Luggage on a Full Suspension MTB

xraymtb

I figured this is the best place for this particular question.

I'm planning a three day off-road tour in the Cairngorms in the summer on my full-suspension Giant and am struggling with luggage options.

I have resigned myself to a rucksack but I'm limiting it to 7kg max. Even going ultralight, I'm going to struggle to come in under that weight (and the bike has no provision for water bottles so I either need to mount them somehow or use a bladder and reduce the pack weight further.

I reckon I'll need up to 4kg on the bike somewhere - around 10 litres maybe. As its full sus, a standard rack is out of the equation leaving:

a) A large saddle-pack (Carradice SQR Trax for example)
b) A seatpost mounted pack (Topeak Dynapack DX or similar)
c) A seatpost mounted rack and trunk bag
d) A smaller saddlebag and a handlebar bag

Any suggestions or recommendations?

andymiller

11kg sounds like an awful lot for three days are you sure you can't reduce it?

It's really a tossup between a seatpost mounted rack or a saddle bag. Both have their fans. I'm not a fan of seatpost racks but for 4kgs they are a feasible option.

However, another option you might want to consider is a front rack - these are available for suspension forks. there's either the option of a Tubus Smarti , or Chain Reaction Cycles have one from (IIRC) Axxis. A more expensive option once you've taken into account the cost of the pannier bags - but in the longer-term might be a better choice.

Old Man Mountain also do a rack for FS bikes (or they used to).

Don't bother with a trunk bag - get a drysack and bungee it to the rack.

You can also get doobries that will allow you to attach a bottle cage to a frame that doesn't have the bosses. IIRC Minoura do them.

xraymtb

It's really 8kg plus a bladder of water. If I take bottles then I only really need 1-2kg on te bike.