A quick review of the Ortlieb GravelPacks after having used them for 3 years and more than 15,000 km of bikepacking and touring. With a tip for a small modification that makes them even better!
Great long term review, the Voile strap hack is superb and really useful to note the loosening fasteners - perhaps a dab of threadlock would help with preventing that
Was sitting on the fence about getting some, but... SOLD! A convincing endorsement, and I agree about the size. I don't want to be burdoned with too much 'Stuff'. Thankyou Wombat Vision.
I'm going to echo everyone else about the Voile strap mod, fantastic! Where I find where some of the rattling comes from is the plastic "bumper at the bottom making contact with the rack. The plastic backing flexes and taps the rack often. I haven't personally resolved it myself but I think something that's more rubberized than plastic may remove some of the noise.
It is a 5 liter Sea To Summit Big River dry bag. Maybe not the lightest, but rugged and the perfect size for being strapped on top of the panniers. It even has lash hops pass the straps through to hold it in place.
I really do prefer the gravel packs. Perfect size and rugged without being heavy. The dry bags I am using are the Sea to Summit Big River bags. I like that they have mounting points that I can thread the voile straps through.
The rack is an original Riverside (Decathlon) one made for the Riverside Touring frames. It bolts onto the mounting points on the seat stays and is very solid. I believe it is rated to 40 kgs of load!
Yeah, that will work for a while, at least until the tape starts wearing... It's not a major problem, just something to be aware of if you are sensitive to that type of rattle, lots of people don't have any problem with it at all.
I use some pieces of old (rubbery) shower hose that i cut to length, and then cut open in length to fit over the rack tubes. Then a layer of duct tape. Bye bye rattling 😎 Garden hose should work too i assume 😊
Yeah, 25 liters might seem a bit small for "normal" bicycle touring but is quite large while bikepacking. You can see what I pack in 2 separate videos on the channel, the Unpacking my European Divide setup and the Bike Setup and Equipment European Divide.
How would you rate the Ortlieb tail pack? Was thinking about trying out the 16l version.
12 дней назад
It is ok but I have come to decide that I don't like tail packs. Much prefer a light rack. Doesn't move around and gives many more options. So I am not the right person to ask about the tail pack, moved away from it rather quickly... :)
