Hi there,

I'm mainly hiking (rather lightweight) and now want do do some tours with my Moutainbike.
I think the easiest and lightest way to go is to attach "normal" drybags to my bike, so I'd like to give it a try.

Is anyone attaching drybags without heavy frames or harnesses? If so, could you please share how you do it (pictures)?

Thanks a lot,
Christoph

I can't find a photo, but I know did one camping trip with my bedroll just bungeed and belted on to my handlebars. It was a pain to get on and off, and if I wanted to use the handlebars for storage again, I think I'd get a harness, but it worked the other way. I've also just strapped a dry bag on to the top of my rear rack along with some padding to keep the bag from being worn through.

Most of the people here use panniers and racks. You should check out bikepacking websites, you may find all your answers there, for example this one:

bikepacking.net

But I think you will find that some of the frame bags and harnesses are more expensive than just strapping on the dry bags.

now fork racks like part of the Trek 720 are made and supplied with dry bags. 720 - Trek Bicycle

Salsa Anything cage , is more an in frame water bottle mount. Anything Cage | Parts & Accessories | Salsa Cycles

Ortliebs Roller Panniers are essentially a dry bag with rack mounts . there are also lower cost china made competitors
Like Axiom and Sunlite, & others..

BoB trailers are usually sold with a dry Bag.



I have a Big Dry bag , a Cascades designs Portage Pack , I can use It in either of my 2 Bike Trailers ,
and backpack carry the trailer if needed.

I Have a side opening dry bag that protected my padded camera bag, with film cameras and lenses in it.

Thanks a lot for your suggestions!

The reason I've asked is mainly to save weight. Since I have a lot of very lightweight drybags
lying around from hiking, I thought I can use them for mountainbike tours where I sleep in the mountains.

I figured out that I can easily mount an 8L drybag behind the seatpost, with a DIY kind of harness, and also
a larger one at the front.
I think I will combine this with a framebag, here the drybags are too wide.

I will also have a look at lightweight options for the front suspension, but I think you probably need
a stiffer/heavier harness there to keep it in place..

I use a Revelate Designs harness. That's a 15 liter dry bag. The harness is very secure, which is important for handling.

How does that affect handling? I'm curious because that's one of the complaints often made about front handlebar bags.

Revelate Harness...

cockpit on the fargo by Mike, on Flickr

For the seat, you could get a Porcelain Rocket Mr. Fusion, or a Revelate Terrapin (or get one of their saddle bags and put your dry bag(s) in there...)

Your UL dry bags need the protection offered by the Revelate Harness and Terrapin saddle bag shell. They prevent abrasion holes from bike brake levers and the grit & sand thrown up by bike tires on and off pavement if you attached the dry bags by themselves. The Terrapin fits up to a 14L dry bag with some of it protruding a bit.

Also remember that UV sunlight will degrade UL dry bags over time as they are not inside a backpack anymore but partially in the sun all day long.

Another option:https://www.bikeforums.net/touring/95...l#post16892241

If you are looking for a low budget frame bag, the price on this one can't be beat for the money.

Ibera Bike Bag Triangle Front Frame Tube Large Cycling Black New IB FB1 L | eBay

If that link does not work, on ebay do a search for ibera large frame bag. If you do an ebay search you might find it cheaper elsewhere. The dimensions on the website are quite poor, I bought one as a roll of the dice and am quite happy I bought it. I measured it at 16 inches (~41cm) parallel to the top tube, 11 inches (~28cm) parallel to the seat tube at the rear of the bag, 3 inches (~8cm) parallel to the head tube at the front and 17 inches (~43cm) parallel to the down tube. I got the one with two zippers on the left side, they make a smaller one with a single zipper too.



It has straps for the top and seat tube, I hand sewed on some straps for the headtube and downtube, as it fits better there on my frame. I am estimating about 5 liters of volume.

I planned to make one, but I was happy to find that I do not have to bother with that. I have not used it yet, my current plans are to try it out in Sepetember for about 8 days. I was going to make one to fill the whole triangle, but decided that I do not mind having a smaller bag and one water bottle cage within the triangle.

I have seen several comments on the internet about straps wearing thru paint. My plan is to put a strip of inner tube rubber around the tube, hold it in place by tightly wrapping a velcro strap around that. That goes under each strap on the frame bag. I might still get some paint abrasion on my down tube where the bag might rub on it, but I will have to live with that.

Why do all that? Just use some electrical tape. It won't leave any residue when removed/replaced.

Electrical tape will leave a residue. I just run my bags. I've never understood the 'protect the frame' thing. If I wear it out, busted it up, rust it out that means I'm using my tools (unless I get a carbon frame... But I wouldn't, and that would be a different use case)

No noticeable effect on handling. The bag has light bulky stuff, and is low and back. The weight sits over the front axle, which makes handling neutral. Bags that mount higher and more forward affect handling more.

That makes sense and good to know. That looks to be a great system for distributing weight over the front and rear wheels. I may have to try it out.

what 'zackly are you planning? entire trip by bike?
paved or gravel or dirt or .... or what?
cycling to the trail head, then hiking in?

a bob trailer is about the right size to just chuck
your full backpack in. or get the canvas water
resistant trailer bag to protect your drybags.

I put electrical tape on the frame once before to protect the frame tubing from chaffing on a bike rack where the bike hung on the rack for about 3,500 miles of highway. When I took the tape off later, some of the clear coat over the color paint came off with the tape.

That's too bad. I once put some under the down tube and had no problem with that or residue. I have however had a light yellow-ish tint on the clear coat when using/removing rubber shims that come with mounting brackets.