# Standard saddle bag on a dropper post



## Lithified (Apr 14, 2007)

Hey folks - do you guys worry about strapping a standard saddle bag onto a dropper post? Sure it'll impact ability to drop, but I just feel like that has to be bad for the stanchion? Hundreds of miles of a nice soft strap on a stanchion strikes me as a no-go. What is your experience? 

I'm totally new to this. If you guys are doing it without rubbing through the stanchion coating, I would be interested to hear!


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## vikb (Sep 7, 2008)

Lithified said:


> Hey folks - do you guys worry about strapping a standard saddle bag onto a dropper post? Sure it'll impact ability to drop, but I just feel like that has to be bad for the stanchion? Hundreds of miles of a nice soft strap on a stanchion strikes me as a no-go. What is your experience?
> 
> I'm totally new to this. If you guys are doing it without rubbing through the stanchion coating, I would be interested to hear!


You can buy a WT Valais. That clamps onto your dropper and lets you both limit the travel automatically and provide a place to run the strap without damaging the stanchion.

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

I have run a small seatbag on a dropper without any protection for a few days at a time in good conditions [ie. dry summer] with no ill effects.

There are also seatbags that don't require being strapped around the dropper as an alternative option.

https://porcelainrocket.com/collections/store/products/albert


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## Lithified (Apr 14, 2007)

Oh man that Wolftooth thing is a great find. Nice!

A lot of companies are making dropper specific bags for sure. I can go with any of those (and I may) but they limit capacity compared to the post mounted ones, hence my question, just seeing what is possible. Thanks for reply.

Sent from my Pixel using Tapatalk


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## GlazedHam (Jan 14, 2004)

Just got back from a long BikePacking trip on a bike with a dropper and saddlebag the velcros onto the post. Initially, I put an Oakley lenses cleaner inside the Velcro but found that after roughly 18 hours of moving time over rough, rough trail, I was getting some rub. Duct taped off the part of the post touched by bag and had no further issues in 26 hours of ride time.

I had been carry food in the seat bag so quite heavy. The final day involved some big drops so I wanted full use of the dropper and I was mostly out of food anyway so a took the seat bag off and put it my back pack. I was able to easily remove the duct tape residue with a baby wipe.

I had considered removing the dropper because I was not going to be able to use it much and didn't want to mar the finish, but glad I didn't.


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## vikb (Sep 7, 2008)

Another option for a dropper equipped hardtail is to skip the seatbag entirely and use a light rack with a dry bag strapped on top. Depending what you use for the rack it might be a little bit heavier than a seatbag, but it also frees up your seat and dropper to function without any limitations.










I'm working on a new bikepacking rig and it will use a rear rack and a dropper in a similar way to Sklyer's bike shown above.










More details on Skyler's bike at this link:

Skyler's DaamBuilt Custom Bikepacking Rig - BIKEPACKING.com


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## timsmcm (Dec 23, 2007)

Love that rear rack? What material did he use to build it?


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## Lithified (Apr 14, 2007)

vikb said:


> You can buy a WT Valais. That clamps onto your dropper and lets you both limit the travel automatically and provide a place to run the strap without damaging the stanchion.
> 
> https://www.wolftoothcomponents.com/products/valais-25


Vik, it appears that Revelate sends out a Wolftooth Valais with its Vole dropper seat pack. The strap is designed to wrap nicely around the Valais. Quite the harmony of product if you ask me!

The Vole maxes out at 7L. This checks all of my boxes, starting to shop around for one of these! Sweet.

https://www.revelatedesigns.com/index.cfm/store.catalog/seat-bags/Vole


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## KERKOVEJ (Jan 23, 2004)

I use the DP Mount from Topeak. Works great with a full size bikepacking bag. When not attaching a seat post bag, you can attach a water bottle cage.

https://www.topeak.com/us/en/products/bikepacking-series/1139-dp-mount


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## ranier (Sep 9, 2003)

Cool, thanks for posting. I never knew this and the Wolf Tooth products existed, but I definitely need them.



KERKOVEJ said:


> I use the DP Mount from Topeak. Works great with a full size bikepacking bag. When not attaching a seat post bag, you can attach a water bottle cage.
> 
> https://www.topeak.com/us/en/products/bikepacking-series/1139-dp-mount


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## 101 (Nov 14, 2017)

I have the Wolf Tooth adapter and use a full size Revelate seatpost bag on my hardtail. The dropper specific bags are smaller and I’m always looking for storage space for more food.


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## thmslilly (May 20, 2012)

Rockgeist Gondola. Have one, love it.


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## MTBeing (Jan 11, 2012)

Never tried one of these but this looks really interesting from Topeak. I guess the SMALL is the one that doesn't appear to require the s/p strap.

https://www.topeak.com/global/en/products/saddle-bags/367-sidekick-wedge-pack.


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