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Luggage

Who needs a Concours? I've managed to pack my bike full of luggage. I'm planning a bike trip round the UK camping for a week in the school holidays (I'm a teacher) and I need quite a lot of space for tent & clothes etc. I'll explain each bit below, except the top box attached to the grab bar as I've already got a post on it.

The magnetic tank bag is actually from Lidl and is really good. Much better than my last bag as it's extendable, has backpack straps and also has a built in rain cover - as well as the magnetic base being removable so you can just have a map case on the tank if you want. I usually have a clock, my phone and sometimes a sat nav in the clear map pocket on top the bag. It can also hold loads when fully extended. I've had it for a few months and it's been well used and stood up well.

The panniers are Buffalo throw-over panniers that only cost me £30 new and have been great. I've used them a few times in the few months I've had them and they're very solidly secured with the straps over & under the seat and also the additional straps securing the bottoms to mounting points lower down. They also extend but they stick out way too far for comfort when extended. They also have built-in raincovers.

The kitbag I bought from an army surplus store for about £7 and sewed some straps onto it from the same place that cos about £1. These are attached to the grab-bar. I also use the spare bungees that came with the panniers and another I made up with excess rope from the top box mod to the bike and the top box itself. In the kitbag I can fit my cheapy tent, my massive sleeping bag and the inflatable mattress (it takes up less space than a bedroll). It's all in a binbag inside the kitbag and so will be waterproof.

So far all of these mods have been relatively cheap:-
Top Box - £20 ish
Top Box Fittings - £5 ish
Panniers - £30
Kit Bag etc - £8
Tank Bag - £17
Total - £80

The setup from the side:-


From the front:-


From the rear:-


I'm actually a bit worried about the kit bag and the pressure it is putting on the back of the bike above the rear light. Has anyone else strapped something like this on the bag and had positive/negative effects? I may buy the renntec rack to put my nice little top box on and swap the positions of the kitbag and the top box. It'll be more comfortable to relax against at traffic lights too!