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If you plan to travel fast and light, or just don’t like clutter, bikepacking bags are the modern alternative to panniers for multi-day rides. Bikepacking bags strap on to various parts of the bike — the saddle, top tube and handlebars are favourite — swerving the need for racks. We've thrashed laden bikes over the hills of Wales, Scotland and England, and slept in woods, fields and ditches to find these, the best bikepacking bags you can buy.
By limiting the amount of stuff you can carry, bikepacking bags force you to travel light; you can't take the kitchen sink if there's nowhere to put it.
The most common bikepacking bag is a large saddlebag; capacities go up to 20 litres. Top-tube bags and handlebar bags are also common; the latter is a popular spot for a sleeping bag. You can add small bags as necessary for snacks and sundries.
Tests strongly suggest backpacking bags are aerodynamically better than panniers because they don't increase the frontal area of the bike.
The Wildcat Tiger Drover Saddle Harness is designed to hold a drybag securely beneath your saddle, and makes for an incredibly secure and lightweight bikepacking setup. The design makes packing easy and quick, although the initial setup can take a while.
Tester Matt writes: “With everything installed, the overwhelming impression is how secure the bag is – there's virtually no side to side movement. Even when riding and purposefully trying to initiate some sway, it stays completely solid.
“With regular saddlepacks I usually remove the whole bag from the bike to pack effectively, but being able to leave the harness in place really speeds things up. Packing can be several minutes faster.
“When bikepacking there is little more frustrating than a saddle bag that is constantly swaying, and the Wildcat Tiger Drover Saddle Harness has that completely under control. It's a system that works well, makes packing easier and makes for a usefully faster getaway too.”
Pair it with the Wildcat Tapered Drybag and you've got a low-weight, sensibly-priced and brilliantly easy-to-use system.
Read our review of the Wildcat Tiger Drover Saddle Harness
It's likely that a saddle bag is the first bit of kit you're going to look at buying if you want to get into bikepacking or light touring, and Topeak's BackLoader would be a good investment. It's a versatile piece of luggage that will serve you well when attached to a racing, commuting, touring or mountain bike.
The BackLoader is really easy to use and its simple hook and loop attachment helps to keep weight down. It has its cons, but is certainly worth considering for a credit card tour or the like, and it's excellent value.
The BackLoader is available in three different sizes: six, ten and fifteen litres. All come with an internal waterproof bag with a valve so you squeeze out surplus air.
Read our review of the Topeak BackLoader 10-litre seat pack Find a Topeak dealer
Ortlieb's Top Tube Frame Pack offers four litres of space and the high quality, fully waterproof design you expect from Ortlieb. It has lots of adjustment for fitting and makes a good option for riders looking to keep their bottle cages accessible.
Ortlieb is renowned for waterproof bags, and this one is seriously waterproof. It meets the IP67 standard, which means it gets the highest possible dustproof rating and waterproofing that totally resists 30 minutes in one metre of water.
Bear in mind anything meeting the IPX5 standard is also 'waterproof,' but that only involves three minutes of hosing. In other words, IP67 is impressive, especially for something with a zip.
Read our review of the Ortlieb Frame-Pack Toptube Find an Ortlieb dealer
The Apidura Backcountry Full Frame Pack is an excellent way to carry a lot of gear. It's easy to fit and use, is made from bombproof materials, is fully waterproof and carries a lifetime warranty – the price is high, but it's fair.
Tester Mike writes: “Loading it with an overnight's worth of water bladder, cooking gear, food and a jacket produces no noticeable bulging, despite the lack of an internal divider. As it's only 313g, I didn't bother removing the pack from my gravel bike for a few months. It gave me a huge amount of space for tools, clothing and food for day rides - popping to the shops for a litre of oatmilk, some wine and crisps never felt so much like going bush.
“If you want to keep a lot of kit stable, dry and secure no matter how long or arduous the journey, the Apidura Backcountry Full Frame Pack is a serious contender. The price is high end, but so are the performance and quality.”
Read our review of the Apidura Backcountry Full Frame Pack Find an Apidura dealer
The Route Werks Handlebar Bag is a fabulous – and fabulously expensive – way to carry a plethora of stuff within easy reach on your bike. With great attention to detail, this is the benchmark by which all other bar bags must be judged.
With its volume of 3.2L and a max weight of 4kg, you can fit plenty of stuff in and on the bag. A metal frame and fittings holds a polymer lid and canvas body. Weighing 677g without accessory mounts fitted, it doesn't add much to your bike and at 235mm wide tucks in nicely between the hoods on the narrowest of drop bars.
Tester Mike writes: “My testing comprised many months bashing about the central Highlands, mostly at high speed with increasingly scant regard for the sensibilities of doing so on a bike with a loaded handlebar bag. I run 2.1in tyres and a 700mm-wide drop bar, so basically full-on rigid mountain biking, and the Route Werks bag just asked for more, please. Packed with jacket, gloves, food, tools, phone, GPS, lights and pump, everything stayed put and silent. I got so used to having absolutely everything in the bag and not in my pockets or on the bike's frame, I'm now ruined for any lesser luggage carrying setup.”
Read our review of the Route Werks The Handlebar Bag
Lightweight and waterproof, the Topeak BarLoader is easy to fit, has an impressively rugged build and keeps all your valuable gadgets/dry clothes/best biscuits safe yet easily accessible.
Usefully, this 6.5 litre bar bag is designed to work either on its own, or alongside the Topeak's 8L FrontLoader bag. Consequently it either straps to the bar directly with simple Velcro straps, or onto the larger bag with longer straps.
It's made from a super-tough, sonically-welded and waterproof TPU (thermoplastic polyurethane to its friends), with a roll-top closure for maximum weather protection. Inside, there's a simple main compartment with front and rear zipped mesh pockets.
Read our review of the Topeak BarLoader Find a Topeak dealer
The Restrap Top Tube Bag attaches to your bike at two points – a two-inch-wide rubberised Velcro top tube strap at the rear, and a three-quarter-inch Velcro strip at the front around your head tube. It slopes from front to back, starting out about 6cm tall and ending at 3cm. Inside it's about 3cm wide, and with careful packing doesn't bulge to knee-swiping dimensions. In practice, the fully-loaded Top Tube Bag stayed put over the roughest of terrain. The straps were easily adjusted and once set stayed put.The most-used feature of any top tube bag will be the zip. Restrap has used a waterproof YKK zip – surely the Rolls Royce of such things.
The Restrap Top Tube Bag isn't the cheapest forward-mounted luggage option – you can get them from around a tenner – but it has to be one of the best.
Read our review of the Restrap Top Tube Bag Find a Restrap dealer
Free Parable's Gorilla Clip, Cage and Bag system allows anyone without mounts on their fork legs to attach gear there. It comprises a plastic cage, velcro straps, zip ties, a plastic mount and drybag. It’s easy to fit, secure and perhaps the most well thought out way to get stuff on your fork if you don't have the right mounts.
Read our review of the Free Parable Gorilla Clip, Cage and Bag system
The Apidura Racing Long Top Tube Pack squeezes two litres of flexible storage into a slim form factor with rock-solid fixings. Featuring a charging cable port and a two-way waterproof zip, it's hard to beat if you need to max out your storage for going fast, far or in between.
Tester Mike writes: “At 45cm, this is one of the longest top tube bags around. I ride an XL frame and most of the top tube gets taken up with its quick-access goodness. A potential downside of this is hitting your knees when full, but at 4.5cm wide it's in the Goldilocks zone for storage vs knee clearance.
“For an ostensibly simple item Apidura has packed in a number of tasty features to aid stability and usability. Out on the bike it doesn't disappoint, staying firmly put even when knocked by a wayward knee. The zip is stiff when new, and does loosen a bit, but remains firm and in place no matter the load or terrain. With a full load over the roughest of terrain at the fastest of speeds, there was nothing to distract me from rattling eyeballs and puckering trousers of impending doom. When excessive body language was required to keep things upright, on occasion a leg would contact the pack, but the secure fastening and stiff sides meant things returned to where they should be without issue.”
Read our review of the Apidura Racing Long Top Tube Pack Find an Apidura dealer
The Tailfin AeroPack is about the neatest solution for adding some storage space to pretty much any bike. It'll appeal to a wide range of riders: bikepackers, ultraracers, credit-card tourers, audaxers, and anyone with a posh bike that they want to carry stuff on. Yes, it's expensive. And no, it's not as versatile as some other setups. But it does the job it's designed to do extremely well, and it's a lovely thing that's a joy to use.
Tailfin's main claim for the AeroPack is that it's 'The fastest way to carry gear – on any bike'. Partly that's an aerodynamic claim. The AeroPack design means that the bag is tucked away in the dirty air behind the rider, and the parabolic carbon arch that supports it is designed to cut cleanly through the air too. So it's more aero than a pannier sitting on a standard rack, and similar to a standard fabric seatpack.
Does that matter to you? In all probability, the answer is: not really, unless you're an ultra-racer and Tailfin isn't going to make its millions selling them just to ultraracers. WHere the Aeropack appeals is as a bag for your posh bike. There are not many bags of any size you'd want to attach to your posh road bike. For a start, your posh road bike maybe doesn't have rack mounts, so a rack is out. Even if it does, it's a pain to be taking a rack on and off if you do want a bit of luggage space. You might be tempted by a bikepacking-style seatpack, but they have their issues: they tend to swing about as they have very little structure, and they require careful packing to minimise that. Also, they don't really hold that much stuff.
The Aeropack scores on all counts here. There's the carbon arch keeping everything steady laterally, and inside the bag there's a lightweight alloy frame to give the whole thing structure. When you're riding, the AeroPack sits there anonymously. It's entirely rattle-free and impressively stiff. There's no lateral movement at all when you're out of the saddle, and most of the time you forget it's there at all. In terms of the experience of using it as luggage, it's easily better than a seatpack or a pannier on a standard rack.
Read our review of the Tailfin AeroPack Carbon
If you need to carry up to 14 litres of luggage but don't want to use a rack, the Restrap Saddle Bag Holster is an excellent choice. Unconstrained by frame design or bottle cage placement, it will work for just about any bike.
Assuming black is the new black (again), the Holster is bang on the minimalist, pseudo-military-utility trend in adventure kit. Made from 1000D Cordura wrapped over a plastic hardshell to maintain its shape, swathed in nylon webbing and held together not by stitching but instead tough cord through metal eyelets, the Holster looks like it will take a real beating year after year. At well over half a kilo it's definitely no lightweight, but what price durability and peace of mind?
Read our review of the Restrap Saddle Bag Holster and 14-litre Dry Bag Find a Restrap dealer
Drybags are commonly used while bikepacking, allowing you to keep kit separated but also dry and they are available in a wide range of sizes and usually for not much money. The Wildcat Double Ended Drybag takes things a further and it is essentially two drybags inside each another. The bag features a double-ended opening and each end accesses a different bag section.
Each end accesses its own internal bag which is not joined to the other and is the same size or thereabouts as the outside at 13-litre. This means you can stuff a sleeping bag like the Alpkit Pipedream 600 in one end and use all the space conventionally or you can stuff a smaller bag , beanie and insulation jacket in one end AND a bivvy bag in the other. You don’t need to worry about packing each side evenly as they push up against each other as long as you make sure you have rolled the ends up securely to take up any excess.
Tester Matt writes: “I tested it with the Wildcat Lion handlebar harness. When mounted within the harness the extra thickness of the fabric is a big plus when riding through any trail obstructions such as brash or brambles that have the potential to damage or rip thinner drybag fabric. Despite the weight and cost disadvantages over regular drybags, it turns out to be incredibly useful. Once you have started using it, you’ll struggle to move away from it.”
Read our review of the Wildcat Double Ended Drybag
The Vel Seat Pack is very well made, user friendly, and stable on the bike, and has a nifty air purge valve to make the most of its capacity. It's constructed using a tough Hypalon material, the same stuff that rigid inflatable boats are made from, and is highly durable and totally waterproof. It works really well.
Tester Stef writes: “I've found the pack really useful for carrying extra spares, tubes, clothing and food on winter rides; it's perfect for carrying an extra jacket for warmth at the coffee stop. It would also cope with an overnight B&B stop on a two-day credit card ride in summer; I loaded it up with the same items I took for a two-day ride I did in July last year, stuffing in a full set of summer cycling clothes, plus shorts and T-shirt for wearing in the evening. The air purge valve really helped to squeeze as much in as possible.
“I found the Vel Seat Pack to be a very user-friendly and well-made seatpack. It's ideal for long day rides, carrying extra food and tools, or wanting to take spare clothes or a jacket for a coffee stop, and has just enough space for a credit card overnighter in summer. I think it would stand up to years of use, and for £65 is really good value.”
Read our review of the Vel Seat Pack 7L
The Brooks Scape Frame Bag is a high-quality, waterproof pack that best fits slightly larger frames (think medium and upwards). It can carry plenty, making it ideal for day trips or longer bikepacking adventures, and there are plenty of pockets for separating items. A neat finishing touch is the handy cable port on the interior tech pocket, along with a port on the front of the outer fabric for charging or hydration.
We've reviewed and liked pretty much the entirety of the Brooks Scape range. This, the all-important frame bag, is the party piece if you're bikepacking, but it's also versatile enough to be useful for touring, day rides or commuting. It’s an excellent option for the money. If you're on the lookout for a top-quality frame bag with good carrying capacity that doesn't take up much frame space (and your frame is capable of accommodating it), then it's a great piece of gear.
Read our review of the Brooks Scape Frame Bag Find a Brooks dealer
The Wildcat Ocelot Frame Bag is a light, high quality bag available in a useful range of sizes. It's great in bad weather, the elasticated attachment works brilliantly and the whole thing has a premium, handmade feel. You won't get it on or off that quickly, though.
The Ocelot fixes to the top tube using an elastic cord that feeds through all the looped attachment points. It takes about 10 minutes to set up the first time, and it's not really a design for taking on and off on a regular basis. The benefit is excellent support – it doesn't sag like some bags with Velcro straps – and this in turn makes the zip really fluid and easy to use. Zip garages keep the pullers out of the way as you ride.
Tester Matt writes: “The Wildcat Ocelot for me outperforms many of its rivals by virtue of its elastic attachment, and also, to some degree, in its choice of fabrics. I really enjoy using it, and the clever fitting is a big part of that. If you're after a high quality, feature-packed frame bag that's at home in any weather, the Wildcat Ocelot is absolutely worth checking out.”
Read our review of the Wildcat Ocelot Frame Bag
The Straight Cut Bagel Bar Bag is small, perfectly made (by hand) and uses Voile's excellent Nano straps to give a rock-solid setup. The double zip is different from most similar bags and works really well.
Tester Matt writes: “The Bagel Bag has multiple attachment points and can be placed low enough to allow the use of out-front GPS mounts. It also has an elastic cord for looping around the head tube, although – unlike many similar bags – it's so secure on the Voile straps you may not need it. What really marks the Straight Cut Bagel Bar Bag out is its double zip opening. I was initially skeptical about what it would add, but was won over – Straight Cut says it allows easy access for left or right-handed riders, but found the zips generally very easy to open.
“The Bagel Bar Bag might be small, but it is the best handlebar bag I have used to date.The Voile straps give a solid fit, the fabric is strong and durable, and the zips are great. It's a great bag, and ideal for gravel bikes with limited space on the bars.”
Read our review of the Straight Cut Design Bagel Bar Bag
The Cluster 13 Waterproof is a very strong and durable saddlebag that’s ideal for the toughest and longest adventures. The 13 litres of space is easy to pack, and it’s easy to secure to thanks to good buckles. There is a lot to like, but at £135 you would expect so.
The biggest sections of fabric with the dotted pattern are 420 denier nylon, which is thicker than most bags use and fully waterproof. It’s light though, as well as very strong – 420 denier was originally designed for parachutes.
That thickness (and some plastic reinforcement) gives the roll-top Cluster a great shape that doesn't crinkle or fold. This, plus the large opening, makes it really easy to pack and unpack.
Read our review of the Miss Grape Cluster 13 Waterproof saddlebag Find a Miss Grape dealer
The Trunk bag from Italian bikepacking aficionados Miss Grape is a 4.5 litre stuff sack that can be fitted to a number of areas on the bike. It is strong, waterproof and versatile.
Bikepacking bags don't come much simpler than a stuff sack, and they work particularly well on handlebars and forks – though they're versatile enough to attach in all sorts of places.
This one's designed to work well with an 'anything' fork cage. There are three vertical webbing attachment points, and they're well-judged for popular straps such as those from Voile, while Miss Grape sells a TrunKit bar mount separately for £15.
Tester Matt writes: "The bag holds 4.5 litres of cargo, and I was impressed with just how much can be stuffed inside. Repeatedly ramming in sleeping bags and the like showed the bag to be extremely strong, too."
Read our review of the Miss Grape Trunk bag Find a Miss Grape dealer
The Kanga handlebar harness is a secure and convenient platform for lashing luggage to your handlebar and – unlike most bar bags – it sits away from the bar and leaves it fully usable. With multiple attachments and simple Velcro strapping it fits almost anything, and the lightweight fibreglass reinforcement makes it very stable. There's only one size and it could do with some strap tidies, but those are the only niggles.
It uses a waterproof, tear-resistant nylon fabric for its main section, and hides a pair of (removable) fibreglass struts that run all the way down to the fork. They work extremely well, keeping your pack really stable even of rough ground.
The Kanga offers multiple attachment points on its webbing ladders for the Velcro straps, and it's versatile. It can also hold luggage higher than the bar, unlike traditional bags, which is a bonus for anyone short of space above the front wheel.
Read our review of the Alpkit Kanga handlebar harness
The Apidura Racing Top Tube Bag is a slimline model aimed at those who want to ride fast rather than haul loads of kit. Attention to detail is excellent – and there's no reason not to use it on slower jaunts if you really wanted to.
This bag, as the name suggests, is designed to bolt directly to the bosses on the top tube – an increasingly familiar sight on gravel bikes. It comes with two 3mm stainless Allen bolts, featuring rubberised washers to isolate against shock and prevent loosening. Capacity is a litre and is totally open plan and spartan, save for a closed-cell foam bottom to protect phones and other sensitive electricals from vibration and bigger bumps.
It's incredibly easy to flick the flap, reach in and close again, even when riding at 20mph plus. Careful packing helps, but the foam 'flooring' seems to play its protective part well enough too, with minimal rattle over washboard surfaces and scabby tarmac. It's also plenty water-resistant, fending off three minutes with a hose and presenting no issues in wet, showery conditions.
Read our review of the Apidura Racing Bolt-On Top Tube Pack
The Restrap Race Saddle Bag is a quick-fitting, lightweight and stable way to carry bulky items on your bike. Less than half the weight of Restrap's own standard saddle bag whilst retaining the features needed to perform, it's a great bit of kit at a good price. Quality is excellent too – in fact, its sole problem is a poorly designed light strap.
This is the stripped-back Race version of the Restrap Saddle Bag Holster and Dry Bag. The Race comes in at less than half the weight, despite only losing 1L of capacity and nothing in the way of functionality. The seven-litre Race attaches with simple straps and buckles, and it works fine across a variety of bikes and saddles, with no noticeable swaying – even with the included 7L drybag stuffed to the gunwales.
During a month's battering about Highland gravel roads and rough estate tracks, the Restrap Race Saddle Bag stayed put, out of the way of the back of my legs despite deliberate attempts to provoke sway. It didn't move an inch unless told to, and when you do want it out it's quick. I got to the point of being able to fit it from scratch and ride away in 60 seconds.
Read our review of the Restrap Race saddle bag Find a Restrap dealer
The Lifeline Adventure frame bag fits 2.1 litres of storage beneath the top tube. It's a simple design with a single zip and one large storage area, while its 300D ripstop nylon fabric and welded seams mean it's both light and impressively waterproof. It might not be a looker, but it's cheap, simple and effective.x
The broad Velcro straps prove easy to use, and secure with no decrease in strength after multiple uses. They're long enough to fit around all bikes, from skinny steel tubing to wide carbon frames, though as they're unadjustable they may interfere with your cablestops. At 155g all up, it's light too.
The design is simple: a single waterproof zip opens on a single storage area. The zip copes well and stays smooth even with the bag bulging and needing some force to close it, and when closed it sits in a small zip garage, which stops it from rattling around.
Read our review of the LifeLine Adventure Frame Bag
The Restrap Race Top Tube Bag is a large, stable bag with innovative fixings that should attach to any bike. The zip cover is going to divide opinion, but apart from that, it's a cracker.
The Race Top Tube Bag, has some genuinely useful features to make this staple luggage item a long-distance winner. Firstly, the size: at 1.5L this is possibly the largest top tube bag on the market. Extending way past halfway along the top tube, even on an XL frame, at 37cm this is one loooong bag. Add in the 10cm height and 4cm width, and you can fit a lot of kit inside.
The biggest challenge with top tube bags is vertical stability. To keep the Race Top Tube bag steady, Restrap has come up with a stiff fabric collar that is held in place against the stem by a loop of thin bungee cord. It works, even with very low stack set-ups which are usually difficult for top tube bags to handle.
Read our review of the Restrap Race Top Tube Bag Find a Restrap dealer
Vaude's Trailframe bag is a tough and waterproof roll top bag, with a side access zipper that keeps your gear easily accessible. It's a simple design that's stable, functional and easy to fit and remove, though the straps can be a bit of a faff.
The Trailframe proved stable and happily took plenty of scuffs, rough trails and bad weather. Time will tell how it fares long term, but it's not shown any scuff or wear marks in a period when other bags have done. The ripstop-style fabric is reassuring to minimise any possible tears or nicks.
The Trailframe isn't the cheapest of frame bags, but the build quality, simplicity, waterproofness and the environmental standards really make it stand out – and if all that's missing for you are eyecatching visuals, it's also available in bright green.
Read our review of the Vaude Trailframe frame bag Find a Vaude dealer
The BBB Front Fellow is a handlebar bag that combines a harness that mounts to the bike plus a removable 10L separate dry bag with a useful carry strap to give a decent load capacity for bikepacking. It mounts solidly, works well and it's decent value too.
Read our review of the BBB Front Fellow handlebar bag
Smartly-positioned internal reinforcements stiffen this pack from British bikepacking specialists Apidura, so despite its large capacity, it barely sways when you're riding even if it's not fully loaded. Despite being pretty light for a saddlebag this size, the areas of high stress and abrasion appear to be well reinforced and able withstand the rigours of life on the (off)road.
The roll-top closure and side straps make for a very flexible system that can accommodate a wide range of loads – from the full fourteen-litre capacity down to around six litres – without too much excess fabric flapping about.
There's also a bungee cord some bungee cord webbing on the of the pack – useful for keeping a spare layer close to hand – and two rear light attachment points that can be used depending on how full the bag is. All in all, the quality of construction and the thought that's gone into the details is very impressive.
Read our review of the Apidura Mid-size Saddle Pack Find an Apidura dealer
This easily mounted sausage-shaped roll pack is perfect for a lightweight off-road tour, offering 'complete element protection' and quick access to kit. It's ideal for a sleeping bag or substantial spare kit, while the optional Accessory Pack provides easy access to valuables and detaches quickly to double up as a handy shoulder bag.
It's very similar to the Apidura Handlebar Pack, but Ortlieb's is designed to be suspended slightly from the bar using spacers. They share the same limitations regarding use with drop bars; both are better suited to flat-bar touring bikes.
Find an Ortlieb dealer Read our review of the Ortlieb Handlebar Pack
With the new improved Food Bag topping a well-thought-out design made from super-strong materials, there really isn't anything to fault on the Restrap Bar Bag Holster/Dry Bag/Food Bag ensemble. For £110 total you get a system that will quickly fit pretty much any modern bike, carry as much kit as you'd really want up front short of using proper panniers, and will no doubt last you many, many adventures on and off the road.
Read our review of the Restrap Bar Bag Holster & Dry Bag & Food Bag Find a Restrap dealer
The Apidura Expedition Frame Pack (successor to the Mountain Frame Pack) is designed to sit inside your bike's main triangle, maximising storage space by running the full length of the top tube while still allowing two water bottles to be used. It works well, although you might need to change to side-entry bottle cages.
With all the straps tightened, the pack is rock solid, and even when heavily loaded doesn't negatively affect the bike's handling. At 227g it's not a huge weight penalty, which makes it something you can just leave attached to the bike all the time.
Read our review of the Apidura Large Mountain Frame Pack Find an Apidura dealer
The Midloader comes in three sizes: a three-litre version (£27.76); this four and a half litre option, which holds a surprising amount of kit securely and sturdily; and a whopping six-litre bag for kitchen sink bikepackers.
The 4.5-litre Midloader is 12cm deep, which leaves just about enough room to get at a down tube bottle when fully loaded. Access to the Midloader is via a long zip on both sides which is protected from the elements by a storm flap. The whole thing takes just a couple of seconds to fit thanks to its hook and loop fasteners with two large straps on the top tube and thinner straps for the seat tube and downtube. Even when the going gets really rough the bag doesn't move one bit and doesn't affect the handling of the bike at all except in really strong crosswinds.
Read our review of the Topeak Midloader Find a Topeak dealer
This is a decent, inexpensive example of a top tube bag; it doesn't bring anything dramatic to the party, but it does the job.
Find a Deuter dealer Read our review of the Deuter Energy Bag
We haven't reviewed this combination of bag and rack, but it's unarguably both intriguing and clever. The rack mounts on a fork that has Salsa's trio of bottle cage bosses, while the bag straps in place, providing 4.5 litres of extra storage. The system's been well-received in bikepacking circles.
Almost every bag maker has something like this in its range: a simple drawcord-topped cylinder that'll take a water bottle, a compact stove, extra snacks, a phone or whatever else you want to keep easily to hand. This one's made in the UK and gets extra props for the name.
A top tube/seatpost bag, filling probably the last bit of spare space on your bike.
For decades the standard way for travelling cyclists to carry gear has been in panniers: bags that hang on racks, usually have internal reinforcing, and stick out from the sides of the bike.
In the last few years a new category of bike luggage has emerged out of the long-distance racing and off-road touring scenes. These bags strap directly on the frame, seatpost or handlebar and sit in line with the rider. They mostly rely on their contents to give them shape, though a few have minimal internal reinforcement.
Both off-road touring and long-distance racing need bags that are light. Off-road touring inevitably involves unrideable sections. Manhandling a bike across a boulder field is much easier if the combination of bike and bags is as light as possible. Long-distance racers want kit that’s as stripped-down as possible because every gram has to be carried up the mountains where organisers inevitably put checkpoints.
With no racks, very little in the way of attachment hardware and the bare minimum of internal reinforcement, bikepacking bags are substantially lighter than panniers.
Bikepacking (CC BY-SA 2.0 8bar Adventures - Morocco - High Atlas|Flickr)
For racers taking part in events like the TransContinental, aerodynamics is another significant advantage. Sticking out of the sides of your bike, panniers increase the frontal area of rider and bike. In wind tunnel tests, Jan Heine of Bicycle Quarterly found that reducing frontal area is far and away the most effective way of reducing drag. Heine didn’t test bikepacking bags aganst panniers, but his results are consistent with constant-power riding tests performed by Alee at cyclingabout.com, who found a consistent increase in speed using bikepacking bags rather than panniers.
The total capacity provided by a set of large bikepacking bags is about the same as a pair of rear panniers: around 40 litres. That’s plenty of space for ultralight camping gear if you plan to use a bivvy bag as your overnight shelter, and you should be able to cram in a lightweight tent if you choose the more luxurious camping option.
If you prefer your accommodation to have four walls and a roof, then you’ll have more than enough space for clothes and toiletries, and almost certainly won’t need a full set of bags.
What you don’t have is enough space for an ‘everything and the kitchen sink’ camping style. If that’s how you roll, then stick to regular panniers. You might still find bikepacking bags useful to redistribute weight around the bike or to add extra capacity.
There are four main locations for bikepacking bags: under the saddle; on the handlebar; in the frame’s main triangle; and along the top tube. A few manufacturers also offer small bags that fit in handy niches such as the fork blades or under the down tube. Let’s take a look.
Specialized's Burra Burra Stabilizer Seatpack 20 includes an aluminium frame for stability
Roadie purists look away now: a large seatpack is the hallmark bikepacking bag and the available packs cover the full size range from big to frikkin’ enormous.
Most bikepacking seatpacks attach to the saddle rails and seatpost with Velcro straps, have roll-up closures to seal out the wet and provide size adjustability, and have extra straps to cinch them down if they’re not completely full.
A key design aim is to stop the pack from swaying and sagging, especially when you’re out of the saddle. Internal reinforcement with stiff plastic sheets also helps, and a few designs go the whole hog and include an aluminium frame for support and rigidity.
Seatpacks often have extra straps and bungee cords so you can carry a jacket and the like on them, attachment points for pockets and loops for rear lights. Capacity ranges from six litres to twenty litres.
The handlebar is a favourite place to carry light, bulky items like a sleeping bag, bivvy bag or the fabric parts of a lightweight tent. Bikepacking bar bags are usually tailored for this and comprise a waterproof stuffsac with some way of attaching it to the bar. Look out for valves for squishing out excess air and extra pockets so you can keep cash and passport easily to hand.
Some bar bags simply strap to the handlebar, others have built-in spacer blocks to make room on the bar top for your hands, while still others have a separate bag and ‘holster’ so the bag can be easily removed from the bike.
Handlebar bag sizes range from three litres up to twenty litres.
There’s plenty of space between your knees in your frame’s main triangle, but it’s impossible for bag makers to make one bag that will fill every possible frame. Almost all of them therefore offer a range of sizes, and generally advise that you should choose the smaller if it looks like two sizes will fit. It’s better to have a bag that sits tightly in place than one that can flap and move around.
Some frame bags only use some of the space under the top tube to get around the issues of fitting the whole frame. This can be a good compromise that still gives a useful amount of storage space.
Since a frame bag is a relatively simple shape, some bikepackers make their own so it completely fills the available space. If you’re not handy with a sewing machine, Alpkit will make you a custom frame bag with a range of optional extras including a port for a water bladder so you can drink on the go, replacing the water bottle mounts the bag covers.
Off-the-peg frame bags come in sizes from three litres to around ten litres.
Rather than hanging under the top tube, these small bags sit on top of it, just behind the stem. Triathletes have been using bags like this for years, but don’t let that put you off; they’re a handy way to carry snacks, gels and the like so you can fuel without stopping.
Limited space means top tube bags can’t be large; they typically have a capacity of around a litre.
If you can find a bit of unoccupied volume anywhere on your bike, chances are someone makes a bag that’ll sit there. The most common location is the fork legs, at least on bikes that have the appropriate mounts, but there also stem bags, that sit at the side of the stem, and Revelate makes a small bag that sits in the space between your top tube and seatpost.
Here are some of the brand names you should keep in mind when shopping for bags
Alpkit: Direct-to-customer outdoor equipment company has a keenly priced selection of bags
Altura: UK-based clothing maker has a small range of bikepacking bags. Zyro-Fisher
Apidura: UK company with a wide range of bags, founded by an experienced endurance racer
Arkel: This Canadian bag maker mostly focuses on conventional panniers, but its range includes two large seatpacks with aluminium frames
Blackburn: Known for racks, lights and a vast range of other accessories, Blackburn recently launched a suite of bikepacking luggage
MissGrape: Italian-made bags; range includes a whopping 20-litre saddle bag. Ison Distribution
Ortlieb: The renowned German maker of bomb-proof panniers makes similarly tough bikepacking bags. Lyon Equipment
Passport: Value-for-money accessories brand with a small range of bags. Ison Distribution
Restrap: Hailing from Leeds, Restrap makes a range of strappy outdoorsy softgoods including well-regarded bikepacking bags
Revelate Designs: Based in Alaska and arguably the daddy of bikepacking bag makers. Pannier.cc
Salsa: A huge range of bags and other bikepacking equipment from the adventure bike specialist. Charlie the Bikemonger
Specialized: Some clever designs from bike manufacturer that has embraced adventure riding with its AWOL, Diverge and Sequoia bikes.
Topeak: The accessory giant has a tidy range of bags in various sizes. Extra UK
Wildcat Gear: From Perth, Scotland comes this range of British-made bikepacking bags.
Read more: How to go bikepacking: A beginner's guide to getting started
Explore the complete archive of reviews of bags and luggage on road.cc
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I thought the idea of tubeless is once they are on, they stay on rather than having to remove them to fit a patch....
Depends - how gripping is it?
Unlike car parking spaces which don't require any maintenance from having cars continuously driven in and out of them.
I don't trust my cars self-park ability, and that requires me to be the throttle and brake input......
If you will only consider buying new and can wait for one of the regular sales Halfords do and your employer is part of the ride to work scheme you...
I use Wellgo MG1s on my Tern folder - replacing the standard smooth plastic pedals that are lethal in the rain. Black MG1s are in stock at Merlin....
By tightening the thru axle enough The tube and dropout are reasonably strong and peak torque not that high, so its a workable solution I guess?
I'm a believer in washing your undercarriage before each session. For me a bidet is an essential part of pre-ride preparation.
To be fair to Northumbria Police, they did take it all the way to court, but were thwarted by the CPS. There are some get-outs for the 14-day rule,...
Im going to straight up say that its over priced compard to whats currently availabe
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