Personal setups » Lynskey set up for spring 2011
by ChillyI am working on my bikepacking setup up for 2011. I would like to travel the length of the Colorado trail. I will appreciate any advice or criticism on my set up or gear choices. I will publish my gear/food list as it evolves. I am fabricated a few items myself because I could not find them commercially. I first wanted to carry my Fly rod on sections of the trail that will allow it. I fabricated the rod carrier out of rolled Kydex. I cut out sections of the case to allow it to flex and decrease weight. I anchored it to the down tube bottle cage mounts. I then made a triangle bag that can rest above the rod case but still be secure without the case in place. I do not think it is necessary but I like the way is looks and works. I attached several pieces of Velcro to the top of the bag to anchor my tank bag. The Tank bag will carry the majority of my gear. I reworked the attachment ponts several times to minimize shifting and allow clearance for my knees. I built a rear fender/rack from kydex that will shape the seat post side of any stuff sack to allow clearance of my thighs on the pedal stroke. Here are a few pictures of my project so far. Thanks for any input.
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- you can see all three parts of my system in this image
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- Adequate clearance for my knees was my goat with the shaped bag.
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- Shaped to allow clearance for my thighs.
ScottM on 
Dylan on 
AmosIv on 
Preston on 
Jesse on 
Martin on 
Rod on
Ghetto-fabulous. Why not move the Tank Bag to the rear seat-post and that hammock to either the front handlebars or to where you had the tank set up? That is a lot of stuff on the top tube (Tank). Have fun with the adventure and get out and ride it fully loaded before you go out to the Wilderness.
Ghetto fabrications is how i roll. I see a lot of set ups tail loaded like you describe. I drop behind my seat all the time riding. I know I would end up sitting on my tail bag. I can load more junk in my trunk but I still want to drop behind the seat. The tank bag is surprisingly stable. It has 5 anchor points and it will not budge when I rock it aggressively. I am going to place a small water bladder on top of it to see how it does. I did not want to load the handel bars either. I like being able to see the front wheel. Thanks for the input.
Chilly, your seatpost rack attachment (hoseclamp at top and clamp at the bottom of your kydex fab) will probably be your bugaboo when you start descending some of the rougher sections. Between the two of us, my buddy and I went thru three seatpost racks during our through ride in ’09. He went through two in three days on his ‘niner hardtail. My full suspension Yeti probably contributed to my rack lasting six days. Even before that, though, it started swivelling like a heavy tail. Gotta agree w/Sherpaxc about front end loading, too. Bike handles better during climbs and hike-a-bike, which you’ll be doing a s–t ton of during this ride. Whatever you carry back there, make it light.
Thanks Jeff, I will take it all out on a few test rides in the front range before I do anything remote. the clamp and bracket are not weight bearing so much as they help stop lateral movement. I do need to paint them black so they look more Tactical 🙂 The fender is supported by a piece of webbing under the seat, and the weight of the gear is largely held up against the seatpost. I am using the kydex to shape the load so that it does not rub my things on the pedal stroke. I do appreciate your and Sherpas words of caution and will test the bike fully loaded on Matthew winters this week if the weather holds. I am planning on doing the ride in sections over the summer. If you have more advice I would appreciate it. I will post how the test rides go, hopefully not catastrophic. I fortunately have some time to refine my ghetto fabrication.
my only comment- spring for the length of the CT is early July at best, I encountered a lot of snow leaving 4th of July weekend in 2008. I’ll leave about 2 weeks later if, per current thoughts, I try again in 2012 or 2013.
looks like the tank bag would be in the way when standing and pedaling, at least for my style of riding.
looks like tank bag would be in the way when standing and pedaling, at least for my style of riding.