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Bags and packs


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Home Forums Off Piste Bikepacking & Bicycle Touring Bags and packs

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  • #1304882
    Tjaard Breeuwer
    BPL Member

    @tjaard

    Locale: Minnesota, USA

    Bolster said:
    "One more question from a guy who's never done bikepacking (but loves to mtn bike): Is it preferred to split the load between your back and on the bike? Is there an ideal proportion? It appears you are trying to spread the weight very evenly all over. I think I count 5 packs?!"

    Less weight on your back is more comfortable, in fact for (dirt)road riding many people prefer all the weight on the bike. For mtb-ing however that makes the bike heavy and hard to handle and a big seat bag makes it hard to get behind the saddle.

    For mtb riding the pack needs to end well below you shoulders, so it doesn't hit the back of your head on steep descents. You also can't rest weight on your hips like you can with a hiking pack, this leads to a small pack to begin with, so depending on how big you pack you will need some additional volume/weight anyway.

    Depending on the geometry of your bike you want to avoid loading a lot of weight on the front or back, balance is usually better. so, this means if you use a seatbag, you'd want to add a handlebar bag as well.
    A frame bag is the lowest place to put gear, so best for handling.

    I'd say a frame bag is the best place for weight from a handling and comfort standpoint, but it will only hold a small volume(275 cu.inches for my Tangle), so you will need more. A backpack is the next best place as far as handling goes, but again, you are limited in volume, to avoid head or side clearance problems. Unlike a frameless hiking pack you want to keep a biking pack soft and flexible to conform to your back and move with you, this means you can't really cram stuff in either.

    For the MDH trip you were referencing:
    The bag on top of my bar is solely for convenience, to be able to access gear on the fly and hold my map in view. It is non-essential weight, but SO nice, I really struggle with bringing or leaving it. In order to balance my bike I used both seat and handlebar bags, since this trip was moderately technical I wanted to get a fair bit of weight of my back and onto the bike.

    As stated, in this set-up I had more volume than I needed, and that was with a fairly big gear load. I struggle with deciding which bags to leave. For a more (dirt)road trip it would be easy: Ditch the backpack and be done with it. But for more mtb riding trips here's the dillema:

    1: Lose the seatbag -> bike becomes nose heavy
    2: Lose the handlebar sling/bag ->backpack would become fairly big, heavy and unflexible. It's also the lightest bag for it's volume and the easiest to pack.
    3: Lose the bar top bag -> It holds the maps where I can see it, as well as access to snacks, camera etc on the go.
    4: Lose the framebag -> It's the lowest place to put weight, so best for stability and comfort
    5: Lose the backpack -> The seatbag would be to big for real mtbing, hitting the rear tire and making it unable to get behind the seat

    If I can, I might get a custom framebag, as big as possible and this might allow me to leave both the seat and under bar bags home.

    #2086031
    Willem Jongman
    Member

    @willem

    Theoretically a framepack sits in the ideal place: almost right in the centre of gravity. The bad news is that it competes for space with your water bottles. A 275 cu inch framepack equals 4.5 litres of luggage space, and that is not much. It will carry about 1.5 kg of luggage. In real life, that is about what you carry in your water bottles in this very same location. So use a frame bag, and you have to find another place for your water bottles. An alternative would be to use water bottles in their traditional place, strap the tent poles to the top tube, and use a small top tube bag for a few heavy items like your tools and the tent pegs.
    Willem

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