HOW TO STORE YOUR EQUIPMENT WHEN BIKEPACKING?

A few days before leaving, you start to make the list of products to take on your bike for your trip, what clothes to take? Which repair tools should you choose? So many questions that come up with the fear of overloading yourself or, on the contrary, of running out of something at the worst moment. This guide is here to help you spread out your equipment during your bikepacking trips!

How to group your stuff?

In order to save space on your bike, the best idea is to group your stuff by utility. For example, things you won't need during the day can be placed in closed bags, which you only open at the end of the day, such as clothes or sleeping gear.

You can group your personal belongings in one place and food in another. This will protect your belongings without having an open cereal bar sticking to your ID card... Speaking of food, only take the necessary snacks on your bike: cereal bars, energy gel... You can find the rest during your trip.

Remember to put your liquids in individual bags to avoid leaks and find all your dirty stuff after a long day on the bike. Also, think about putting your repair tools in the same place so that you can easily take them out and use them if needed on the road without having to unpack all your bags!

In order to group your stuff in the best possible way, it is a good idea to buy your products in kit form, such as our Repair Kit range or our AFA 8 Plus, an 8-function multi-tool that can be placed under your bottle cage to save space! You can also install a 3rd bottle cage under your frame thanks to the Gizmo universal mounting system to store drinks or a toolbox like the Z Box !

The Bicycling Family equipment for the Race Around Rwanda!

Balancing your bike storage

One of the most important aspects of a bike trip is comfort and the balance of your bike contributes to this comfort all along your trip! It is necessary to distribute the weight of your equipment in order to avoid difficulties in riding at the beginning of each day!

In order to optimize your storage, here are some tips according to your bags: use cylindrical bags to store your objects of the same shape and bulky as your sleeping bag, your mattress or your clothes that you can roll on themselves. Frame bags will be perfect for items that need to be kept close at hand as seen in the first part of this article.

Store your tools, repair kits, food, personal belongings, anything that is a necessity! Fork bags can be the most difficult part to balance. First of all, we advise you to use two of them because they save a lot of space, but one fork bag will quickly destabilize you on the bike. Also, make sure you balance the weight of the bags!

Make several tests before the big departure to see how your bike balances, replace your equipment and do not hesitate to modify the placement of your different products in order to have the best configuration possible. Also remember to know which product goes in which bag and in which order!

The French Connexion equipment for their Oman road trip

For a good bikepacking trip where you can focus only on the trip and the landscapes, the goal is to find the right balance between the quantity of products to carry and how to store them well in order to travel light!