After trying several different set ups in the house this is the one I have finally settled for and I went for a 3 hour ride in the Pentland Hills today to try it out.
After having used rear panniers and less than lightweight gear previousley this turned out to be a bit of a revelation. My gear is still not the lightest coming in at 12lb without food or water but I am more than happy with this for the time being.
On the bars are two 8l alpkit drybags. I went for the double decker set up in order to keep weight off the back end, to allow me to get off the back end on steep drops and lastly, after making my own frame bag I did not fancy constructing something as complicated as a seat bag or seat harness.
The bike handles fine but hoiking the front end up obviously takes more effort.
I flipped the tioga stem to give a flat platform and the barends are tioga hellbents reversed and cut to size. Nothing moved and nothing needed tightening on the ride. Poles for the tarp fit very nicely in the seat tube. 2005_0101loadedbikefirsttrial0002 by youngray50, on Flickr 2005_0101loadedbikefirsttrial0001 by youngray50, on Flickr 2005_0101loadedbikefirsttrial0003 by youngray50, on Flickr 2005_0101loadedbikefirsttrial0006 by youngray50, on Flickr 2005_0101loadedbikefirsttrial0009 by youngray50, on Flickr 2005_0101loadedbikefirsttrial0011 by youngray50, on Flickr
i like the double bar bag set-up (although how's your vision of the trail ahead?).
depending on your rucksack/bladder preferences i might have been tempted to go for a bigger frame bag (putting the water on your back) and a single bar bag but maybe that's because my bikepacking set-up is also in the early stages of development (and will likely be subject to many revisions over time).
i also like the fact that you ride flat pedals (i thought it was just me) - i've got knackered knees and spd's will only make things worse (and they feel weird!).
i love the freedom of flats!
(i appreciate that i will miss the up-stroke increase in power but that's what's bad for knackered knees).
all-in-all a nice looking bicycle - you looking forward to heading off on your little adventure in a few days....?
Vision over the top bag to the wheel is fine. I carry water in a bladder in my backpack, the bottle on the frame has meths in it.
I only converted to flats at the end of last year and I find them fine, like you I also suffer knee problems.
Next week cannot come soon enough, been too long since my last adventure.
