dualresponse

Hello,
I am planning on a 200+ mile gravel ride in WV this summer and need some space to hang gear.
I have a front rack (mounted) and can hang two panniers (easy), but that might be overkill for storage needs.

Worse off, the more I read, the more I learn "Bikepacking" is different from "Touring", and just the mere addition of a rack makes me a "tourer"!

Egads!!!!!!.... the travesty!

Well- regardless of the cruel world of bikery stratification...

What I am wondering is this- (from a weight perspective)- there are "hold anything" cages for front forks. I see a lot of these cages which fit into the "triple h2o cage" bolt pattern, but haven't seen any that go from mid fork-bottom mounts. Are there any cages of this sort that attach into the same bolt holes as a front pannier.. I'm talking about the same holes my current rack is mounted on in the below pics. Thoughts?

edit- yes, I understand some of the systems are velcro'd directly around the fork, but that is TOO EASY! I am looking for a direct mount without having to fabricate something.

Metieval

Pfft, just use the panniers. riding gravel is riding gravel!

If you plan to ride some single track where panniers will get caught and hung up on things, then yes switch, but switching just for the sake of being politically correct in "Label" is dumb!

dualresponse

Don't worry, that wasn't the intent. I just don't think I'll need one, let alone two panniers worth of space for the ride up front. I was hoping there was a hold anything cage with this bolt spacing before buying a velcro attached one. Heck- might even just use the current bags as is. Thanks for response.

Marcus_Ti

A few thoughts....

A) I don't see a frame-bag, nor do I see a bumble-bee-butt seat-bag. Typically these (singly or combined) take the larger-storage roles of pannier bags...Don't see either one. Both these have their perks (don't need pannier mounts), but have big cons (takes away water bottle cage space, and bumble-bee-but effects handling similar to a dog wagging its tail)

B) What is your plan to carry larger critical stuff (Tent, sleeping bag, shoes), lacking A?

C) Wolftooth has their B_RAD system: https://www.wolftoothcomponents.com/...s/b-rad-system

I'm a fan of panniers myself, and you already have a hooped-rack anyway. There are other formats of bag/rack as well, when you don't need/want the full pannier setup, but still want easy off-bike carry:

dualresponse

[QUOTE=Marcus_Ti;21286332]A few thoughts....

A) I don't see a frame-bag, nor do I see a bumble-bee-butt seat-bag. Typically these (singly or combined) take the larger-storage roles of pannier bags...Don't see either one. Both these have their perks (don't need pannier mounts), but have big cons (takes away water bottle cage space, and bumble-bee-but effects handling similar to a dog wagging its tail)

B) What is your plan to carry larger critical stuff (Tent, sleeping bag, shoes), lacking A?

C) Wolftooth has their B_RAD system: https://www.wolftoothcomponents.com/...s/b-rad-system




Thanks! The wolf tooth thing might just be what I am looking for. - for example mounting a carrying cage on the front, or mount the bottles on the fork, and get a frame bag.
My other bike has a surly ecr fork, which solves all of this, but it's incompatible with the diverge setup.
My strategy is to go light, carrying as little as possible and pushing for hotels/ bed and breakfasts.

I can't do a rear seat thingee because I've got a bum leg that wont giddee-up over the seat very well.

rumrunn6

got a bigger washer for that top bolt?

autonomy

From what I've seen online I think bikepacking bags are a bit of a fad because they're trendy right now and come associated with a free, unencumbered spirit of adventure. Touring panniers are too old school and uncool. There are good reasons frame/seat bags exist, e.g. for bikes which require too much fiddling to fit a rack or lack eyelets or have a rear suspension, for narrow singletrack where panniers will snag or bounce too much, for go-fast-and-light tourers who care about wind resistance. I just think that these days sometimes people worry more about fashion in the bike world than actual riding. Nothing wrong with using what you have already (aside from the washer as pointed out).

What's the distance between your mid-fork and bottom-fork bolts? I'm thinking that could fit some of the mounts out there, like what I've seen on bikepacking blogs:
https://theradavist.com/2019/11/refl...route-part-02/ (first picture)
https://theradavist.com/2020/01/sand...and-then-some/ (last pic, before map)

don't actually know what they are but could be one of these; some or all might be exactly what you DIDN'T want:
https://www.rei.com/product/117442/s...hd-with-straps
https://www.rei.com/product/117443/s...ge-with-straps
https://www.blackburndesign.com/p/ou...argo-bike-cage
https://bikepacking.com/gear/accesso...anything-cage/

I'd browse through https://www.google.com/search?q=bike...+bags&tbm=isch and see what strikes you as interesting
Here's an excellent overview post about cargo cages: https://bikepacking.com/index/cargo-...anything-bags/, and the one that caught my eye were these two simple strap mounts called Problem Solvers Bow Tie Strap Anchors. Put loctite on the mounting bolts, get a couple of straps and a good bag, and you're off.

dualresponse

Great input! - Thanks!
I agree, the bikepacking thing is the "latest" and "greatest" and a part of my thread is quietly poking fun at it...

There are even some links showing some traditional pannier setups are LIGHTER than the bikepacking setups, but gosh forbid, at this moment in time, every 60 seconds in fact, some unsuspecting dolt mentioning panniers on the internet will get jumped by an internet bikepacking fanatic...

The real reason I was asking was to see if there was an easy way to save the weight of the pannier rack for my upcoming ride. I had just found these bow ties yesterday and thought they were very interesting. I was along the same line of reason, the longer range between the mid point and the lower rack mount wouldn't matter, a longer bag (or baguette) would fit. Basically I am looking for a way to carry a spare pair of shorts, jersey, real shirt, real shorts, rain jacket, a sh#$ load of power bars, spare tubes, and a credit card, and was thinking- "Heck- I don't even need a pannier!"

Ordinarily, A rear seatpost baggie would be ideal, but an old injury really does make it hard to get over such a monstrosity. I could also probably mount my minimal supplies in a camelback, but I hate camel back weights on my back for longer rides. This ride will be 20 hours + ???. I want the weight on the bike, not me.

And for Rumrunn...
P@## off!!!!!! MY 1/2 SUBMERGED WASHER IS BIG IN EUROPE! IT IS MORE AERO!!!!!!!!! LOL

(actually, it has been superceded by a new redneck monstrosity version 2.1, I mounted water bottle cages there, but my camera isn't here, so I can't upload that pic!)

dualresponse

I can't upload new pics, but this was from last weekend- basically one rear pannier on the front. This was surpisingly stable. No, perhaps not "no hands" stable, but not really distracting, definitely not "unstable. " That would be more than enough storage, and I'd use that pack but it's 30 years old and splitting apart. It does deserve cool points for matching though. Since then, some smaller front panniers came in the mail, which let me mount one bottle cage on one side, and a smaller pannier on the other. That makes me wonder- perhaps a bottle cage on each side of the fork, and then a frame bag.

BTW- This was a 50 mile gravel ride. My rocket scientist redneck washer setup did just fine THANK YOU VERY MUCH ! LOL!!!!!!

tyrion

Topeak Versacage comes with 3 strap on bosses. Or you could use your front rack and get some "micro panniers". Micro panniers are mostly made by boutique vendors and kind of expensive.

veloz

In the last 2 summers I’ve toured 800+ gravel miles with Blackburn cargo cages on my front forks. I used the fork mount bolt at the top and 2 zip ties at the bottom. Daily payload was a 1L Nalgene water bottle on one side and a coffee/cook kit on the other (about the same weight as the filled Nalgene). The bolts needed tightening 2-3 times during those miles but otherwise no issues.

I have both panniers and bike packing setups. Generally go to panniers for anything more than 2-3 days just for the added capacity.

autonomy

Yeah, that's a huge, full-size pannier. I use Ortlieb front-rollers (smaller bags) on the BACK of my road bike and I only come close to maxing them out when I'm carrying lots of things on my work commute or day-tripping with my wife to the beach. Haven't needed the full-size back-rollers yet.
For the few articles of clothes and powerbars that you'd like to carry I agree that it's reasonable to avoid using that rack + panniers up front. What about a larger handlebar bag up front + jersey pockets?