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I’ve recently noticed that there’s a lot of discussion around weight when it comes to panniers vs bikepacking bags. These weight comparisons come from a good place: they are often comparing the weight between a typical touring bike setup and a typical bikepacking setup. The only issue is that this is like comparing apples to oranges.
Let’s break this down.
Minimalism
I’ll start by suggesting that minimalism either appeals to you, or it doesn’t. Minimalists have existed in the bike travel sphere for over 100 years, strapping bags to racks or simply selecting two panniers instead of four.
It’s well known that carrying less gear means you can select a lighter/faster bike and therefore travel longer distances with the same effort. In fact, this is a positive feedback loop: reduce bike weight > travel longer distances > carry less food and water > reduce bike weight further. So while bikepacking bags may force you to think twice about what you’re carrying, minimalism as a philosophy is equally applied to all bike luggage setups, panniers included.
I think it goes without saying that someone with a minimalist mindset is unlikely to walk into a bike shop and pick up a 16kg touring bike with 5kg of panniers, bags and racks. This setup will not only offer excess volume, but the heavy-duty components will be superfluous with a minimalist’s load. Similarly, someone wanting to carry a camp chair is unlikely to investigate a bikepacking setup. This is the crux of the problem when comparing a sturdy touring bike with four panniers to a svelte adventure bike with a bikepacking ensemble – these setups appeal to different people who want to conduct different types of adventures.
How Should We Compare The Weight Of Pannier Vs Bikepacking Bags?
The only way to truly compare the weight difference between luggage setups is to match the bag volumes. That is, to assume that you’ll pack both luggage setups with the same gear volume. I’ve seen people make weight comparisons where the bikepacking setup has less than half the volume. The panniers are always going to be heavier when extra textiles are used, and racks are fitted to accommodate the sheer volume!
Right, let me show you how panniers can actually be lighter than bikepacking bags.
Panniers That Are 21% Lighter than Bikepacking Bags!?
Ultralight Rear Pannier and Drybag Setup (38L)
Arkel Dry Lite Panniers (30 Litres): 540g
Tubus Airy Titanium Rack: 233g
Sea-To-Summit UltraSil Drybag (8 Litres): 30g
Compression Straps: 50g
Total: 853 grams
Bikepacking Setup (37.5L)
Ortlieb Handlebar Pack (15L): 417g
Ortlieb Seat Pack (16.5L): 430g
Ortlieb Framepack Large (6L): 232g
Total: 1079 grams
Surprised? I was! I always assumed that the rack infrastructure and waterproof nature of the panniers would tip the balance here. But the Tubus titanium rack is about the same weight as a large packet of potato chips and the Arkel Dry Lite panniers less than a small bidon of water. Once you strap a lightweight drybag to the top of the rack, it’s pretty hard for a waterproof bikepacking set up to match the weight.
What About F+R Panniers With Hooks?
Front and Rear Pannier Setup (50L)
Ortlieb Gravel Packs x2 (50L): 2320g
Tubus Tara Rack: 360g
Tubus Airy Rack: 233g
Total: 2913 Grams
Bikepacking Setup (50L)
Ortlieb Handlebar Pack (15L): 417g
Ortlieb Accessory Pack (3.5L): 206g
Ortlieb Seat Pack (16.5L): 430g
Ortlieb Framepack Large (6L): 232g
Anything Bag x2 (9L): 398g
Anything Cage HD x2: 440g
Total: 2123 Grams
When you fit a front rack to a bike or use panniers with hooks (or both!), the weight starts to add up. But the difference with the volumes matched is still under 800 grams (1.8lb). That’s not insignificant, but it’s also a very small percentage of the overall weight of your body/bike/luggage/food/water – probably under 1% of the total.
Volume-Weight Potential
BIKEPACKING.com recently suggested that the biggest weight savings are what you can’t fit into a bikepacking setup. While I agree that having less storage space will make you think twice about whether you can take it (ie. if you can’t pack it, you won’t), I don’t think this is a good reason to ditch the panniers (I’ve listed better ones below). That’s because it’s ultimately your choice to fill the space, and if you have a minimalist mentality, you don’t need volume constraints to be on top of that.
How Much Does Weight Affect Cycling Speed?
I took my touring bike with two large panniers (mounted to my rear rack) on a 15.37km (9.5mi) long undulating route which offered 276m (905ft) of climbing. I rode around this course all day with different loads to find out how much each extra kilogram affected my cycling speed. It turned out that each extra kilogram is worth somewhere between 10 seconds (flat) and 90 seconds (hilly) over 100km.
I suggest keeping this information in mind whenever considering matters of weight on a bike trip.
Bikepacking Bags Are More Aerodynamic
Aerodynamics have a very significant impact on your speed, especially when compared to my weight testing. On my hilly test course when carrying 20 extra kilograms it worked out to be 18 minutes slower over 100km. To put that into perspective, that time difference is essentially the same as the difference between bikepacking bags or four panniers with equal weight (17 minutes). That’s a lot!
Summary
I wrote this article to dispel the myth that racks and panniers have to be heavy. I think that matching the luggage volumes is the best way to draw a weight comparison between setups because if you’re interested in bikepacking bags over panniers, you’ll also be the type who can be a minimal packer.
That said, I personally wouldn’t pick either luggage option on weight alone. Bikepacking setups are:
– More aerodynamic (6% in my case)
– Better on rough roads and trails
– Really good at distributing weight (especially frame bags)
– Able to fit bikes without rack mounts
Panniers have their place too. They are:
– Quick to remove from a bike
– Easy to carry off the bike
– Easy to organise
– Better equipped to fit odd-shaped objects
– More protective of laptops
Ok, time to take whatever luggage setup you’ve got and enjoy the ride. 😀
