We first really saw the bikepacking bag offerings from Yorkshire, England, company Restrap about this time last year. They are all about creating a dry way to haul your gear on the bike and go about it slightly differently than most companies. But beyond the mainstay saddlebag, framebag & handlebar bag, Restrap are adding three more smaller cockpit-based packs to their line up for 2017, focusing on a bit more specialized carrying functions. Adding a new Top Tube Bag, Stem Bag & Tech Bag they are solving some of the quick access storage needs that pop up on your bikepacking adventures…
Over the last six cold, wet months Restrap has been developing, testing, and refining the new cockpit bag lineup. Out of that damp R&D have come three new pieces of kit that will start making their way to customers within the next couple of weeks.
Top Tube Bag
The £30 Restrap Top Tube Bag looks pretty standard to what we have seen from other companies offering a similar, in order to give you that easy to reach place to stash snacks for the ride. It is an update to previous versions and is made with coated 1000D Cordura for durability, gets a waterproof zip to keep the elements out and mesh pockets inside to keep your gear organized. What makes it fairly unique is its new layout with a single toptube strap and extended low-positioned front strap which means it will work with a wider range of headset/stem combinations than some competitor’s bags that need really extended headtubes.
Stem Bag
The £30 Restrap Stem Bag is a simple bag shaped for carrying a bottle in between the crook of the bar & stem. Before having tried this style of bag, we at Bikerumor had questioned if we really needed the extra bottles when adventure bikes usually had tons of bottle cage braze-ons. But with a frame bags sometime replacing the most traditional bottle location with additional storage, having a bottle so easily accessible has been great, especially when you are also loaded down with a bar bag this type of thing tucks in nicely behind it. On top of all that, we’ve used these bags to stuff a pair of gloves and hat in changing weather and more easy-to-reach snacks. The Restrap bag fits on either side of the stem with modular velcro straps, attached down to the fork crown with a stabilizer strap, and gets an extendable nylon top with a draw string closure that either holds a bottle in place or close up tight to keep smaller items safely stored away inside.
Tech Bag
Lastly, the new £32 Restrap Tech Bag is probably the most unique of the new offerings. Again made from a durable coated 1000D Cordura with a waterproof zipper, inside it gets a totally waterproof, seam-sealed liner bag to make it the ideal spot to keep your phone or camera close at hand but 100% protected from the elements. As bikepacking and adventure riding grows, we still want to capture the experience to share with those would couldn’t join us for the ride. This small rectangular bag can mount either in front of or behind the bar to give you a safe place to stash your expensive electronics, where you can still get to them quickly to capture the scenery even in less than ideal weather conditions. Like the Stem Bag it uses a fork crown stabilizer strap to keep it from flopping around, and could probably crossover the most easily from long tours to everyday commuting when you still want to keep your electronics out of the elements year round.
It looks like we’ll have to wait until the end of February to get we’ve already got pricing details on the new bags, which are inline with but you can get a pretty good sense for Restrap’s price point by looking at their bikepacking bags and accessory packs.
