Kurt's Take: Rack + panniers versus seat bags for bikepacking and touring
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- čas přidán 2. 07. 2024
- Which setup is better for bikepacking and bike touring - a big seat bag or a rack with panniers or a bag on the deck? Neither is better - it just depends on the trip, the style of riding, and personal preference. Here I break down what goes through my mind when I'm getting ready for an adventure and need to get all my gear onto my bike.
Happy to have your back on your adventures Kurt! Thanks for the continued support!
I have a Tailfin out back with no panniers and a 12 liter Bags x Bird top load bag in front. Revelate 1/2 frame in the middle as I like to use bottles. That was a nice balanced ride for gravel and really helped on some slippery descents. Never done a road tour, but what you wrote makes sense. Sleep! Don’t just replace your pillow - get a better pad like a 25” wide Nemo Tensor - they work!
Great explanation, short and to the point, no long drawn out fluff. Thanks for your thoughts
Nicely presented. There is no substitute for practical experience.
Great overview, I have similar reasoning.
Tailfin (rack) is great for convenience and very stable. It's easy to pull something out and put it back. But it is heavier.
Saddlepack is light but harder to access and swings about a bit. Also changes size and shape depending on what you take out/put in during the trip.
So I lean towards the rack for fun trips and the pack for fast, light bikepacking races.
I love my Revelate Nano panniers! so does my Surly 🥰seat bags are ok but these bags kick ass 🥰🥳👊🏻
Great breakdown Kurt!
Great info and insight. Thanks!
Good info ..
Thanks.
I'm shocked that a guy with your credentials has only 80 subscribers. Where is everyone?
Ha! It probably has something to do with me only getting around to posting a video every 4 months or so on average...
@@ultraMTB Regardless, thanks for the content and for the insight.
It seems like one of the advantages of going “bikepacking” style is that you are more streamlined and you have weight distributed over the length of the bike. In your photo, there is no bar bag or anything visible that would put a bit of weight on the front. I wouldn’t want too much weight in front, but do you think grip on cornering for the front tire would be better with a little weight forward?
Good point! I had a small bag on the bars on this last long tour (the new Revelate Designs Pitchfork bag), but it's obviously not on there in this video. That bag probably only had 3 pounds in it, though. Distributing the weight across the bike definitely is important, but I find it much less so on road/gravel than I do on trail. Shifting my own body weight forward/backward on the bike when cornering makes a much bigger difference for traction than a small bag does.