Review: Podsacs bikepacking bags

Bikepacking gear often comes with a premium price tag. Podsacs kit doesn’t. It should be affordable for most people and, just as importantly, fit most bikes.

At 9L capacity, the small saddle pack (there’s also an 11L large) doesn’t have a lot of room. The design is narrow at the base, so it’s difficult packing awkward-shaped items like pans. The black, floating liner makes it more waterproof but also harder to find anything stowed inside.

Half the base is rigid – heavy-duty plastic, I’d imagine. I’d worry about that wearing a hole in the outer fabric over time, especially if the non-rigid part of the bag droops during the ride.

Scotchlite 3M reflective accents and LED light mounts should help you be seen in the dark, and the bungee is great for stuffing a jacket into. The two elastic loops on the underside are largely pointless: gear attached here is likely to end up dirty or lost.

With this style of seatpack, shorter riders risk it hitting the rear wheel on rough terrain, which could damage the bag.

Not much different from the Podsacs seatpack apart from colour and price. The Passport bag has two handy zipped pockets – up to you if that’s worth £35 more!

Salsa Anything Cage HD £35

Expensive, especially as the Anything Bags are another £34 each, but sturdy and long-time favourites among the bikepacking community. Mine are three years old.

First published in Cycle magazine, June/July 2020 issue. All information correct at time of publishing.