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If you’re serious about bikepacking, on road or off, this system is up there with the best.
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.
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.
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.
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?
Price: cage £110.00, bags from £40.00, 2 x straps from £10.00
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 🙂
Fashionable brand?! I've never thought of them like that...
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...
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!
I first came across the Tailfin rack a few years ago - bumped into another rider whilst doing Badger Divide, and thought "ooh that looks nice". looked it up when I got home, saw the price went "Nah...."
Fast forward a couple of years and I've got really bored of faffing around with tailpacks - pain in the arse to pack and unpack, always wobbling around and awkward if you run a dropper post - esp. on a gravel bike where you don't have much drop to start with.
So I gave I and ponied up for one. By the time I'd unpacked it, I was really impressed. Having spent a week using it doing TNR, I'm very impressed indeed. Well designed, well made, good quality. It just worked painlessly. Stable, quiet, easy access, easy to attach and remove. A good few other riders I bumped into were quite taken with it too - especially the one who was shedding bits off his "classic" rack and was getting very grumpy about the fact (a section of the route much rougher than he'd expected). I could have spent less (went for the carbon option), i could have spent a bit more. It should work on my hardtail and the SO's bikes too, so will get decent use.
Based on that, if I needed a capacious front carrying system (rather than the 4l bar bag I have for snacks, which still annoyed me a bit by bouncing round in my line of sight), I'd have no issues ponying up for a Tailfin. If it Just Works (tm) and doesn't piss me off, its money well spent. Value for money =/= cheap. Sometimes it is, but far from always.
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?
No, if the product is sourced from the catalogue of supplier in China where no-one ever rides let alone uses this stuff. Or your 'design' means moving some stuff around and picking a colour.
Yes if you run a company of smart designers and engineers in the UK who design well, make stuff to spec inc investment in tooling, and maintain quality standards.
There's plenty of the former out there and not much of the latter.. Tailfin are well ahead in the latter area.
I don't have any of their kit as I have other solutions that I'm happy with. Would I buy their stuff? 100% yes. I'll spend £1000s on a bike and that bike gives me the most pleasure when I have 3-7 days free to ride and travel. So a £250 (or whatever) addition that adds to that experience is fine. It needs to solve problems I have or be better in use and for many riders their kit does just that.
No affiliation etc, just glad to see enough interest in this area of cycling to support a UK brand making premium quality kit.
IMO packpacking bags/kit should be affordable.
We have loads of options there already, so much so that it's a crowded market and some of it is junk imho.