Topeak BackLoader 10L

The Topeak Backloader 10L is a reasonably priced bikepacking seatpack that carries its own waterproof stuffsack inside. Although you can get a waterproof bag of similar size that weighs slightly less, for its price and ease of use the Topeak Backloader is a brilliant choice.

• Pros: Extremely convenient in use, waterproof, reasonably priced
• Cons: A few grammes heavier than some rivals

Bikepacking seatpacks can be tricky beasts. Although the back of the saddle can be a great place to carry luggage, the devil is in the detail when it comes to a good seatpack. Some of the things that can go wrong include a saddlebag that sags in the middle until it rubs on the tyre, a bag that lets its contents get wet in the rain, or a bag that is difficult to mount onto the bike when loaded.

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I used a different brand of saddlepack on the Transcontinental Race last year, and this latter problem drove me crazy. If I stayed in a hotel, I either had to unpack the whole saddlebag in whatever spot my bike was being stored for the night (perhaps a hotel lobby) and carry everything upstairs in my arms, or unclip the bag from the bike – the option I generally chose to avoid dropping kit everywhere.

Unclipping the bag from the bike might sound simple, but getting the bag back onto the bike the next day was invariably awful. Trying blindly to fasten its straps beneath the saddle with one hand, while supporting the weight of the loaded bag with the other hand, almost had me in tears of frustration some days and literally could take several minutes of increasingly sweary effort.

So I was very interested to see that the Topeak bag takes a different approach. The outer black bag – the one visible to an observer as you ride – is intended to stay fastened to the bike throughout your journey. When you get to your destination, you simply open the roll-top closure at the end and pull out the separate drybag that lives inside. There's no fiddling with awkward under-saddle straps at all, and no trailing armfuls of kit through Hungarian hotel lobbies in the wee hours.

This design has totally won me over, and I don't think I'd ever again want to use a saddlebag that has to be removed from the bike or unloaded in situ. The convenience of this separate stuffsack design is hard to beat out on the road.

So let's look at the two bags that make up this system. The outer is made of a sturdy nylon material that feels tough and durable. After my test rides it still looks like new. The inner stuffsack is specially shaped to fit neatly inside the outer case, and so is slightly narrower at the bottom and wider at the top. Both bags have roll-top closures, although only the inner bag is completely waterproof. The inner bag also has a venting system, so you can roll it down tight and squeeze all the air out at the same time, leaving the smallest possible package to slip into the outer.

When road.cc last looked at one of these bags, Emma noted that the inner drybag didn't completely fill the outer bag, and recommended buying one or two small additional drybags to make the most of the outer bag's capacity. Having used this bag on a few trips, I think I'd interpret things very slightly differently.

Yes, there's a bit of space around the inner bag even when it's full, and you could certainly make use of this by dropping other items into the outer. But for me, the generous space of the outer was a boon, because it meant I could fill the inner bag knowing that when I carried it downstairs to my bike, it would always slip easily and instantly into the outer bag without fiddling or having to adjust the contents. Sure, there's a small amount of extra space in the outer, but that just disappeared when I tightened down the compression straps.

So how much does the inner bag hold when it is filled?

This is only a 10 litre bag, and doesn't look huge at first glance. But I found it held a surprising amount with careful packing. Heading off for an overnight camp, I managed to get a summer sleeping bag, bivvy bag, thermal gilet, leg warmers, waterproof jacket, inflatable sleeping mat, and a few other small odds and ends into the inner bag without bother. Yes, one or two of these were very compact lightweight models – the sleeping mat in particular was the spectacular Klymit Inertia X Lite Short mat, and you're perhaps not going to get quite as many items into the bag if you've got bulky kit – but the point is it holds more than you might think given its 10 litre capacity.

And if 10 litres still feels too small (or too large), Topeak also does this bag in 6 or 15 litre variants.

Everything else worked just great. The outer bag has a useful cord system for strapping extra items on top and a holder for clip-on lights on the back. When riding, the mounting straps of the outer bag held everything in a nice stable fashion, and I experienced no sagging; the saddlebag also swayed a lot less than some others do when standing up on the pedals for a climb. No wagging tails here!

> Buyer's Guide: 12 of the best bikepacking bags

If I've convinced you of the merits of a separate inner drybag with a holder mounted to the bike, there are certainly other options out there that take the same approach, including the various Porcelain Rocket Mr Fusion models that seem popular in the States and the Restrap Holster from here in the UK. But these are considerably more expensive than the Topeak Backloader, and of comparable weight if not heavier.

If you want waterproof with even less weight, you're probably looking at the 11-litre Ortlieb bag which has a claimed weight of just 325g. But then you're losing the convenient two-piece design that won me over here.

As such, if you like the idea of the two-part inner-outer system for a completely waterproof luggage carrier, I can't think of a better option right now than this Topeak Backloader, given its balance of function and price.

Verdict

Affordable, well made and really easy to use out in the field