# Revelate Designs: Tangle or Ranger bag?



## riverat (May 22, 2015)

Howdy folks, looking to get myself a nice frame bag and I'm not sure which would be the best bet. The Tangle or Ranger style. The pro of the tangle is you are able to use your water bottle mounts which is pretty important since when I bikepack I travel with my dog so I need extra water. I could go with the Ranger and put the water in the bag but am concerned about the contents bouncing around and getting unorganized and messy. The pro of the ranger is more space obviously but I don't carry too much stuff and I have a lightweight backpack that I take with me. Tangle is $90 where the Ranger is $160 so there is a steeper price for the Ranger. If anyone that has experience with either of these bags could give me some insight and recommendations would be awesome!


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## gyroscope (Jul 26, 2015)

I own the Tangle, Ripio, and the Ranger bag. A lot of the decision is personal preference. I like the Ranger/Ripio bags better because they maximizes storage space by using the whole triangle. I've never had any issues with bouncing gear when the bag isn't full. Both the Ripio and Ranger bags have some internal velcro that allows you to organize the space and keep loose items secure. I find a 1.5-3L bladder, camera, and spare jacket fits both bags pretty well.

One nice advantage of the Tangle is that it's more adaptable to different bikes. If you purchase a new bike down the road the Tangle will most likely still fit the new bike because only the top tube length really affects the fit.


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## Welnic (Feb 6, 2013)

I have a Tangle bag, a Revelate bag meant to fit in my Mukluk, and a custom frame bag for an antique mountain bike. I would be wary of having a full frame bag that didn't exactly fit, but I guess it would really depend on how well it happened to fit. I like the full bags a lot more for full on bikepacking. But I do really like the Tangle overall. I can use it on a couple of different bikes and it is great to still have the water bottles. At the moment I'm using it on my commuter. I think that if you got a Tangle first you could get a good idea of whether you would like a full frame bag, and in any case it will still be a useful bag to have.

It looks like the company I got my custom bag from is in a state of flux so I couldn't find what they charge for their bags. Porcelain Rocket makes custom frame bags starting at $180.


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## bsieb (Aug 23, 2003)

I went from a Tangle to a Rogue Panda frame bag, gained at least a quart of water capacity, because my bottle cages would only take 16 oz. water bottles. Now I can get 2 smart water quarts in the same frame area. The Rogue Panda bags are custom made to fit your frame triangle, Nick does great work, you just send him a picture of your frame with a ruler on it. He fit my curved top tube perfectly, which gave me room for an extra day of food.


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## seedub (Nov 16, 2005)

I agree with bsieb, and Welnic. If you are concerned about carrying a lot of water the full frame bag is the way to go IMO. A two liter will likely fit (If you are riding a rigid) vertically, against the seat tube, plus whatever water vessel you want to stuff in the traditional water bottle space. I also own a Tangle, started with it on my mountain bike, it now lives on my road commuter. Ditch the backpack, be happy.


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## big_papa_nuts (Mar 29, 2010)

I have a Salsa branded Revelate frame bag that has been of four different frame and has worked with all of them. Three near perfect and one had some gaps but still worked fine. As ling as the frames aren't drastically different (steel to carbon, versatile to fs, etc) there is a good chance they will transfer, or at least have a high enough resale not to matter.

Full bags are the way to go. They will carry more water then cages, plus a ton more. I just wish someone would make a bag with some type of bladder sleeve/holder so it isn't just buried in the bottom. Extra points if I can fill it from the outside.


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## riverat (May 22, 2015)

Thanks guys, I'm gonna go with a full frame bag. Looking at the relevate surly bag.


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## iforgotmename (Jul 21, 2009)

My Ranger has a lower zipper on the main side and I don't think the Surly bags do. The bag fits my Troll and Pugsley well...hoping it fits the new Krampus


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## riverat (May 22, 2015)

So I decided i'm probably going to get both. Tangle for day trips and overnighters and Ranger for extended trips. I'm sure the tangle can fit stuff like this. Beef jerkey, noodles, rice, rain shell, a few tools, small first aid kit etc.


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## Smithhammer (Jul 18, 2015)

riverat said:


> So I decided i'm probably going to get both. Tangle for day trips and overnighters and Ranger for extended trips. I'm sure the tangle can fit stuff like this. Beef jerkey, noodles, rice, rain shell, a few tools, small first aid kit etc.


If you can get both, why not. I used a Tangle for a number of overnighters (in conjunction with a Terrapin seat bag and a dry bag on the handlebars) before finally getting a full-frame bag. It worked fine, as long as I kept things minimal. And I still use the Tangle all the time for shoulder season day rides where I want to have an extra layer, etc. with me.


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