bags - frame pack, handlebar roll, and saddlebag and nothing else. No backpack needed. The trick was to have five liters of water on the bike itself. Granted, usually it's hard to get that many (if you're just using the fork legs and down tube, you're limited to three or four unless using huge bottles). But that three or four is probably plenty in many locations.

Tourist in MSN

You need to ask the ultralight packers. Last summer when I was car camping while doing mountain biking day trips, I met some bikepackerers. One group was badly dehydrated when they got to the campsite I was at, had run out of water hours earlier. On a different day, a group of bikepackers had done a six mile detour to get more water because they were running low on water that day. And it was in the 70s, not that hot. In their quest to pack ultra light (and they had small backpacks on their backs too, which is not in the photo), they were going beyond what I consider safe.

The people that can pack that light and safely make it day to day, I applaud them. But, so far I am happy to carry more gear and be safe, I am too old to try to impress anybody. If I have only one full water bottle at the end of the day when I arrive at my destination, I consider that to be marginal, not excess weight.

Happy Feet

Two small panniers and a trunk bag.

The handlebar roll makes sense to me as a practical solution as off road you may not want a more traditional bar bag flopping around. They have been carrying bed rolls like that for centuries on horses. I am toying with the same idea for my next tour and am glad that Max linked this because I had not considered openings on both sides. In my case I may just cut the bottoms off two drybags and reseal them together as one.

Frame bags also make sense, as that is great real estate for parking weight. The Swiss army does it so it must be right - but you do lose current water bottle positioning so if you wind up putting the same water in the frame bag it seems you have spent a lot to achieve a little. I think I would probably opt for a camel bag packsack myself and use the frame bag for food, tools etc...

But I have always wondered about the seat bags. I totally get why one would want them if you have rear suspension but for a rigid frame you could achieve the same end by simply bungeeing a drysack to the rear rack like a trunk bag, at a fraction of the cost. Take a look at that pic and see the seat bag lowered onto a rear rack. Makes more sense to me. I really suspect it is a case of form over function with those but could stand to be corrected by a convincing argument.

robow

Yea, I was wondering how one carries their fluids other than Camel back. On the Salsa pictured, at least one can place a water bottle cage under the down tube but that seems to be it, since behind the seat and handlebar positions are no longer available such as on a tri bike.

fietsbob

NB: they have Trade Unions .. national , not shop by shop.

Squeezebox

For the sake of comparison, My rear rack is 1 1/2 lbs, front rack is 1lb 4oz, 25L panniers 2lb 12oz, 20L panniers 2lb 4oz, truck bag 1lb 7oz 11L, handle bar bag closer to 2 lb. 7L
And my 65L backback is considered heavy at 4lb.

fuzz2050

I'm sure part of it is style, but I think there is a legitimate weight savings to be had, if that's the sort of thing you're in to. That seat bag weighs just about a pound, holds 16.5 liters. A Tubus Airy, (just to pick an outside choice) is 230 grams, and an REI Flash 18 daypack is 340 grams. Then you have to deal with fitting one to the other, finding a way to keep it rigid while still allowing easy access, and still it's going to be heavier and more expensive.

Happy Feet

Well, I'm admittedly old school but always looking for new tricks so I still use basic Al racks which have served for decades.. very light. And I just bought two nylon drysacks that weight practically nothing. The goal in BPing is to go UL (I think) so the rack does not need to be bomb proof. I suspect I could achieve the same effect of the seat bag for about $20 ($5 rack and $15 sack)and hey! there is still room for a dual bottle cage behind the seat post. Here's a quick pic of an 8L bag on a rack, all it needs is the bungee:




Currently I bought these drysacks to try to replicate a more sturdy Trek 720 fork bag concept.