Insulated fork pack - any opinion?
 

I've received today 2 DOM Gorilla dry bags (fork packs). I had ordered one black and one white (5,5L). The seller's site suggested that they were variants (white, red, black), but while the black model is your typical dry bag, the white variant is lined with a layer of reflectix. Surprising (and annoying because it makes the roll-closing more difficult), I searched on other sites where the nature of the beast is obvious. (pic below)

At the moment, I see little to no upside other than, perhaps, fewer melted Snickers. But this is assuming meaningful insulating power. Struggling with the rolled top closure doesn't appeal to me.

Perhaps someone here has used something similar and thinks it is a game changer?. Let me know if I should ditch it (costs more to return than what I've paid) or whether it is something that every seasoned tourist (tourer is flagged as a typo) should have.

https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...cd13a7b704.jpg

good question gauvins.
I can only go by our experience with similarly lined tough fabric grocery bags we have, large cloth bags with the same lining as these. They certainly help keep frozen things colder, but I wonder if these are going to be the same as the insulated bicycle drink bottles we have used for years---yes, they help, but not really that much.

I guess it depends on how annoying these are for rolling up for you to decide to keep them.
If you find you really hate them, I would buy them off you, as I want to get some fork mounts for the Troll and do some lighter packing trips, but haven't decided on either the cages or the roll bags yet.

ps, have you ever tried fatbiking? It is really, really fun and a real challenge with bike handling and figuring out which tire pressures work best for various snow conditions.

Why not experiment to see if the insulation is functional?
(That is if you're not going to return or resell, don't need to keep in like new condition)
Put a frozen 2L water bottle in each one, lay them in the sun for 6 hours, compare.

chuckle, up here in the Great White North, we would have to wait about 5 months until a test like that would be of any use.

oopsie! i forget what it was like in the long ago time. middle of january in thailand, 30 degrees C, still need AC at night!

so, okay..............try it with hot water bottles instead.

Ya, I know, I couldn't resist razzing you a bit. I was out shoveling for a good while this morning at a nice balmy -5c , pretty darn warm for January.

Well. Riding on 2.1". Not really fat. Let's say... "plump" :)

Dedou?

Dodu?

fat = gros
plump or chubby ? = a word I've heard before but never have spelled it--finally looked it up, and so yes, "dodu", merci.
Je vais dormir moins niaiseux ce soir....(had to look up how to spell niaiseux too!)

heading out on my trés dodu bike very soon

https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...8056a4ca8.jpeg

I'd be interested in how those bags work out, with keeping things cold in the desert. 🤔

I've been through the Mohave, Sonoran, Imperial, and maybe a few other deserts I'm forgetting right now. No matter what the desert, water tastes like crap when it's too warm. 😝 Or warm Coke, yechhh.

I think you would want a genuine vacuum insulated stainless bottle for that.

Even then -- insulation slows down heat transfer, but I doubt that you have fresh water (or hot coffee) at the end of the day. My experience with insulated bottles is to pour hot coffee in the morning in a stainless insulated bottle. Two hours later coffee is at "room" temperature. I think I remember claims of better insulation, though.

There are a couple different manufacturers of this style bottle. I have bought some Manna brand, two had bad insulation within a few months but the others have held up quite well.

They are slightly undersize for bottle cages, I cut some sleeves from mountain bike sized innertubes about a half inch (~12mm) long and stretched over the bottle to fit a few layers of that innertube rubber to make it fit in standard cages without being loose. I wrapped electric tape over the innertube rubber, but I do not know if that is really needed.

Late winter (March 8) two years ago, snow in the background, my coffee and coco mix clearly cooled during the day but at the end of a 65 mile ride it was still warm. I started with the coffee no hotter than 145 degrees (F) or 63 degrees (C) when it went into the bottles, as any hotter than that and I can't drink it very fast.

https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...47ce886538.jpg


https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...558bdf3a0c.jpg

That said, I would not use those in the desert, in that heat you want bottles larger than a half liter each. Maybe a Growler size?