UKC

And while I’m on a gear theme, I’m looking for advice about bags or other containers to fit to my mountain bike for a bike assisted bothy trip. I’ve got a trek marlin 7- so a 29er hardtail. I’m going to be putting most stuff in a back pack, but would like to get as much as is practicable out of the backpack and onto the bike. Not sure even what I should be looking at... any suggestions?

cheers

gregor

There's loads of bikepacking bags out there at the moment and some of them are really good - apidura, restrap and alpkit all make good lightweight bags that strap on and keep the gear low and out of the way for MTB. 

Google bikepacking rather than bike luggage and the options are many! I'd definitely recommend them over traditional bike bags (i.e. panniers or old style saddle bags) and as for taking a rucksack... Not if you paid me

Have a look at Alpkit and Wildcat.

My only advice is to resist the urge to fill the space you have, travelling around New Zealand recently I saw some horrendously heavy bikes (think front and rear panniers, top bad, bar bag, frame bag, and a ~35l rucksack) and these people were all utterly miserable.

Based on the bike touring trips i've done over the last ten years, i would suggest that you need around 30 litres of storage space.  That will cover a 1 or 2 season sleeping bag, an inflatable mat (i use the neoair xlite), a set of clothes, waterproofs, a few tools, stove and a bit of food.

You may be able to get 10 litres in a bar bag, 5 in a frame bag and 15 in a saddle bag.  Traditional panniers will give you more space than the saddle bag but will add several kilos - try to avoid them if you can.

Alpkit can customise a frame bag for you.  I have one, it's excellent.  The Apidura bags are better but more pricey.

Have fun, it's addictive

Thanks- that’s really useful.  Not cheap though! 

And capacity could be an issue; even with larger frame, handlebar and seat bags, that’s about 30-40litres... maybe I pack too heavy, but likely to be looking at Cairngorms in early May, so will need warm clothes, food, possibly axe and crampons, and fuel for the bothy fire, can’t see me getting away without a backpack even with the bike packs...

that’s going to be me I think

but it’s only for the trip in and out to the bothy, so will only be 4 hours or so each way.

I think carrying a rucksack kinda sucks when bikepacking, but needs must. Its great to have purpose designed kit but you can actually get going without it. If you are going to invest in anything, one of those Alpkit drybags that have the sewn on lash points is a good start. Find some straps and just put it on your handlebars. You might need to move your brakes up a bit but its not the end of the world. A seat pack is great, but again pricey, and my first alpkit one wore through in about 60kms! (the prototype they gave me as a replacement is much better) But you don't need a special one, you can normally lash another drybag under your saddle.

My current set up is something like this https://photos.app.goo.gl/XwWkhnheCODsXEfA3 but if you scroll back through some of the older posts from this link http://lightfromthenorth.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/bikepacking you'll see some things I did in the past when I had less specially designed kit.

Basically, you can get a long way with some tough drybags, bungees and a few straps!

For trips of more than a couple of days I use a rack and small panniers ( keeps them clear of the ground when riding in ruts),  a frame bag (easy to make if you're that way inclined) and if taking a comfy sleep mat i sling it under the bars. Here's some picks from a few years ago :

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10200535772533257&set=a.1020053...

I use an Ortlieb dry bag on top of a rack with an Ortlieb bar bag and a small rucksack.