Interbike 2013: Baggage

October 11, 2013

If you're in need of some new bags or panniers to help you haul your gear around town, or around the world in 2014, here are some great options that we spotted at Interbike. We've got something here for the day rider, bike packer, and long-distance tourist.

Ortlieb High Visibility

The very popular Ortlieb Front- and Back-Roller panniers are taking on a new highly reflective material. These high-visibility panniers are made from a polyurethane coated cordura that is interwoven with a reflective yarn. If you're out on the road in the late evening, or perhaps a dreary storm, these will do a great job of making you more visible to traffic. The material is highly water- and abrasion-resistant, and uses the same attachment and enclosure system you see on other front- and back-roller panniers.

Krieg Saddle Bags

Whether you're into touring, road riding, mountain biking, or bicycle commuting, you probably have a saddle bag. It's a standard accessory, and Krieg Cycling has been making them a lot of fun for quite a few years now. They are getting into custom designs, so if you need a custom bag created for an upcoming event, for your club, or perhaps your shop, Krieg will do 4-color custom prints with any logo or artwork you can come up with. You just need to be able to fill a 100-minimum order. These bags come in road or 29er sizes, and are as durable as saddle bags get.

Revelate Terrapin

Revelate is shaking up their seat bags with their new Terrapin. This is a holster style attachment that you can use to plug in dry bags. The big advantage here is that you can remove your gear from your bike quickly, and create a completly waterproof system. At $90 without the dry bag, this is a much better price point than their other seat bags. 

Thule Pack 'n Pedal

Thule does more than produce equipment to haul your bike. They are also building a solid line of bike racks and panniers. Their Pack 'n Pedal is completely waterproof, and has a couple compression straps to keep your gear in place when you're hitting bumpy roads. It includes a shoulder strap so that it can easily be toted around off the bike, and it has a system that hides the attachment hardware off the bike to keep it protected, and prevented from digging into your back while you're slinging it around.

Photos by Josh Tack

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TOURING GEAR & TIPS is written by Joshua Tack of Adventure Cycling's member services department. It appears weekly, highlighting technical aspects of bicycle touring and advice to help better prepare you for the journey ahead. Look for Josh's "Fine Tuned" column in Adventure Cyclist magazine as well.