[FarNorth]

I am looking for a place to shop for gear (racks, packs, bags) for doing extended three to four day trips on a Fatbike (Fatback). I have done some searching but do not have enough info. Would like to hear what people like and dislike.

Thanks again for the help,
Steve

 

[Outsider]

I guess the standard way is to order a full set (frame bag, seat bag, gas tank and handlebar bag) from Relevate Designs. Not cheap, but from what I've seen very good stuff.

Personally I made the frame bag myself and bought a pair of rear and front racks to use with dry sacks. I'm very satisfied with my system.

 

[FarNorth]

Outsider,

Very cool. Thanks for the link.

Steve

 

[joboo]

I guess the standard way is to order a full set (frame bag, seat bag, gas tank and handlebar bag) from Relevate Designs. Not cheap, but from what I've seen very good stuff.

Personally I made the frame bag myself and bought a pair of rear and front racks to use with dry sacks. I'm very satisfied with my system.

+1 for Relevate Designs!!! :thumbsup:
Eric does a A+ work; also, you get what you pay for!!

Peace

 

[cowboygrrl]

Don't forget Carousel Designs…

 

[icecreamjay]

There's lots of info on bikepacking.net if you haven't checked it out already. I'm a bikepacking rookie, but Outsiders's pretty much summed it up.

If $ is no object, contact Revelate or Carousel for a full set of kickass gear.

The other end of the scale is ghetto bikepacking. Get some cheap drybags and a rack and strap them to your bike. Maybe make a framebag and stuff the rest in your pack. Jannd sells a cheap, smaller sized framebag that allows you to still use your bottleholder.

And of course there's the creamy middle. Patch your own system together. If you can't sew I would invest first in a framebag. Its easy to strap a dry bag to your handlebars. I've been using a rack in the back. I think its more versatile in terms of using different bags and sometimes I strap tools to it. The revelate/carousel seatbags are definitely lighter and cooler though. I've been drooling over Eric's (revelate) seatbag/shaped dry bag combo for a while.

I give a thumbs up to the gas tank as well. Great place to stick a phone or camera as well as stuff like chapstick, a bit of food to have handy, etc.

Generally speaking, the frame bag is the core of your bikepacking setup. Depending on your frame... smaller fatbacks have tiny main triangles. Put the heaviest stuff as low as possible on the bike. As in stuff the frame bag with tools, tubes, water, dense food, etc. Lighter stuff will go on the bars and seatbag/rack. The less weight you carry on your back the better.

Hope that helped, I'm still in the process of changing/perfecting my setup myself.

 

[FarNorth]

Icecreamjay,

Thanks for all the helpful information.

Steve

 

[space49]

Jandd Mountaineering makes a great selection of bags that work well. A have a couple that are working as good as the day I bought them over 15 years ago. Not quite as expensive as some other makers and time tested quality speaks for itself.
IME seat bags place the load and weight associated with it higher than neccesary and a good compression drybag with a rack works as well is offers greater versatility. It's nice to have both though along with a few different bags to choose from according to needs like weather and duration of the ride.

 

[Outsider]

...
IME seat bags place the load and weight associated with it higher than neccesary and a good compression drybag with a rack works as well is offers greater versatility.
...

This has been my motivation for racks as well, though I think it matters only for taller riders. The versatility also means that you easily can get a package from the post office home on the rear rack.