Surferjo

Hello all.

We are looking to do the Great Allegheny Passage in October. 3 days riding with 2 nights in hotels. I ride a custom Carbon fiber hardtail MB. I don't have any mounting points on the frame so if I go with a rack I have to use those generic ones with the clamps.

I did a ride a 2 years ago (2 day ride with a single night in a hotel) and was able to get everything I needed in an 8Qt tail bag and a top tube bag.

The descriptions says 12qt, so between the extra capacity and my frame bag I should be fine.

My questions is has anybody ever used this type of bag and if so are they ok?

I only do this type of ride once a year so it wont get much use.

Thanks in advance for the advice.

veganbikes

I have used seatbags a bunch and they can be great for clothes and such. However not so good if using a dropper post unless you have a more specific one like these: https://bikepacking.com/gear/dropper-post-seat-bags/

With a full frame bag you can carry quite a lot and if you aren't needing to take camping gear you will save a lot of weight and space. You really only need a pair to wear and a pair to wash and in some cases probably just a pair to wear. For any sort of non-riding clothes I would just pack the barest minimum of one set of clothes. For riding you might also just do 1 jersey and 2 bibs. I can wash the jersey and with a quick dry fabric it will be OK and if I don't wash not a huge deal. I sometimes have worn jerseys a couple days in a row.

I would not clamp to a carbon frame like that, you could damage the bike quite easily. Carbon bikes in general aren't well designed for racks if at all.

Surferjo

Standard seat post. Appreciate the feedback.

Thank you.

veganbikes

Ok cool. Mine is a dropper and I love it but I do worry when I decide to use the bike for some bike packing trips what I am going to do as I don't want to buy yet another bag in my overloaded bag array. I love all the bags I have they are great but I have a perfectly fine seat bag and don't need to swap it yet.

jpescatore

I switched my touring bike from my old Trek 520 and panniers to a Jamis gravel bike and a Revelate expandable seat bag. For a three day road trip across Florida, I went with that, a half size frame bag, and a Oveja Negra small handle bar bag. The Jamis has braze ons for racks but I wanted to try this out.

The only caution on that type of bag is watching the distance to the tire - when I was first trying it out on long local rides, I didn't tighten the straps enough and on a 80 mile ride didn't notice it would rub the tire on bumps and wore a hole in it! The geometry of the bike had plenty of room when I did tighten the straps enough. That also reduced the "waggle" to a low level.

The downside is hard to get anything out during a ride and having to swing my leg higher than is natural for my limited limberness getting on/off the bike. The upside was the ride feel - having all the weight in the center line of the bike seemed to make the load less noticeable, but comparing the 520 to the gravel bike isn't apples to apples. The weight being higher up wasn't that noticeable.

veloz

Bikepacking seat bags have some side sway but work fine when not overloaded. Topeake makes a very fair priced bike packing bag called the backloader. I've used one for bike packing and would recommend it. We have a Blackburn too which we like but the Topeake is great for the money - check their entire bike packing series. Also have their Frontloader model.

Surferjo

Wow, those Revelate bags are really nice. They may require a little too much clearance but i guess if you have an inch on a HT its fine. They seems to be out of stock just about everywhere on the larger size. The Topeake also looks pretty good and is probably a better choice for my ones a year adventure.

This Roswheel also looks pretty good.

balto charlie

I have used the Revelate frame bag for touring. Excellent quality!! They sell a system called Terrapin System which makes removing the bag from the seat holder easy. I have never used this style but looks good.
https://www.revelatedesigns.com/inde...rapinSystem14L

You can order directly from the company, they are in Alaska.
​​​​​​https://www.revelatedesigns.com/

Surferjo

Everything they have is listed as sold out. I shot them an email this morning.

Thanks

waddo

Panniers are just tried and tested and common sense. Everything else is a solution looking for a problem.

jpescatore

REI carries Revelate and may have some in stock

Surferjo

Just checked and they are sold out also. I added my email to the Stock alert. Revelate emailed me back and said they have a small amount of stock coming in. Looking at the Topeake bags also and they seem to get very good reviews and are readily available.


Thanks again.

MAK

Wolf Tooth makes an interesting accessory called a Valais (see below). It allows you to use a seat bag with a dropper post. In an emergency you can move it down to keep your seat up should your dropper post fail.

https://www.wolftoothcomponents.com/...ucts/valais-25

veganbikes

Yeah I have seen that I don't know yet. I gotta reach out to Thomson and see what they say on it officially. I do trust WTC but you know when you spend good money on a dropper you want to protect it and make sure I don't damage it.

alo

One advantage of having everything behind you, as opposed to panniers, is less wind resistance. Another advantage is going through narrow spaces, which may only be a concern in certain places.

jpescatore

Got spam email from REI about stuff back in stock, and Revelate products were highlighted.

nun

If you are staying in hotels then a seat bag and a front roll or a frame bag will be more than enough.