If you’re serious about bikepacking, on road or off, this system is up there with the best.
- Brand: Tailfin
- Product: Bar Cage & Bag
- Price: cage £110.00, bags from £40.00, 2 x straps from £10.00
- From: Tailfin.cc
- Tested by: Heather Oliver & Stephen Turner for 3 months (words by Stephen)
Pros
- You forget it’s there
- Rock solid
- Great bag
Cons
- Premium price
- Torx bolt heads rather delicate
Our rating
Bar bags. When they’re bad, they can ruin a trip; when they’re good, you barely notice them. To which, we’ll open by saying the new Tailfin Bar Cage Bag system is delightfully forgettable — in the best way. Even at £150+. it just works. As the saying goes, quality lasts long after the price is forgotten.
The system consists of an alloy bracket on your handlebars, which connects to an open cargo cage — the kind you might be more familiar seeing bolted to a fork. It’s one of those “why didn’t I think of this?” ideas Tailfin does so well.
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The almost infinite adjustability means you can tuck luggage neatly under the bars without it rubbing against (and ruining) your headtube. Smart. And, true to Tailfin’s modular approach, every element is replaceable if needed — though the build quality inspires plenty of confidence.
The actual bags are typical Tailfin. A ripstop nylon with well engineered additional support in high stress areas. We’ve thousands of kms of evidence to say they’re going to survive just fine. Notably, we’ve dragged one of their downtube packs through all seasons and terrain, and still it sits there, unblemished. Waiting for us to realise the inner tube that’s been inside for the last 18 months is the wrong size for whichever bike we’ve strapped it to.
The bag orients with an open clasp that only fits one way — a small but brilliant detail. One of our biggest gripes with bar bags is getting them centred and tight, only to watch them squeeze themselves off to one side once the going gets rough. This clasp also gives an additional axis of support that tightens everything up. Add in air-release valves for compressing the roll-top bags and hardware that just works, and you’ve got a rock-solid setup. No rattling, no knocking, no bouncing. Bliss.
There are also mounts for lights and GPS units that attach to the cage. The GPS mount is excellent: simple, solid, and easy to position anywhere on the cage. The light mount is more suited to “be seen” lights than serious night riding, but thanks to the adjustability of the system, you don’t actually lose much bar space. We were able to run an Exposure SixPack alongside the bag and still see the trail ahead without a ten foot blind spot ahead of my front wheel — a rare luxury when bikepacking in the dark.
It’s not quite perfect. Tailfin continues to use Torx bolts in high-torque spots like the bracket-to-cage linkage, and they’re just not up to repeated tightening during setup. Even with quality tools, we managed to chew through a couple while test-fitting. We’ve since swapped them for sturdier Allen heads from my ever-expanding “just-in-case” hardware stash. A small annoyance, but worth noting.
Finally. We want to talk about strap-on-ability. We might need to coin a new phrase for this. But the point is important. Because it’s a cage, you can carry a few spare straps (Tailfin, Voile, shoelaces, whatever) and easily strap on most anything to the outside of the bag. This is mega for waterproofs where you don’t want to keep stowing them away in changeable weather, or for baguettes when you’re visiting the last shop before setting up camp.
Overall
If you’re serious about bikepacking, on road or off, this system is up there with the best we’ve ever used. If they revise the Torx bolts in key areas, it’d be full marks from us.
Addendum: Since this review, we have found out that the washers supplied on our sample unit were the wrong size, which has been amended for the consumer product. If we’d had the right size, we would have been less mardy about the Torx bolts, so we’re bumping this up to a 4.9/5.
Isn’t the idea of a bar bag that you have usefully accessible storage for stuff you might want to get at during a ride? Like PB sandwiches and windproofs etc? This seems to defeat that idea so I’m a 1 star review. If they could do one with a cage for stability but also big top zip and flap then maybe
Bar bags like this are really designed for bikepacking trips where keeping kit dry and balancing the weight across the bike are the primary concerns. A few companies have add-on bags to satisfy that “quick access" requirement – Revelate and Restrap being two examples.
My primary issue with these large bar bags is that they don’t (easily) allow for lights to be mounted on the handlebars as they are mounted so high. My Revelate Harness/Bag combo sits lower. It’s good to see that Tailfin have recognised this, even if it requires additional accessories.
I have their bar bag system, which I used for first time earlier in the summer. This new version doesn’t look as good, though it a chunk cheaper. I see they sell both though, presumably it’s just an expansion of their offering
What are the benefits of the tailfin rear rack and bag over a standard rear rack and decent roll bag strapped on?
For me, the rear rack in the picture goes on and off, the whole thing including the struts, in under 10 seconds. The bar system about the same. My typical trip of 4 to 6 days away will have a couple of days fully loaded and a couple with luggage left in the accommodation.
Being able to unload it all at night, and then to ride light without any kit is the top point for me. Plus it all just works, it’s like the Apple of bike kit IMO.
Ride light days
I have the original tailfin drop bar bag and love that they sell spare mounts so I’ve mounted one on a Alpkit gravel bag to use for smaller luggage day trips.
Tailfin bags look like great designs and quality especially in real life, and they should do for the high price. I think my Ortlieb QR bar and rear bags are better for proper off-road riding, and are easily swapped between bikes (although you do need saddles with exposed rails for the rear bag to fit).
What makes them better?
For me it’s-
Well engineered – mostly metal and very adjustable
British company – I support UK companies when possible.
All parts are available as spares
Great customer service – have asked technical questions about the product and they reply very quickly
^ I think Tailfin ticks all those boxes too. I googled and they are Bristol based, though the products are made in the far east.
Googling also shows that Ortlieb are a German company and their products are made in Germany.
Reading comprehension fail by the last two.
Don’t fancy it myself – weight cantilevered out front but no easy access, it combines the cons of both traditional barbags and on-trend bar rolls.
?
This. My Ortlieb QR Handlebar Bag and not quite so bad Salsa Cradle make mounting a light a right faff.
My salsa anything cradle doesnt get in the way of bar mounted lights.
I use the personalised alpkit frame bag for easy access snacks etc on the move.
Tailfin rear rack is far superior to my old Ortlieb saddle pack.
Tailfin bar bag system can have add on mounts for lights, computer etc, I think you can get 3 mounts on, my pic here just with the Garmin one on, but I could have an Exposure or other light bracket one side and a go pro or something else other side.
> We’ve since swapped them for sturdier Allen heads … I thought the point of torx was that it was more reliable/sturdier than hex heads? Poor material rather than design perhaps?
So all the stuff in the pictures comes to ~£160? aaaand I’m ooot… I’m sure it’s lovely but I can get a perfectly good drybag with similar capacity and waterproofness from LOMO for a about tenner and either lash it straight to the bars or fashion my own support for way less than £100. Unless you are spending a lot of time touring/bikepacking is that sort of spend on a “system" for bar lashing kit really considered good VFM?
I might be missing the point a bit and/or just be a skinflint (almost certainly the case), but IMO packpacking bags/kit should be affordable. I know Tailfin are now a bit of a fashionable brand with certain sub-sets of hipster bikepackers and high-roller commuters but come on £150 to lash an 8L drybag to your bars is flipping comical…
Fashionable brand?! I’ve never thought of them like that… just really well designed and made kit that’s a pleasure to use.
Of course you can just lash any old drybag on to your handlebars… then watch as it crushes your cables and abrades your headtube. You can also listen to the bag flop about with every bump you go over. Not to mention its affect on steering as it sways about.
Or use Tailfin (maybe others) and enjoy a silent ride with no damage done to your ‘bars, frame or control cables 🙂
Maybe you’re just too damn cool to notice such things 😉 Obviously as soon as you assign the label “fashionable" to something you immediately kill half the cachet it has… As I’m sure you know “Fashion" ain’t just posh frocks, anyone selling expensive products has to rely on fashion/trends to some extent. Tailfin’s isn’t the only minimalist panier in the game, but it’s certainly one of the most expensive (aknowledging it is light and well designed). And I’m not denying their bar mounting products looks useful, I just don’t think their pricing is particularly reasonable. A Cargo cage and a couple of bar clamps for over a hundred quid? a roll top drybag for Forty quid? are you saying these are fair prices?
As I noted other (cheaper) products are available, no all of which scuff your precious paintwork (if that really matters), I guess the market will decide ultimately…
I don’t think the market needs to decide… the individual does; so there will always be some amount of demand across the entire range… Cheap, functional and probably copied… or original, better designed and with a price tag that enough are willing to pay. Easy.
I have a box of variously used bits of bikepacking kit in the house. It’s interesting to look at how it’s evolved (or my buying decisions have) over the years… There are Alpkit drybags and numerous straps, pads and things… then there is the Restrap and Apidura kit… then there is the Tailfin kit. It’s all been well used by me. It’s all worked to varying degrees. I’ve settled on the gear I like best* and I often loan out my kit to others just starting their journey 🙂
* that varies with what I’m doing… most used combo is probably Tailfin Aeropack and half-frame bag with Restrap ‘barbag. Maybe adding a Tailfin toptube bag and Alpkit full-frame bag (custom) if more capacity needed. Then Tailfin panniers if loads more space is needed! No plans to buy the Tailfin cage btw… hate having a big roll on the ‘bars!