The writing in the photo says just back from 1000 miles in the bush. Look at the state of those tyres, all taped up, especially the rear!

Some ace old photos out there on t'interweb.

you dislecksick??

Moder-dye wrote:

Webp.net-resizeimage (1).png

With that gearing, I`m buggered if I`d want to try and ride that up hill!
Need legs like Andre Greipel in those days?

I know! Must be whatever's in his pipe keeping him going!

New custom waxed cotton prototype bags from Alpkit.

I like them , will they become reality ?

Fat tyre kicker wrote:I like them , will they become reality ?

Yep, fire them an email.

What advantage do these have over the normal bags?
Weight / Durability / Waterproofing...?

ZeroDarkBivi wrote:What advantage do these have over the normal bags?
Weight / Durability / Waterproofing...?

Waxed cotton is the hipster's nylon.
It saves the world from micro plastic. That's enough advantage.

Jurassic pusher wrote:

Moder-dye wrote:

Webp.net-resizeimage (1).png

With that gearing, I`m buggered if I`d want to try and ride that up hill!
Need legs like Andre Greipel in those days?

The shearers rode them across the Australian outback to get to farms for the obvious job as bicycles were easier and cheaper to maintain than horses (and doesn't die from all the potential poison on the way). Australia is a pancake. No hills to climb. Just loads of venom and drop bears. You'd be fine.

Alpinum wrote:

Jurassic pusher wrote:

Moder-dye wrote:

Webp.net-resizeimage (1).png

With that gearing, I`m buggered if I`d want to try and ride that up hill!
Need legs like Andre Greipel in those days?

The shearers rode them across the Australian outback to get to farms for the obvious job as bicycles were easier and cheaper to maintain than horses (and doesn't die from all the potential poison on the way). Australia is a pancake. No hills to climb. Just loads of venom and drop bears. You'd be fine.

Other than its not and the first guys photo say just returned from Mount Ragged Rush(594m) now a mountain national park in WA.

Granted there are lots of massive open flat areas, but plenty of hills and mountains too, in fact much higher mountains (2228m) than the UK.

Moder-dye wrote:

Alpinum wrote:

Jurassic pusher wrote:

Moder-dye wrote:

Webp.net-resizeimage (1).png

With that gearing, I`m buggered if I`d want to try and ride that up hill!
Need legs like Andre Greipel in those days?

The shearers rode them across the Australian outback to get to farms for the obvious job as bicycles were easier and cheaper to maintain than horses (and doesn't die from all the potential poison on the way). Australia is a pancake. No hills to climb. Just loads of venom and drop bears. You'd be fine.

Other than its not and the first guys photo say just returned from Mount Ragged Rush(594m) now a mountain national park in WA.

Granted there are lots of massive open flat areas, but plenty of hills and mountains too, in fact much higher mountains (2228m) than the UK.

Sorry, you quoted not the first image and yes, it's a bloody pancake. Have you seen how flat Mount Kosciuszko is? People doing the seven summits but not capable to climb mountains go there to get the highest peak of Oceania despite it being Puncak Jaya (or Carstensz Pyramid). As far as I know you can drive a car up Mt. Kosciuzko...

"Waxed cotton is the hipster's nylon" - cotton has some serious problems of its own sadly: 1 kilo cotton takes 10,000L water to make apparently. For example, the Aral Sea has almost disappeared as a result. Also cultivation is massively pesticide-heavy - more than any other single crop.

I'm waiting for the bamboo version obviously . Or maybe there's some scope for Welsh wool . Or even Welsh sheep poo - if poo-made paper, why not BP bags eh.....

Poo made paper? Does it exist?!

I know there's plenty of fibre in sheep/horse muck, but going back to your water issue, I don't think any paper, never mind poo made paper, is light on water in the process. There was a doc on a few weeks ago about making toilet roll. Fascinating

Edit: By Jove it does exist! https://newatlas.com/cow-elephant-manure-paper/53916/

Yep - sheep poo paper made in Aberllefenni just up t'road from Stu's. Bought some once and it was excellent. Think you can still get it. Somebody else flogs paper made from reindeer poo - presumably ideal for Crimbo cards .

Alpinum wrote:Waxed cotton is the hipster's nylon.
It saves the world from micro plastic. That's enough advantage.

It's a bit late for me to start worrying about the amount of plastic in my cycling kit - would be like going Vegan 'cause it's fashionable, knowing I will still have the occasional bacon buttie and fish supper!

Bamboo also has it's own problems....
Turning it into fabric usually entails it being soaked in vats of gruesome chemicals to release the fibres. These are then flushed out into the environment by unregulated manufacturers in China.

I'm thinking lanolised wool bags with bone toggle closures is the way forwards (backwards?)

The whole thing's a minefield of course. I think I might have another try at nude bikepacking to minimise my impact (tried it once as a 100-yard experiment in TLS; strangely liberating but also strangely, er, tangle-prone), along with replacing my baggage with a bar-mounted wicker basket.

Don't forget replacing the bike frame with bamboo or good ole English oak or ash if you ride a plastic fantastic

I've made felt a good few times, the thought of bike bags (your kip mat too?) made from it would require a cargo bike