Ever since they introduced their first carbon rack meant for road bikes, Tailfin has been drawing up clever solutions for carrying gear on a bike. For their latest addition, Tailfin is reimagining the humble pannier with a line of mini Panniers that look perfect for bikepacking.
Tailfin admits that pannier bags don’t have the best reputation in the world of bikepacking, but they think their design will change that. A blend of both hard and softgoods, the bags feature a rigid back panel with their X Clamp mounting system.
Designed specifically for their racks, the X Clamp is also compatible with every other rack out there with the use of adapter shims. Using a single lever to operate the over-center clamping mechanism, Tailfin says the connection is completely rattle free for a perfect fit. Made mostly from CNC machined parts, the design is also user serviceable to keep it functioning in the long run.
Inside, an CNC machined 6061-T6 internal frame keeps the bag stiff to prevent any flapping, interfering with the wheel, or other issues.
However, the outside of the bag is rounded and designed to allow passage through narrow trails.
How are these better than traditional panniers?
While the Tailfin bags clamp onto the racks, most panniers simply hook to them and allow for a decent amount of movement of the bag and contents. That makes for a noisier ride at best, or one that may tangle with your spokes or affect the handling at worst. Tailfin panniers claim to be completely silent, and allow for compressed packing to keep the contents in place. They’re also pretty light for what they are.
Each bag is made from 100% waterproof welded Hypalon and ripstop Nylon, and a removable T Hook compression strap can be used to close it as a side closure as well as the roll top configuration. The straps can also be used to provide compression or strap additional bulky items to the outside of the bags—or completely removed to save weight.
Available in two sizes, the smaller is a 5L that weighs 310g and the larger is a 10L bag that weighs 380g (both without the optional side straps). Pricing for the 5L is £60/$85/€70, while the 10L is £80/$110/€95.
Compatible with all Tailfin Racks (including the original T1) and other racks with a shim, the bags include a 5 year warranty and a crash replacement warranty, and ship worldwide. Note that the warranty specifically calls out helping the customer wherever they are in the world. Meaning if you’re trekking across the world and you happened to have an issue, Tailfin would figure out a way to get you any needed replacement parts. Though with how smartly designed Tailfin products seem to be, we can’t see many people needing to take them up on that offer.
