Bags in the Bag...

Very exciting delivery today from Bedrock. From Bedrock Bags that is, not from Fred and Barney.

I ordered them on back on 1 August. Andrew Wracher of Bedrock has been busy and has a longish production queue, but I was happy enough with the wait.

Quality, finish, workmanship is impressive, so it was well worth it. So now it's time to think about a practice pack to find out what fits and what doesn't.

Top: Custom Frame Bag - Dual Zipper Main Pocket With Divider And Non-Drive Side Map Pocket - super deluxe
Centre/Under: Entrada handlebar Bag with Pocket.
Bottom:Coconino Seat Bag with Railwing

So the question arises - just what is the capacity of the Bedrock bikepacking bags I'm going to use.

According to Bedrock, the seat bag has a capacity of 12 litres.

I calculate the capacity of the frame bag at close enough to 10 litres and the handlebar bag at 7 litres.

In addition I'll be using three bags on Anything cages at 5 litres each.

That gives a total capacity of 44 litres - about the same as a pair of Ortlieb Back Rollers.

And that is not counting the pocket or cockpit bags, which don't add much to the total capacity but will carry a multitude of small items.

Bikepacking bags...Bedrock

The components are all on the way now, so now it's time to do something about the bikepacking bags.
After much agonising and despair over the exchange rate, I have bitten the bullet and ordered from Bedrock bags.
It's my view that Bedrock have designed the best seat bag and in particular the best handlebar bag for drop bars.
So, Entrada handlebar bag with pocket, Coconino seat bag with railwing, and super deluxe custom frame bag dual zipper main pocket with divider and non-drive side map pocket - all ordered.

Fargo build specification...

It's taken hours of trolling through websites to decide on components for the build. I've been keeping an eye out for good prices on X5, X7 and X9 components, only to realise that stocks are rapidly disappearing. Why? Well, I finally discovered that SRAM have released new 1x10 and 2x10 GX groupsets which supersede X7 and X9. Nobody has stock yet but I'm going to order as the prices are surprisingly affordable.

As posted, the wheel components have arrived - the rest, well it'll be ordered as funds become available.

OK, so here's the proposed component list:
Frame: Salsa Fargo 2 Size L Gunmetal grey
Fork: Salsa Firestarter Carbon Fibre
Rear Hub: Hope Pro II Evo 40T Rear Hub Disc - black 36h
Front Hub: Shutter Precision PD-8X Disc Hub Dynamo - black 36h
Rims: Stan's NoTubes ZTR Flow EX 29" MTB Rim 2015 - black 36h
Spokes: DT Champion black 14g
Rear Skewer: Salsa Flip-Offs Stainless Steel green
Front Axle: RockShox Maxle Lite XC Thru Axle 15x100 mm
Brakes: TRP Spyre Mechanical Disc Brake
Brake Discs: 160mm
Tyres: Schwalbe Marathon Supreme 37-622 (28 x 1.40) (only for use around town)
Saddle: Brooks Cambium C17 Slate
Seatpost: Thomson Elite Setback black - 27.2 x 410 mm
Seat Collar: Salsa Liplock green
Stem: Thomson Elite X4 31.8 black - 90mm - 10°
Handlebar: Salsa Woodchipper 2 Offroad Drop Bar 31.8 - 46cm
Bar Tape: Salsa Gel Cork green
Bar End Plugs: KCNC green
Top Cap: Salsa Fargo Ahead Cap 1 1/8" - black
Spacers: Procraft PRC black 10 mm
Headset: Cane Creek 40 ZS44/EC44
Crankset: SRAM GX-1000 2x10 GXP - Black 175mm - 36/22 teeth
Bottom Bracket: Truvativ GXP Team Bottom Bracket Cups BSA 68/73mm
Front Derailleur: SRAM GX 10-Speed - 38/36 Teeth - High Direct Mount top pull
Rear Derailleur: SRAM GX 2x10 Type 2.1 10-speed - long - Black
Cassette: SRAM PG-1050 10-speed 11-36
Chain: SRAM PC 1051 PowerChain 10-speed
Levers: SRAM Apex DoubleTap Controls - Set 2x10-speed - Black
Pedals: Shimano XT PD-M785 Trail Wide
Cables: Jagwire Kit Extra Long Racer Brake/Gear
Front Light: Supernova E3 Triple titanium grey
Rear Light: TBD

A Salsa Fargo for me...

Way back at the start of the year I took the plunge and pressed the button on a Salsa Fargo 2 frame from HiBike in Germany, one of the few places where you can buy Salsa online. After a wait of some months, it arrived mid-April.



It's going to take a while as funds slowly trickle in, but the process of acquiring components for the build is under way, with the delivery this week of a pair of Stan's Notube ZTR Flow EX rims, a Hope Pro 2 Evo rear hub, a Shutter Precision PD-8X dynamo hub - all in 36 hole, and a Salsa Flip-Off skewer for the back wheel. These will shortly be going off to my wheel builder Steven Craft for assembly.

Meanwhile I'm thinking about having a radical clear out of all my current touring bikes and gear - to make room and to free up funds.