# Bags that are the working man/woman's pricepoint, and when to wait & splurge?



## YamaLink (Jun 23, 2010)

In your real-world use experience and opinion, which bags are the most popular for multi-day bikepacking that you would consider XT or SLX-level items? For the non-Shimano users, the X01 level stuff. Just trying to make this easier or me to correlate since I'm a bikepacking bag newb.

I know everyone's budget and needs are different, but arguably there is a middleground that does the same job without breaking the bank. And I understand that sometimes paying more is "worth it". Right now I plan to use bags for one major race but put them through the paces in training.

I don't want to save money and realize it was a waste. Example: I see REI has their Co-Op brand bags, but every Novara/Co-Op item I've used for biking is truly subpar and has been returned. But maybe you've used it, and it's a great option for the money.

Next question: is there a bag manufacturer with a pricepoint AND quality along the lines of XTR or XX1 that you'd normally not pay for but say is worth the wait to find on mega sale or discounted? Like Revelate's recent 40% off REI sale. For me, sometimes the likes of Kitsbow or Rapha is on sale, but still considerably more than a Voler or Pearl Izumi, and I'd still not buy, but if the likes of Assos were on sale down to Co-Op/Novara pricing it'd be a no brainer to buy. Hope that makes sense.


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## Moof123 (Jul 1, 2019)

My $0.02 of my kit:

Framebag: I picked up a Moosetreks frame bag. It was about $50, and so far it was been just fine. I would worry about the zipper on a longer trip dirtier, as it is a little lightweight but has never failed. Fully waterproof would be nice, but I simply don't put water sensitive stuff in the frame as I have enough dry bag space elsewhere.

Revelate seat bag: I got mine at the end of the last season, but with cold weather expected and a week's worth of heavy food I just needed more capacity, so I swapped back to rear panniers and it was yet to hit the trail. There are a couple bits on it that don't inspire visions of burliness, but others swear by them. I am not sure why panniers get such a bad rap, but I am not a high speed guy, nor have I had to deal with much wind along the way (knock on wood).

Gas tank #1: I got a $20 off Amazon and it was just OK. The waterproof zipper was bent tightly around the boxy corners and quickly shredded the rubber off, and the zipper pulls thrashed about just noisily enough to be maddening.

Gas Tank #2: I sprung for a Revelate Mag Tank, and at something like triple the cost it is pretty sweet. It works best on boxy carbon frames and I had to bodge together a chunk of dense foam to make it play nice on my skinny round top steel frame. It also has that all too fashionable X-Pak fabrik with woven in carbon fiber that partially blocks RF signals, so my phone's GPS signal cuts out if I toss it in there, and cell reception is impeded (phone will drain itself pretty fast overnight if I forget it in there after commuting)

Feedbag: I sprung for Revelate feedbag. While it is great and I have no complaints, I thought the price was kind of over the top for a glorified fabric bucket. Had I not procrastinated until right before my trip should have just made something. 

Handelbar roll: I made this myself by shamelessly studying pictures of the Revelate Pronghorn and it turned out damn nice. I bought an Ortlieb 22l liter dry bag of closeout for about $15 for it. It took my about 6 hours across a few evenings to sew up, and not everyone has an industrial sewing machine and a collection of outdoor fabric bits at home either. 

My personal opinion is you ought to bodge together your kit for the first couple trips, even use a backpack for the fluffy bits if you have to. Keep the trips short to keep failures as minimally painful as possible. Over time swap out the stuff that is the biggest hassle or on the best sale once you know what you are looking for for your own needs and style.


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## evdog (Mar 18, 2007)

Agree with the last paragraph above. The most important thing is to get bags that meet your needs - fit your bike and carry what you need them to carry. The problem when you’re starting out is you don’t necessarily know what those needs are. That’s why I always tell people to start slow, do some easy overnight trips with gear they already have. Strap a compression sack to your handlebars. You can do the same with a small sack to your seat/post, and maybe bring a larger pack at first. You’ll dial in your packing list while seeing how some things work and some things don’t. Then you will have an easier time deciding if you want or need to buy a seatbag, framebag, etc. Feedbags, gas tanks and similar are pretty useful universally so I wouldn’t hesitate to buy one. Have fun!


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## bachman1961 (Oct 9, 2013)

I purposely stayed away from the elite priced stuff and went low to mid end just because I figured if I like the bike packing and stick with it, I can upgrade or update as needed. A buddy of mine went ortlieb and is happy. Front bar mount kit, frame bag and seat bag. It's well designed and he got the items on sale.

My set up by comparison is lacking as per my handlebar roll. It works fine for some straps and a DIY kit but the bar specific designs or at least his ortlieb set up is very snug and secure. I have to at times, adjust mine or snug up the straps on rowdy trails and those are times we're packing around 30# on the bikes. I wasn't sure I could pare down the size of my handlebar 'stuff' to work with a smaller bar design set up so I left it all bigger and bulkier but it does come with a bit more fussing with at times.

Frame bag is a Blackburn outpost, $60 I think. Straps on the front and a bungee type net for the bar holding tent, sleeping bag and a few smaller things- $12 to 15. Rear seat bag is a knock off of the name brand bags that are $90 and up. Mine from amazon was $30 -35. Feed bags that come in the cool brands are around $40 and up, I again went low rent knockoff, $8. My set up is probably $150 to $200 less than the other guys'.


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## vikb (Sep 7, 2008)

Bar and seatbags are generic in fit so you can buy those used. I would get a quality set that way to hit a lower pricepoint than to buy cheaper ones new. Every set of cheaper bikepacking bags I've seen looked had obvious flaws.










You can make a framebox out of coroplast without any special skills. Just buy some material and template out the space in the frame. There is a thread in this section about it. My friend did that and it has served him well on several trips. All you need are coroplast [election signs], scissors, duct tape/zipties.










Another friend recently got into bikepacking and sewed her own bags. She used a rear rack and sewed some slim panniers instead of a seatbag. She did a two week trip in the Baja and they held up fine. Personally I can't sew, but if I needed a set of bags at low cost she'd whip me up a set for a low price. Perhaps you have someone in your orbit who might do the same for you. Photo from bikepacking.com.










A final alternative that avoids the rookie mistake of carrying too much $hit on tour is to skip the beginner overloaded donkey setup and go straight to the advanced/minimalist setup. If you can be ruthless about cutting back your gear you don't need much in the way of bags because you are not hauling a lot of stuff. My FS bike above did a 3 day singletrack tour as shown. Lots of people have shared their minimalist setups online. They'd be perfect for shorter trips closer to home where you can pick you weather window carefully.

All this to say there are options for getting into bikepacking at low cost. My least favoured would be buying lower cost new bags. I think that's a waste of money and bags last a long time. If you really do want to buy lower cost bags get them used so you can resell them when you want a better solution without losing too much money.


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## ericzamora (Dec 14, 2017)

I tried buying inexpensive stuff from Amazon, specifically Bushwacker brand ($15-$20 for a half frame bag). Somewhat flimsy material, not waterproof, zippers left something to be desired. 

I then tried out a Lone Peak brand half frame bag, maybe $40-$45. Much nicer. Still not waterproof, but better zipper and better material. I could zip with one hand (had to use two for the cheaper bags). I think Banjo Brothers may fall into the same quality category.

I've now moved on to Revelate Designs. SO much better. Much higher quality materials. At first I considered them top tier in price, but now I see much more expensive options out there, so i'm fine. Especially when I find them on sale. It wasn't a total waste. I've passed on two of the cheaper bags to friends.

Never ever pay full price 

eric/fresno, ca.


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## bachman1961 (Oct 9, 2013)

Good point on the dry bags -
I'd describe my bike as geared with 2nd tier type of products that work well but were not specific to the top 3 or top 5 brands of stuff. Nor have they been tested over time / miles and real-world environment (yet) as most other's bigger names have a sincere following and related ratings / testimony.

The one thing I did want was flexibility and dry bag options but I forgot to mention that. My kit includes 1 large and two medium size Sea to Summit dry bags and they work very well, lots of sizes and color options and lend themselves to incorporating on bike gear pretty easily. However, once complete with a set up like this, there is no ignoring the fact that other bags and brands that offer the dry option is an easier / better method and likely, not much more money at all (if at all). 
My limitation at this point is my set up allows be to carry more so I need to pare things down to a more minimalist level before upgrading. I set up things so I'm not carrying a pack, water or anything "on me". Also, I didn't go high end on a sleeping bag or tent anything so my stuff is more bulky.
*
*As for wait versus splurge,* it's really pretty simple if you are not 'testing the idea' of IF you want to bike pack, camp or travel by bike. 
What 'we' spend on a capable fairly modern-day bike , maint and upkeep makes the little you might save not worth it. The bit more to get the good stuff really isn't a splurge - but investment. I truly DO have to fuss with my kit more often to keep things snug, secure and working good and that's from being frugal. 
In my defense, I wasn't sure how serious or how much of this I would be doing so I'll "ride it out" to see when it's logical to upgrade. :thumbsup:

https://www.campsaver.com/sea-to-su...6875029&utm_content=Sea To Summit>Shopping>US


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## Chippertheripper (Sep 10, 2014)

Revelate really is the xt grade of the industry. 
It works, it’s not super fancy, and it’ll last forever if you take care of it.


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## connolm (Sep 12, 2009)

For inexpensive stuff, dig around on Amazon. Use the "Sponsored Items Similar to This" option and/or the "Customers Who Viewed This Item Also Viewed" option to really dig around and find what you want.

Start with brands like Rock Bros, Roswheel, and Moosetreks.

For example, I've used this saddle bag on a couple 7-day trips on gravel and light singletrack: https://www.amazon.com/Defiance-Lar...words=Defiance+Pak+RATT&qid=1578176486&sr=8-3

Just providing options for your consideration...

Sent from my SM-N960U using Tapatalk


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## 93EXCivic (Mar 12, 2018)

Alpkit? I have an Alpkit front bag and stem bag. While they aren't as cheap as some of these others, they are cheaper then a lot of stuff and the quality seems to be very good.

https://www.alpkit.com/collections/bikepacking


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## leeboh (Aug 5, 2011)

Do what works best for you. Revelate on sale, got the medium bag in XL, fits all my ( wait for it) XL frames. As said, sea to summit dry bags, perfect for those 3 hole for cages. I use 3 bikes for bikepacking, and different seasons too. i change up what and how I carry for most trips. Don't rule out a light rear rack, with some small bags, great flexiblity, I usually have one empty, great for beer/ food/ finds and the end of the day. No not roadkill, but say apples or peaches in season.


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## ericzamora (Dec 14, 2017)

leeboh said:


> .....As said, sea to summit dry bags, perfect for those 3 hole for cages....


I'd recommend checking out the Sea To Summit Big River dry bags. The material seems pretty heavy weight. Though they do not have a multitude of lash point loops along the side, but they do have one. The Ultra-Sil dry bags are nice, but may be too lightweight to resist abrasion, and lack that loop.

eric/fresno, ca.


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## thmslilly (May 20, 2012)

I have a homemade frame bag. If you know someone who can sew, they are doable. 

Topeak is the brand that has best served me and my modest income. Their top tube bag and handlebar bag have been great. Super secure for trail riding.

For a saddlebag, I tried topeak, but it wasn't great. I plunked down the coin for a Rockgiest Gondola and couldn't be happier. Worth every penny. The design is very secure and will last a lifetime I think. Bombproof.

TLDR: Topeak and Rockgeist


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## Rob_E (Nov 22, 2010)

Seems like a lot of work to explain your Shimano component analogy when you could just give a ballpark price range that you'd find affordable.

I will 2nd or 3rd or whatever the recommendation of Revelate Design gear, contingent on it being within your price range.

There are budget options and there are more expensive options. I really haven't sampled from the more expensive options, apart from a piece here or there. For budget options, I tend to go along with folks who recommend getting quality, non-biking-specific dry bags and finding a way to attach them. That's a method that has worked for me when I was trying to keep costs down, but in the end, the convenience of a good attachment system won out. I am particularly fond of the Relelate harness + bag system for handlebar and saddle bags. I find it greatly simplifies packing back up when the harness can remain in place on the bike. Also the harness can be used with other bags or items apart from the Revelate gear that's made to go with it.


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