Where to put everything

[trail_monkey]

I have 2 bikes that I use for bikepacking packing. Neither have front fork bottle bosses. One has a rear rack and one does not. I strap a dry bag and my tent to the rear rack on one and to the seat post on the other. I use a revelate harness and a pocket on both bikes. One bike has a revelate tangle bag and below that has a salsa anything cage and a water bottle cages. The other has a blackburn full triangle  bag and I keep a water bladder in that. I am struggling with where to keep more stuff without going to full panniers on front or rear. Mainly I would like to put some anything cages on my front forks but I don't want to buy new forms with bosses and the anything cage is flat on the bottom so it rocks on a rounded surface. Any advice?

[bakerjw]

I have Rockshox Reba RL forks on my Karate Monkey. I ran some vinyl electrical tape around them a few times and used hose clamps to mount a pair of Cat Eye bottle holders onto them. I had to make some EPDM straps to hold the bottles in place. Offloading water bottles to the forks freed up the frame triangle for a frame bag. The water bottles can be also used for dry storage. They hold trail mix real well.

I rode the upper section of the TD route back in June and they were rock solid.

[FairbanksFatty]

I have an rigid aluminium fork.  I use Salsa Anything Cages.  I screwed on a strip of aluminium to the back of the cages, then used electrical tape to attach it to the fork.  I put a strip of inner tube between the fork and cage.  Iv'e used this for years and have not had a problem.  It holds the cages tight.  Probably 5 or 6 wraps of good quality tape in 3 places.  I used electrical tape with the idea that if I crash, the tape will fail before the fork.  I put my sleeping bag on one side, and my tent on the other.

[offroute]

Get a seat bag? A larger drybag? An extra pocket for use with the rack drybag? A small backpack? Feed bags? A long top tube bag?

I'm not wild about fork baggage, so I would work it out else-wise, but if fork bags are for you it's not too hard to work out a solution like these guys above did. Default to overbuilt and it'll work fine.

[trail_monkey]

Get a seat bag? A larger drybag? An extra pocket for use with the rack drybag? A small backpack? Feed bags? A long top tube bag?

I'm not wild about fork baggage, so I would work it out else-wise, but if fork bags are for you it's not too hard to work out a solution like these guys above did. Default to overbuilt and it'll work fine.

I have 2 matching Camelbacks but I just can't get into wearing a backpack much anymore so I am trying to get as much on my bike as possible and go without a backpack. The Salsa anything cage that I currently have has a flat back not a curved back like some of my water bottle cages have so when you try to tape or clamp it to a rounded fork leg it tends to be wobbly. Here are some pics from this last weekends overnight trip. I rode there with my green tent on the front of my Jones bars but the next day coming home I had the tent and my yellow dry bag strapped together on my rear seat post. I prefer the latter as it was less weight on my front bars.

I must say I am disappointed in this Blackburn bag in that the left side pocket is not full depth. It is a full length but shallow pocket and does not hold much. I was expecting the pocket on the non drive side to be full depth like the drive side pocket. Other than that I am satisfied with the quality of the bag. Just a piss poor design I think.

[RonK]

I would like to put some anything cages on my front forks but I don't want to buy new forms with bosses and the anything cage is flat on the bottom so it rocks on a rounded surface. Any advice?

Yes. First of all, you seriously need to downsize your gear.

Here are a few more options:

Gorilla Cage
Bedrock Honacker Bag
Cleaveland Mountaineering Everthing Bag

[trail_monkey]

Yes. First of all, you seriously need to downsize your gear.

Here are a few more options:

Gorilla Cage
Bedrock Honacker Bag
Cleaveland Mountaineering Everthing Bag

Well besides my tent I seem to be packing the same amount of stuff others are. Plus I am not packing a camp stove or anything like that like some of my friends do. I could go with a down sleeping bag which would roll smaller but I am happy with the synthetic I have. I really like that Gorilla cage and the clip that it can use.

[Iowagriz]

Agree to get more off the bars and on the back of the bike.  Would the tent pack down smaller without the provided bag?  I think you'll have to get a large seatbag to accomplish what you want.  Tent (minus poles) and other clothing in the bag.  My Revelate Vischacha has an internal compression strap that allows me to squish my tent pretty good this way.  Poles up front with the sleeping bag.  Food/Cooking in the middle.

It does get spendy for the bags, but my seatbag is probably the most used bag of the group.

[trail_monkey]

Agree to get more off the bars and on the back of the bike.  Would the tent pack down smaller without the provided bag?  I think you'll have to get a large seatbag to accomplish what you want.  Tent (minus poles) and other clothing in the bag.  My Revelate Vischacha has an internal compression strap that allows me to squish my tent pretty good this way.  Poles up front with the sleeping bag.  Food/Cooking in the middle.

It does get spendy for the bags, but my seatbag is probably the most used bag of the group.

Yes as I stated on the trip home the next morning I remove the poles from the bag and put them behind my sleeping bag and I squish the tent under the seat with my dry bag and it was much better in my opinion. That's definitely the way to go.

[Vonpotter]

Looks like you have the Texsport tent. It's not a bad little tent, especially considering the price. I had a similar problem with mine, which is going on its 4th season. (that's $10 per season)

I ended up ditching the bag right away. I rigged up a sleeve attached to my downtube for the poles.

I ditched the cheap steel wire stakes for some lighter aluminum ones (Like $6 online) I stash those in my frame bag

The tent and rainfly reside in my handlebar harness alongside my sleeping pad and other clothes. If you get a dry bag for your handlebar harness, you can squeeze the crap out of it and make it fit quite well. I have since upgraded to the Blackburn Outpost harness. Same concept as what you see here, just less.....redneck

[trail_monkey]

Looks like you have the Texsport tent. It's not a bad little tent, especially considering the price. I had a similar problem with mine, which is going on its 4th season. (that's $10 per season)

I ended up ditching the bag right away. I rigged up a sleeve attached to my downtube for the poles.

I ditched the cheap steel wire stakes for some lighter aluminum ones (Like $6 online) I stash those in my frame bag

The tent and rainfly reside in my handlebar harness alongside my sleeping pad and other clothes. If you get a dry bag for your handlebar harness, you can squeeze the crap out of it and make it fit quite well. I have since upgraded to the Blackburn Outpost harness. Same concept as what you see here, just less.....redneck

Not sure what tent I got but I bought it from Midway USA for 25 bucks. It is a simple aluminum pole 2 man pup tent like I had as a young boy. I bought it last spring before my first bike packing excursion because it was cheap and lightweight. The whole package weighs around 3.5 lbs. Those aluminum poles weigh next to nothing. I am always the only dude at camp with a cheap a frame pup tent but I don't care. It works and it works rather well for just me. One dude this weekend asked me how much it weighed and I told him and he informed me his dome tent he carted to the camp site on his pull behind weighed around 10 lbs. Redneck??? I love it lol. Yeah I have a little redneck in me ha ha. Nice bike by the way