Bags, shelter and tech for gravel and ultra-distance riding — every product scored out of 5 on a rubric we publish, with the reasons not to buy stated as plainly as the reasons to.
Twelve large bikepacking seatpacks compared on the thing that actually fails: the harness. Which 10L+ saddle bags resist tail sway, and which ones we would not put a loaded bag on.
Six ways to use the empty space on your fork legs, from a $33 cage-and-bag set to a clamp mount for forks with no bosses. Load limits and what balance does.
Widths by surface, a pressure starting point that accounts for your kit weight, and why the number on the sidewall is the wrong place to start.
Grams and calories per day, why four days is the practical ceiling on a bike, and how to plan a route around resupply instead of hauling a week of dinners.
Seven frame bags from $18 to $85, split by the decision that actually matters: whether you keep your bottle cages or give the whole triangle over to luggage.
What a dropper actually buys you on loaded descents, what it costs in weight and seatpack compatibility, and the frame sizes where it is a bad idea.
Seven items from $10 to $22, including the one that decides whether day three happens. What to carry, what to decant, and what to leave at home.
Three stoves from $17 to $130 judged on boil time in wind, pot stability, fuel economy and what each one costs you in grams. None is the answer for everyone.
The three things that actually matter for hygiene on the bike, what causes saddle sores, and a wash kit that weighs under 200 grams.
Eight ways to carry water on a loaded bike, from a $8 bladder to a titanium cage. Side-entry cages, insulated bottles, and what a frame bag does to your clearance.
What to do when a spoke goes 60 km from anywhere: stop the wheel rubbing, true it roughly by feel, and know when to stop riding it.
What a $30 bag gets right, what it gets wrong, and the three failure points that separate it from a $170 one. Fabric is not one of them.
Three seatpacks between $22 and $46 compared on waterproofing, sway, thigh clearance and what actually breaks first. All three keep water out.
Seven packable shells from $20 to $50, judged on cut and packed size rather than membrane marketing. Why a hiking jacket fails on drop bars.
Your core stays warm and your extremities do not. What actually works for hands and feet on a wet multi-day trip, and what is a waste of money.
A premium quilt, a value down bag and a convertible hybrid compared on warmth per gram, drafts, packed size and price. Honest about who should not buy a quilt.
Four pieces covering three different jobs: being seen on a road, seeing an unlit gravel road, and finding things in a tent. Most riders need all three.
94 km and 2,100 m of climbing from Black Canyon City to Crown King and back. The route is simple. The water plan is the whole trip.
Most bikepacking bags are water resistant, not waterproof. What welded seams, roll-top closures and IP ratings actually mean, and what to do about it.
Six small bags that decide whether your kit is findable. Top tube bags, dry sacks and a wedge, from $13 to $40, judged on what they solve rather than capacity.
Three bike computers from $173 to $419 compared on battery under navigation, screen legibility, route handling and what you actually lose at each price.
What a wet down quilt actually costs you overnight, how to dry one on the bike with no sun, and the point at which you should have brought synthetic.
Seven ways to keep a GPS, lights and a phone alive for three days. Capacity per gram, the losses between rated and delivered mAh, and when a dynamo makes sense.
A 187 km loop through the Tillamook State Forest and the Nehalem valley. Logging-road gravel, reliable water, and rain that tests every claim on your bags.
Three ways to carry the same kit, compared on capacity, handling, cost of entry and off-road tolerance. A winner on every axis, and a different one each time.
Nine sleeping pads from $42 to $229, judged on R-value, packed size and how they behave in a seatpack. The spec that matters is the one nobody reads.
Nine filters and the parts that fail on them, from a $10 spare pouch to a pump that draws from a puddle. Flow rate, cartridge life, and what freezing does.
Litres per hour by temperature, how to size a carry to the gap between sources rather than to your bottle count, and the number that has no safety margin.
A 71 km Colorado overnighter with 1,540 m of climbing, from Boulder up Left Hand Canyon to Ward and back down Lee Hill. Water, camping and bailouts.
Three large seatpacks compared on sway, waterproofing, camp packing, tyre clearance, weight and price per litre. A winner named on every one.
Why a gas canister loses power below 5°C, what actually restores it in the field, and which of the popular tricks is a good way to start a fire.
Litres by trip length, why a half-full big bag sways more than a packed small one, and the tyre clearance number that decides it for you.
Seven bikepacking tents compared on packed pole length first, from an $80 solo shelter to a bike-specific Big Agnes. Packed size, pitch order, and where each one gives out.
Real weights for a weekend bikepacking setup, where the kilos actually hide, and the point at which chasing grams stops making you faster.
Your water tastes like a shower curtain because something is growing in the hose. Here is the field clean, the deep clean, and how to stop it coming back.
Bike computers that survive a triple-digit day without dying, plus the radar unit worth the handlebar space. Eight picks from $30 to $419.
The multi-tool, pump and spares that turn a ride-ending mechanical into a twenty-minute roadside stop. Five picks we would carry on a remote gravel route.
The quilts, bags and pads that pack down small enough for a seat pack and still get you through a cold night. Ten picks from ultralight to budget.
Stoves, pots, utensils and the one luxury worth its weight. Nine pieces from $8 to $130, judged on what a bike actually has room for.
Across the head units we have scored, battery life runs opposite to price — the $110 unit lasts 20 hours and the $400 one lasts 17. For bikepacking that inverts the buying advice.
10L, 14L, 17L — bag capacity numbers mean less than they appear to. Here is how much volume a real setup needs, where it should sit, and why the biggest seat pack is rarely the right one.
Most riders carry too much food and too little of the right kind. Here is how to plan resupply around the route, what actually earns its weight, and when a stove is worth carrying at all.
Two bags in our catalogue are rated to the same -5°C and cost within a dollar of each other. One weighs 950g and the other 530g. The difference is fill power, and this is what it is worth.
Usually not both, and the reason is geometry rather than bag choice. What actually fits inside a size S main triangle, measured against real bag dimensions.
The frame bag is the only place weight is genuinely free. Here is what belongs in it, what does not, and the packing order that keeps the bike steady.
The Naturehike Cloud-Up 1 and Cloud-Up 2 weigh within grams of each other. If the 1P tent saves you nothing, the only question left is what the extra space is worth.
We have scored 19 bags across both brands. Their average scores differ by 0.01 — but they are not interchangeable, and where they overlap the cheaper one wins twice.
Bag makers quote a minimum clearance and almost nobody checks it. Across eight seat packs the requirement ranges from 5cm to 15cm — and it does not track capacity the way you would expect.
Every pad in our catalogue is under R-1.6. Several of the bags are rated to -6°C. Those two facts cannot both be true on the same night, and the pad is the one that decides it.
Two complete overnight kits, itemised from real product weights: 4.45kg for $441, or 3.78kg for $696. The interesting part is where the weight actually sits, and it is not where most people cut.
Across 36 bags we have scored, 'waterproof' is written 17 different ways and only some of them are testable. Where the water actually gets in, and the two-second habit that fixes most of it.
Both score 4.5/5 and cost $100 apart. The Ortlieb is lighter and fully welded, the Zefal is a harness plus a removable dry bag. Which one suits your bike.
A swaying bikepacking saddle bag destroys your cornering and wastes energy. Learn how to pack your tail bag properly to completely kill the pendulum effect.
Chain slap chews through paint and carbon on rough gravel. Protection, clutch tension and chain length fixes that silence it for good.
Overloading your rear tire and bringing your living room will destroy your ride. Here are 5 amateur packing mistakes and the exact gear used to solve them.
Sealant will not close a gash. How to plug a tubeless tyre at the roadside, when to give up and fit a tube, and what to carry for both.
A broken chain is a mechanical death sentence in the backcountry. Learn the basics of field repair, including how to use a chain tool and master links.
A full bikepacking setup without the flagship prices. Ten budget picks under $120 each, with the three that are false economy named.
That down-tube bottle cage is critical real estate for water, but it is also a mud magnet. Here is how to setup a clean, dirt-free hydration system.
The 9 things worth carrying on a lightweight overnighter, and the gear most first-timers pack that never comes out of the bag.
Navigation failure is a major risk on long gravel routes. Learn how to stretch your GPS battery life for triple-digit days and manage your power effectively.
Ten cycling and bikepacking reads that weigh nothing on tour, from trailside maintenance manuals to the long-distance memoirs worth the battery.
When the temperature drops below your quilt's rating, the 4 AM shivers are inevitable. Six ways to add real warmth to a bag that's underrated for the night you're having.
A complete 4-day gravel kit, ranked by how often you'd actually reach for each item — and honest about which pieces are luxuries you could leave at home.
A rattling bike is a failing bike. Learn how to secure your multi-tools and spares so you can actually hear your tires on the trail.
From Ortlieb Back-Rollers to 50L expandable budget sets, we review 10 bike panniers and rack trunks for gravel touring, commuting and multi-day loads.
A loose frame bag sands through paint in 20 miles. How to stop frame rub and harness movement before the damage reaches carbon or bare metal.
The 12 bikepacking books worth the shelf space in 2026, from practical route guides to the long-distance epics that got us riding.
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