EB17: Apidura fills out waterproof bikepacking bags, teases prototype

Apidura whose bikepacking bags we have tested a few times in the past, has expanded their Dry Series range of seam sealed waterproof packs to cover everything you could need on your latest adventure. The Dry Series was limited to their standard handlebar & saddle packs, with one mid-sized frame pack available. Now, the new complete range includes three sizes of frame bags and a couple of toptube bags, one sized to protect your latest oversized phablet mobile phone.

Apidura Frame Pack Dry small & large

The small £88 3l Frame Pack Dry and £92 5.3l Frame Pack Dry join the existing £90 4.5l medium version to offer fits for a wider range of bikes, available already now. Like the original medium bag, the new Frame Pack Drys are made from Apidura’s heavier & more durable fully waterproofed, coated fabric with fully welded seams and waterproof zippers.

The bikepacking bags are attached with velcro straps that can be positioned & trimmed to fit around the toptube, and secure lock-down straps around the downtube & seattube to allow a bit of sizing flexibility depending on frame size and geometry. Each bag also gets a full-length zip on the driveside to access the main, full-width packet and a second full-length zip on the non-driveside to access a second flat pocket for thin items.

They also both get a waterproof labyrinth style flap/opening in the front of the packs that allows you to route an electronics cable or hydration hole without a substantial unpack on their weatherproofness. The idea is that for a lot of expended adventure touring you might need to run power from an auxiliary battery to power/charge things like your GPS or lights on the go.

Thanks to the protected location behind the headtube/on top of the downtube, Apidura says they have had good experiences with keeping water out of the flap even in heavy extended wet riding.

Apidura Top Tube Pack Dry regular & extended

Apidura also showed us two new toptube packs to be introduced later this autumn, so no pricing just yet. They follow the same general two-velcro strap mounting setup of the standard non-dry toptube bags, but get the same modular strap attachment like the frame bags so you can customise the fit depending on the tube shaping & cable routing on your bike.

Apidura saw these bags as maybe the most important new spot for waterproof storage, as it is that easy access point where riders want to put their mobile phones & compact cameras. That also determined the reshaping of the larger extended bag. More squared off specifically to better fit the ever expanding mobile phones that are increasingly popular. We even managed to squeeze a LX-100 system camera in there as well. Rumour has it that these bikepacking bags will likely get a similar waterproof flap on the front for battery/charging access before they hit the market later this season.

Prototype quick release toptube bag attachment

We keep seeing more bikes getting those toptube bento box bolt mounts like on the Open, 3T & Lauf bikes for example. Apidura is playing with the idea of a quick release magnetic attachment (similar to those we’ve seen on some alt water bottles recently) for easy removability to take your gear with you when you leave your bike. They still aren’t sure if the magnetic mounts make sense, as it both limits the bikes it will fit on (& the precise location) and adds a decent amount of cost. But with toptube bolts popping up on more bikes, we’d like to see this prototype head into production.

Apidura.com