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Tag: Trunk bag

  • Keep Your Trunk Bag Stable with a Toe Strap

    Keep Your Trunk Bag Stable with a Toe Strap

    If you use a trunk bag (or rackpack or racktop) over your rear panniers like us, you will find that it sometimes needs to be fastened down with more than the built in clips. We have found toe straps (from pedals) to be the most secure way of keeping our bag sitting tight – especially on bumpy roads.

    Securing Ortlieb Rackpack 49 trunk bag with a toe strap
    Securing our Orlieb Rackpack 49 with one simple toe strap!

    Many others use octopus (occy) straps to secure their load, but we've found toe straps to be smaller, lighter and make it easier and quicker to take the bag off.

    We connect the toe strap just under the top tube / seat tube junction and to a handle on our Ortlieb Rackpack 49 bag. You can then tuck the excess part of the strap through the gap.

    Securing Ortlieb Rackpack 49
    The toe strap connects under our seat tube and will not allow the trunk bag to roll backwards.

    Once it is properly secure, there is not much which is going to allow the rackpack to slip backwards!

     

  • Review: Ortlieb Rackpack 31 Trunk Bag

    Review: Ortlieb Rackpack 31 Trunk Bag

    A requirement of our travels was to reduce the load in as many ways as possible. You may think that reviewing the sixth bag on my bike is contrary to load reduction, but let me explain.

    Alleykat is a single unit. We are cycling and travelling together which means when something is altered for one of us, it will affect the other. One half of Alleykat is bigger and stronger than the other, so it makes sense to shift a bigger proportion of the overall load to that person.

    A trunkbag of 31L provides roughly the same amount of space as two front pannier bags. The key difference; a single bag which is lighter than two pannier bags alone, but also a weight saving from not needing to use a front rack on Kat’s bike. Kat’s bike as a result is faster, lighter and more manuverable!

    It therefore made sense for Alleykat to have one bike with just rear pannier bags, and the other bike to use front, rear and a trunkbag to achieve the same overall volume. In the end, the bigger and stronger rider is penalised in a way which increases the average speed of the unit that is Alleykat.

    Ortlieb Rackpack 31

    Weight: 760g

    Size: Length 53cm, Diameter 28cm

    Cost: $149 AUD

    How does it mount?

    It is really quite a clever system to use with Ortlieb pannier bags. Essentially, there are two clips that mount off the trunk bag and connect to the top of the pannier bags. Then another two clips come from the top of the trunk bag to connect with the side clips on the pannier bags. Everything is then fastened and the bag cannot move.

    Using a trunk bag

    It is quite handy to have a trunk bag. It is the second-easiest bag to access after the handlebar bag. We store our food and iPads here, as well as the longer objects such as tent poles which do not fit in the panniers, but also jumpers on cold days. Sometimes the trunk bag is completely empty, other days it is overflowing with goodies!

    Materials

    It is made of the same materials as the rest of the classic line. This means that it is completely waterproof and water repellant meaning it dries off with the wipe of a cloth. The clips and fasteners are the same high quality Ortlieb standard!

    Disadvantages

    If you are seeking lots of extra space, this may not be the bag for you.

    I firstly recommend front panniers before using the trunk bag, mainly to even the weight that you’re carrying over your two wheels. A trunk bag puts even more weight over your rear wheel, leaving it with more chance of damage. A trailer might be a better solution for those with wheels that aren’t up to the task!

    Conclusion

    A trunk bag was the perfect solution for us. We needed the space, we didn’t want an extra rack or a trailer, and we had solid wheels. The trunk bag is really easy to access, is completely waterproof and water repellant, and is made with really tough materials – perfect for travelling to distant lands. There really aren’t any disadvantages if your rear wheel can cope with the extra load!