- You have all the bikepacking gear
that you think you're gonna need for your trip.
Now you need to know how you're
actually gonna take it with you, and apparently
it's not quite as simple as just stuffing it in.
- There's a number of different styles of bikepacking bag.
Each one mounts in a different place around the bike
and is good for carrying different types of things.
One thing to consider when packing your bike
is that the extra weight will affect the handling,
so weight distribution,
and even weight distribution at that,
is very important so you don't skew it too much.
- Right, where are we gonna start, mate?
- Well, let's start with the frame pack,
but before we put anything on our bikes,
it's also good to consider putting protective tape on,
because they will move a little bit,
and they will scuff your paint,
and it is very disappointing to find
you've just scuffed your best bike.
- Yeah, we don't wanna do that.
- Learning from lessons there.
- [Simon] Right, so frame bag.
- The frame bag is obviously mounted within the frame.
The benefit of this is that it's very well secured,
because it's got lots of mounting points.
You can get a half frame pack like this,
or you could get a whole frame bag
which would actually take up the whole triangle.
The kind of items you want to put in here
are the heavier items, and things
that you want to access readily,
easily while you're on your bike.
So, arm warmers, jackets, and maybe tools.
- Okay, and I guess because the weight is central over
the bike, it's gonna help with that weight distribution
thing, 'cause that of all places
is the best place to stash stuff.
- Exactly, you're gonna have quite a lot of control
over that weight, so that's why
we go for the heaver items there.
- Okay, right then, so following Josh's advice
I'm gonna go for my tool kit, and inner tubes,
pump, and then those warm cycling kit items,
so like arm warmers, leg warmers, gilet, cap,
and also a spork as well, which I think I need to put
in there because it's long and thin, but also pointy,
and I don't want it spiking anything else.
There we go, like a glove.
- There is one point, though,
with a frame pack, that you need to be aware of.
It is obviously inside your triangle
which is also where you're gonna put your water.
You're quite lucky, 'cause you've got a big enough
frame to accommodate bottles and a frame pack.
However, if you ride a smaller frame it might be an issue.
Now, there's a few ways around this.
You can mount bottles elsewhere on the bike.
So some bikes have a mounting point underneath,
or you can actually get mounting points on the frame,
on the fork here, so you can hold the bottles in front.
However, if you don't have either of those,
you can put a water bladder inside your frame pack,
or you can run a full frame pack, and then you can
carry the stuff you've got in there, plus extra water.
- Yeah, to be fair, even on this medium frame,
I have had to change my bottle cages for some very old
aluminum ones so I can squish the bottle in from the side,
'cause clearly this is pretty tight in there isn't it?
- Yeah, I've have the same problem with my large frame
as well, so I've got side entry bottle cages,
so it is a very important thing to consider.
- Yeah.
Okay, Josh, next up seat pack?
- Yeah, let's go for the seat pack.
So the benefit of the seat pack
is you can fit quite large volume items in it.
However, there are some drawbacks.
The weight is quite high up on the bike,
and you remember we spoke about the balance of the bike,
so if you have too much weight up,
it's gonna swing the bike around more, and it'll make it
harder to corner and to throw the bike around.
- It's quite dynamic, 'cause this is the biggest
bag on the bike, right, you know 15 liters plus.
- Exactly, so we need to put in there
the bulkiest lightweight item.
- Okay, sleeping bag?
- I think so.
- Alright, now cool little pro tip from Josh here,
you've made me roll my bivy bag, my sleeping bag,
and my mat all in one, right?
Exactly, yeah.
Now, it's kind of quite specific to this particular trip
we're on, because we're only gonna be sleeping out
one night, and we haven't really got that much stuff,
so we're utilizing the space of the saddle pack,
and putting the light item in there,
but it's not really packed up too well.
The benefit is, though, when we come to bivy tomorrow night,
we can just roll it out quickly and we don't have to get
cold and spend loads of time
putting everything together and unpacking it.
Vice versa, when we start in the morning
we can just roll it up quickly, shove it in,
and get going before we get cold.
- Okay, so we can stuff this one.
This is the bit we're allowed to stuff.
- You're allowed to stuff this one.
- Great stuff. (claps)
Stuff, hey! (imitates rimshot)
- You alright, mate?
- Just about, mate.
- Oh, nice.
I just went out and got a coffee while I was waitin'.
- Right.
- So you're all packed and ready then, are you?
- Well, no not quite, because I did wonder whether
this was also a good place to stash my rain jacket,
'cause that needs to be easily accessible,
but it won't fit in the frame bag,
and actually that roll top at the back makes it super quick,
and then also with the same idea, obligatory bog roll.
- Definitely, just remember the plastic bag, though.
- Plastic bag for the bog roll, right, got it.
- One thing to remember with a saddle pack
is that it is quite high up, and it can
swing a little bit if it's not packed really well.
So it's important to make sure you stuff all your stuff
right to the bottom of it, so it's supported here.
Now we're riding these 3T Exploro frames,
which kind of aero,
and have this nice squared off seat post.
The benefit is that it actually
stops the bag swinging quite a lot.
Now, not all bikes have that, so it's important
to really tighten the straps up.
After a few hours on the bike, as well,
everything kind of settles into place,
and the straps do kind of, like, move a little bit,
so you may need to just tighten it up again
to make sure you're not swinging everywhere.
Am I gonna get another coffee, Si?
- No, I'm nearly there. (exhales)
What was the pro tip, you stick your knee in?
- Yeah, if you put your knee underneath the back
of the pack, you can actually push everything up
into the saddle and then you can really
get some leverage on the straps.
And as you can see, that's pretty stable.
It's not gonna swing everywhere.
- That was a morning's work well spent, I think.
- The good thing as well is if it does rain
it's like a nice big mud guard.
- Not much left now, Josh,
but also not much space left either.
- No, so we're gonna have to go for the bar bag.
Now, bar bags are actually pretty good
at fitting quite a lot of stuff in them.
They're also fairly good for heavier items, as well,
because the weight is kind of controlled between the bars.
It will make the steering feel a little heavier,
but it's something you soon get used to.
The other benefit of having the weight
over the front wheel is, as you found out on our rough,
loose, gravely descents yesterday,
it actually puts a bit more grip
on the front tire, which is a benefit.
- Yeah, it did feel really secure, innit?
So, for the bar bag, then, this is the prime place
for what casual kit that's left,
and any kind of extra warm stuff that--
- [Josh] Exactly, yeah.
So, on this particular trip we've got
our casual clothes for the evenings.
So, I like to pack them all together in one bag.
Then if you stay in a hotel like we have a couple of times,
or you're camping, you can just take the bag off at the end
of the day, and everything you need is in one place.
- Cool.
Okay, now, one thing I've found out with this one
is that you can get into the bag at both ends.
So I've got warm cycling kit, and my jacket at one end,
and my casual clothes at the other end,
so depending on which I need I can do it instantly,
but then also I'm still stuck with my sauce pan,
and my mug, and my coffee making paraphernalia.
So am I allowed to stick that in there as well?
- You can fit it wherever you want.
- Thanks, mate.
(relaxing music)
Right.
Right, Josh, we are very nearly there.
- [Josh] Yeah, most of your stuff
is now packed up in one of the three main bags.
However, we've still got a few little items left,
and this is where things like top tube bags come into play.
Now, top tube bags are actually
really good, contrary to popular belief.
They're good for things like tools, money, your phone,
charging cables, your passport.
Even floral battery packs.
- If you're gonna have a battery pack,
you might as well make it pretty.
To be fair, in my limited bike packing experience so far,
I will admit the top tube bag has been remarkably useful.
So, yeah, passport, floral battery pack,
cables, and food as well.
- Yeah, and then we've got a few bits left over.
So this is your wash kit.
- It is indeed.
- Sometimes little extra items like that do crop up,
and they don't really have a proper home,
but that's when things like bungees and extra straps
on the outside come into play, because it's not
the most valuable items, but you wanna kind of get ahold
of it, so if you just put it under a bungee, it'll stay put.
And then when you need it you can grab it easily.
- Done.
- And there we go, sorted, I think
we're ready to get bikepacking again.
- Yeah, it's taken so long, mate,
should we wait and go tomorrow?
- Well, let's just bivy out here. (Simon laughs)
Looks like we're ready then, Si, this is looking quite neat.
- Thanks.
- So one thing to bear in mind as well,
as where you pack your stuff,
is the order in which you pack it.
Obviously, if you pack your rain jacket
right at the bottom of your saddle pack, that's gonna be
a bit of a pain if you get caught in a rainstorm.
So you need to think about when and
where you're gonna need things.
So, my advice would be if you start off, and you're wearing
extra layers, not really applicable right here, right now,
make sure you take them off and put them into your bag
in the order you take clothes off.
That way when you wanna start putting layers
on again later in the day, you put it on in the right order.
So, you start with arm warmers, gilet, leg warmers,
so you pack them the other way 'round.
- [Simon] I'm guessing as well that, you know,
you are inevitably going to make mistakes
when you're packing stuff for the first time,
but when you realize that putting your roll of toilet roll
in the middle of your handlebar bag
is a disastrous place to put it, and you will end up doing
a Tom Dumoulin, then you only do that kind of thing once.
- Exactly, speaking from experience,
that is the number one lesson you learn.
- So that's my setup there.
Now, you've got one or two extra bits
that you're carrying as well, so I'll be really interested
to know whether you've actually done anything differently.
- So, yeah, fundamentally my setup
is pretty much the same as yours.
I've got the frame bag, the saddle pack
with my sleeping gear, and my casual stuff in my front bag.
However, the volume's slightly smaller here,
so I've got a few different bits
to help me take everything I need.
So, you may notice my stove and pot are on the top
there in a special little holder,
and that works out quite well.
I couldn't fit my mug in my frame bag,
so I've hung it on the side.
- Should I do that too, to be cool?
Is that like a cool thing?
- Well--
- Having your mug on the outside?
- I'm not particularly cool, but it's quite practical.
- Practical's cool, though, I'm gonna do that.
(Josh Laughs)
- There we go.
- Okay, and what about, so you've got a feed bag
on your bars as well, so that's different to mine.
- Yeah, so you've got a large top tube bag.
Instead of one big bag, I've got two smaller ones.
So, I've got a small one here for tools,
things like toothpaste, my emergency
tubeless tire repair kit, hand sanitizer,
things that I may need quickly in an emergency situation.
And then I've got a feed pouch here,
and this is quick and easy to access while I'm on the go,
and I can put in all the food I need to eat on the bike.
So, I've got some nice cakes that have been
going nice and stale in the sun.
- Nice.
So effectively, we are the same, except your feedbag
is kind of like my top tube bag and your top tube bag
is like half my frame bag, and then obviously,
yeah, I still need to do this.
- Exactly, yeah.
One thing about bikepacking is that there is no golden rule.
You kind of have to make it work for you.
If you follow these basic principles,
that would be a good start, but I've come across,
I've sort of settled on this system just through
loads of trial and error over a few trips.
So, quite often people may find that things work
differently for them, and essentially,
if it works for you then that's the right thing to do.
- Yeah, and duration of trip as well
is gonna add different kind of--
- Exactly, we've been pretty, we've taken some liberties
with the amount of space we've
taken up with our sleeping gear.
For example, when I went on a longer
kind of six month trip last summer,
I had loads of casual clothes,
and shoes, and stuff like that.
And then I had to really compact everything as much
as I could, because I needed to fit more stuff in there.
- Okay, now, the last thing is waterproof-ness.
It's not such a big deal here in Morocco,
but then there is a reason why we chose Morocco as opposed
to Great Britain for our first adventure into bikepacking.
But were we to be bikepacking in a wetter climate,
or in fact somewhere with a risk at all of rain,
what are you gonna do about keeping stuff dry?
- Well, you can get some frame packs with tape seams
and waterproof material, so these ones,
these particular ones, are waterproof,
so it will keep the worst of the moisture out.
However, it pays to be sensible
and put all your dry clothes in a separate dry bag
inside of the bags just in case.
There's nothing worse than finishing a long day
out in the saddle, getting into a nice, dry place,
and then realizing all your clothes are soaking wet.
- No, that sounds awful, actually.
- It is pretty mean.
- Yeah, well here's to Morocco and the Atlas Mountains.
Right, thanks Josh for those tips,
that is absolutely cracking, and so far one day
into this trip, apart from the toilet roll,
everything's been perfect,
so there we go, one lesson learned anyway.
Do make sure you give this video a big thumbs up
if you're enjoying the bikepacking content here on GTN,
and if you'd like a little bit more information
on exactly what we're taking, Josh very kindly
talked me through it when we were actually
back in the UK before we'd come out.
So if you wanna see that video click just down there.