Hi all, I'm looking at giving bikepacking a go, being a veteran kitchen-sink road tourist.

I can get some stuff at trade price and wondered what peoples' thoughts were on Altura, Blackburn, Topeak and Madison or Polaris stuff?

I hope I can r i g up a dry bag as a bar bag for a trial.

Lol at the r i g filter

I have a Blackburn top tube bag and it’s pretty solid. I was originally going to get a Revelate top bag and I’d consider them to be of equal quality, a very well made piece of kit. My only annoyance is with the availability of spares - they supply one short and one long strap, but if your bike requires two of either then Blackburn can’t supply extras.

The handlebar roll came around the Cairngorms Loop with a mate - again very well made and surprisingly the single bar mount didn’t rotate much through lots of technical riding.

No experience of any of the other brands though

Used a Topeak bag briefly and wasn't impressed with the quality; zip broke on it's first outing, a not particularly demanding 24hr plod round Wales. Maybe the new stuff is better.

I've not seen much if these brands coming through work, but there was an Altura top tube bag today that hadn't survived a 3 week trip from Lands End.

Going to parrot the others.

There is a reason Revelate (Epic Designs back in the day) have been around so long.

ScotRoutes wrote:I've not seen much if these brands coming through work, but there was an Altura top tube bag today that hadn't survived a 3 week trip from Lands End.

A top tube bag failed? What happened to it? I’ve worn through straps and fabric etc on both saddle bag and bar rolls, but the top tube bag rubs against nothing.

I’m yet to see any genuine innovation from the mainstream brands, they seem to be letting everyone else innovate and then copy and slightly alter.

cynic-al wrote: Altura, Blackburn, Topeak and Madison or Polaris stuff?

Just because you can get them cheap doesn't mean that they are up to the job such as Wildcat or Apindura etc would be.

You don't want to be miles from anywhere cursing your choice of gear

Ive got an Ortlieb seat bag that I use in winter - it's huge and nicely designed but pretty heavy.

Overall I prefer my Wildcat seat harness, as its lighter and you can remove the dry bag and take it under your shelter, which only really makes sense when you've tried to pack a down sleeping bag and jacket into a fixed seat pack when its pissing down.

AlasdairMc wrote:

ScotRoutes wrote:I've not seen much if these brands coming through work, but there was an Altura top tube bag today that hadn't survived a 3 week trip from Lands End.

A top tube bag failed? What happened to it? I’ve worn through straps and fabric etc on both saddle bag and bar rolls, but the top tube bag rubs against nothing.

I've almost worn a hole in my alpkit top tube bag. I don't know how.

JohnClimber wrote:
Just because you can get them cheap doesn't mean that they are up to the job such as Wildcat would be.

Fixed that for you John.

That's not fair Greg.... play nice

JohnClimber wrote:

cynic-al wrote: Altura, Blackburn, Topeak and Madison or Polaris stuff?

Just because you can get them cheap doesn't mean that they are up to the job such as Wildcat or Apindura etc would be.

Indeed, that's why I'm asking. But it doesn't mean they won't be up to the job either.

Probably not of any help as i havent used many in the field, but have seen plenty in shops and sewn many of my own.

First thing i noticed about a couple bigger brands is they're very good at making what looks like vaguely exciting bikepacking bags. I chose my words carefully there.

But upon closer inspection they lack the same level of field tested design and engineering that go into more cottage industry companies.
Its very obvious these bags are for selling, whereas the older and smaller businesses make bags that work, and worked so well people wanted to buy them....it always shows in the workmanship.

Wildcat make a harness with real load bearing design and thought into it, compared to an Altura handlebar bag i felt recently that had little structure or any thing to stop it bouncing all overthe place just dropping off a curb.
Alpkit are constantly changing and tweaking products with improvements as they learn (but still cant stop a seatpack folding in half unless packed perfect ) but are always pushing designs either way.
And porcelain rocket just went away from what people think bags are supposed to look like and produced some very innovative designs with zipperless framebags and rigid seatpacks (so good other bigger brands had to follow)


I guess i can offer little more than look into the thought behind a product, with smaller names you're not paying for branding or advertising, hell you may not even be paying for the quality or workmanship, you're paying for the time and thought in the design and engineering of the product

It's rare, but not unknown, for a product to appear that is basically "right" first time. The only one that immediately springs to mind is the Petzl Zoom headtorch, the current model is very similar to the original that first appeared in the mid 1980s.

Usually a product comes out and as it gets more use, particularly at the boundaries of what was originally intended for the product, then tweeks are made and you get new revisions as the product gets refined. Occasionally a change/update is made that is significant. I'm sure we've all had a "if only it did ..." type thoughts.

The "mainstream brand" bags feel more along the lines of "standard Taiwanese frames in this year's corporate colours" than anything else: "Got a brand X bike then get the brand X bags designed to fit it".

Without trying (I don't need to try) to sound like some sort of tw@t, it does appear that bikepacking could be dividing slightly and leaving us with a situation where there are 'serious' and 'casual' bikepackers. Obviously this happens in any type of pastime, hobby, etc but it seems like the major brands are stepping in to the fill the void left by the orginal / much smaller / more experienced brands. The result appears to be 'cookie cutter' bags that appear functional but lack thought / design and if I'm honest, real world testing. However, price doesn't seem to be a good indicator of functionality ... some of the worst luggage I've ever used was the most expensive and incorporated many poor solutions to problems that don't really exist, seemingly in a effort to develop a usp.

Something else to add, l looked into the Blackburn top tube bag and noticed that the location of the velcro straps would not play well with the (Revelate) frame bags l already had. I'm sure this is in the minority with bags but something to consider if your going to mix and match brands

ive found the alpkit stuff to be good value for the money and as hardy as owt else out there, great warranty too

Agree with what jamesh said. I have the Blackburn top tube bag. Quality is great. But trying to get it to fit with an apidura frame bag is a right pain.

I've just been thinking about this subject and concluded that the real difference might be more to do with 'involvement' than anything else. The smaller / cottage manufacturers are usually 'boots on the ground' which probably means that they conduct their own testing / research and because they're inside looking out, gives them a deep understanding of what's required and perhaps more importantly - what's not.

On the other hand, the big manufacturers aren't likely to be bikepackers, so are outside looking in, which may obscure their view. I'm sure their products are tested but I'm not sure you can be as critical, precise or thorough when it's not your personal reputation / time / money on the line. There seems to be very little genuine innovation coming from the big manufacturers ... and no, making smaller racks / panniers and branding them with a trendy name doesn't count as innovation, that's simply playing it safe and maybe shows that the marketing dept has more about them than the design dept does

"alpkit stuff to be good value for the money and as hardy as owt else out there, great warranty too".. Penn'orth: they'll also happily do mods, eg lengthened top strap of my Koala so it wasn't hiding under saddle, and added v light f/glass "stiffeners" along base so it doesn't "fold in half like a poorly packed sausage" (not sure I've ever seen one of those, let alone eaten one) as mentioned on another thread. Oh, and nice tea and biscuits if you pop in at HQ.

cynic-al wrote:Hi all, I'm looking at giving bikepacking a go, being a veteran kitchen-sink road tourist.

I can get some stuff at trade price and wondered what peoples' thoughts were on Altura, Blackburn, Topeak and Madison or Polaris stuff?

I hope I can r i g up a dry bag as a bar bag for a trial.

Lol at the r i g filter

If you can get stuff at trade have a look at restrap harnesses, they are brilliant.

cake wrote:Agree with what jamesh said. I have the Blackburn top tube bag. Quality is great. But trying to get it to fit with an apidura frame bag is a right pain.

Try fitting it around a bike with 3 top tubes! I have to put something between the two Velcro surfaces so I can squash the strap through the small gap without the Velcro sticking, and removal is just as fun. That said, once it's fitted it's bomber tight and doesn't move at all.

RIP wrote:"alpkit stuff to be good value for the money and as hardy as owt else out there, great warranty too".. Penn'orth: they'll also happily do mods, eg lengthened top strap of my Koala so it wasn't hiding under saddle, and added v light f/glass "stiffeners" along base so it doesn't "fold in half like a poorly packed sausage" (not sure I've ever seen one of those, let alone eaten one) as mentioned on another thread. Oh, and nice tea and biscuits if you pop in at HQ.

I think Alpkit have done a lot to get people into bikepacking by providing a range of decent bags at reasonable prices, before it became fashionable. However, their kit is definitely not as well designed or made as Wildcat / Revelate, and Unlike others posting here, I didn't find them very responsive to suggestions for mods.

I think we are generally very lucky to have so many manufacturers providing options for what is still a fairly small market.

I'd beg to differ, I have several bags made by them most have had custom features added for me.

I've never known such a friendly and helpful company.

ZeroDarkBivi wrote:

RIP wrote:"alpkit stuff to be good value for the money and as hardy as owt else out there, great warranty too".. Penn'orth: they'll also happily do mods, eg lengthened top strap of my Koala so it wasn't hiding under saddle, and added v light f/glass "stiffeners" along base so it doesn't "fold in half like a poorly packed sausage" (not sure I've ever seen one of those, let alone eaten one) as mentioned on another thread. Oh, and nice tea and biscuits if you pop in at HQ.

I think Alpkit have done a lot to get people into bikepacking by providing a range of decent bags at reasonable prices, before it became fashionable. However, their kit is definitely not as well designed or made as Wildcat / Revelate, and Unlike others posting here, I didn't find them very responsive to suggestions for mods.

I think we are generally very lucky to have so many manufacturers providing options for what is still a fairly small market.

Wasn't the first bar harness they made fairly unworkable with a bar mounted light?

A bit like the Kraku (?) stove that didn't work with a bunch of canisters and, when it didn't fit, leaked gas.

I won't mention their attempt at a quilt.

Shades of on one / planet x sometimes ;-)

Still, for a bunch of stuff they're good, just think they have a slightly disproportionate rep'.