Rackless packless commuting
 

Rode today with a Revelate Designs Terrapin bag. The holster part stays attached to the saddle and seatpost, and the bag slides in and out. Previously only used this for bikepacking style touring, but no reason not to use for everyday commuting.

https://www.revelatedesigns.com/inde...-bags/Terrapin

Works great as a summer setup, where there is no need for extra capacity to carry morning ride clothes home in the evening. Didn't pack a lunch today, but the bag is only half full, so plenty of room to spare. Nice to remove the rack for a change and go with a lighter and more aero setup. The bag is a waterproof drybag and fairly heavy duty. Backpacks are out of the question for me, especially in the summer.

http://i1082.photobucket.com/albums/...38DBCBF717.jpg

I like it, a lot in fact.

I use one of those 'give-away' draw-string backpacks and simply drop it in a trunk-bag.
The same concept, just clunkier with a seat-post rack and trunk bag.

That's a pretty cool idea. Perhaps something to consider for the future if I ever shed my dependency on my backpack, which also has a fluorescent green + reflective stripes cover for hi-viz.

Like the old English saddle bag, made modern.

Sounds cool! Looks kind of narrow and round-ish. Would you be able to squeeze a decent sized laptop into that setup? I'm thinking with a laptop, my only likely options are using my rack, or hauling it on my back. And like you, I can't stand hauling stuff on my back, especially in the summer.

Not likely to fit a laptop. The drybag is basically a tube that opens on one end with a rolling closure. Just enough room for a change of clothes, other small items, and lunch. The lower or front half of the bag is compressed fairly tightly to keep it from swinging.

Well, cross that one off the list then!

Why shuttle laptops back and forth to work, anyway?

My workplace issues me one computer. My home computer is old and decrepit.

So you bring yours home for personal use? :D

Yup. I work at a college, and it's not against the rules. I save money this way, but the "cost" is a bit of lugging. I usually leave it at work Monday through Thursday nights and bring it home on the weekend. On weeknights, I use my tablet.

Not judging (I'm technically using my work computer for personal use right now ;)), but I was curious what reasons people might have.

Yeah, there you go. Sometimes I don't want to carry it, so I choose not to, and I rarely really need to carry it. And when I do, it's not terribly burdensome. It's probably worse on days when I don't ride, because that means I'm wearing a backpack and riding the subway.

I provide after hours support. Only company owned laptops are allowed to use the VPN to communicate with the internal network. Not for technical reasons as much as political and practical.
If I ran things... I'd have a company virtual machine image I could run on a home computer, and that image could access the internal network. I can understand that's a lot of work just so you don't have to haul a laptop back and forth.

To work from home the next day.

Actually, it's an excellent idea, and I think it would be worthwhile for the IT department, but who am I to spend their money? IT should have complete control over the VM so they can trust it.

I've been thinking about getting something like that myself. I've seen where ultra light touring folks use a large version of that type of bag in addition to others. Lately I commute with just a top box type of bag on a way too heavy rack. I'm not a weight weenie but ditching a 6 lbs. rack would be nice.

You can double the size by not rolling up the bag as much. Also have straps to attach another small drybag to the top. Here is the same setup with the bag at full size, plus other bags for touring.

http://i1082.photobucket.com/albums/...7AF4F672E7.jpg

I dunno, Alan. At this point I might just strap it onto a rack. Or use small panniers.

On that trip, I had two days of riding into 25-30 mph winds in the Florida Keys, and was glad to have a minimal profile. The bike handled surprisingly well. Everything was very secure with little to no movement, giving very predictable cornering and great stability. I anticipated having the weight up high would have an adverse effect, but it didn't. Considering the bulk of the rider's weight is even higher, I guess it makes sense. As set up, that is fully loaded touring, including a 2-person tent, cooking stuff, sleeping bag, clothes, etc. Keeping the weight down by not using racks and panniers worked out great. But I agree, if you are carrying a laptop, winter layers and other stuff for commuting, probably too limited in capacity for most, including me.

You sure you don't want a ridiculously overpriced carbon rack so you can commute without the extra "hassle" of an extra pound?

A carbon fiber rack on a steel bike? No, but I do have a CF water bottle cage to save 3 grams.

That's no steel bike...that's titanium! How much did the bag end up weighing? I have a carbon seatpost and am concerned it would put stress on it. A carbon fiber rack now...that's genius! Especially if it is a quick release rack so one could take it on and off at will.

Not sure which bike [MENTION=345109]corrado33[/MENTION] is referring to. In either case, I don't see a CF rack in my future.

As far as weight is concerned, think about how much weight your body puts on the seatpost. An additional 10 pounds or so is not going to break it. All attachments are velcro and nylon straps, which help absorb any shock. The only issue with CF is clamping something to it, which puts all the stresses in a small area. Not generally an issue with bikepacking bags, but a seatpost rack on a CF seatpost or a standard rack clamped to CF seatstays is generally not advisable.

I think I like the idea of this more than I'd like the reality of it

I'm just thinking of the flexy seatpost that comes on the CDale Synapse. You can already (by design) feel it flex in certain circumstances, I'm just wondering if a bikepack would exaggerate it. I recently watched Inspired to Ride and those guys and gals mostly had the same setup, albeit even lighter than yours (bivy sacks instead of tents, and aero bars with sleeping pad wedged between the bars, focused more on speed than carrying comforts). Seems like a great setup for touring on a road bike.

I'm amused by how much corrado feels he has to voice his disapproval of the CF rack on multiple pages.

Saw that movie a couple weeks ago on Netflix. Unbelievable how far they rode each day unsupported. Great movie.

I'm a bit of a cycling bag junkie, with several brands and sizes of Carradice, Acorn, Louis Garneau, Topeak, Ortlieb and others. I used a Carradice Barley almost exclusively for commuting for a number of years, but have started using racktop bags more frequently in recent years. However, I have a Carradice Bagman rack on several bikes and use their Barley, Pendle or Zipped Roll bags on those bikes.

The Revelate bags intrigue me but it seems like it might be hard to swing your leg over the bag when mounting your bike, and that the long extension could also affect handling. Do you notice any effect on handling? One reason why I like the Carradice bags is that they center your cargo weight close to the saddle and the effect on handling is imperceptible.

Because I often do work at home and as a software developer who's constantly changing stuff on my machine, I don't want to have to worry about keeping things in sync on a home computer.

Using a VPN or remote connection doesn't always work well for the kinds of things I'm doing.



Sometimes I work while at neither the office or at home.

Ah, okay, thanks. I didn't want to side-track [MENTION=104720]alan s[/MENTION]'s thread too much (sorry!), but with remote access of computers being a relatively mature technology (I remember first reading about Norton pcAnywhere in the early 1990s), it strikes me as weird that so many people are compelled to transport a laptop when they commute back and forth. Or if not a requirement, one of the ways that bike-commuters sometimes find ways to carry too much stuff with them. :p

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