KIT: Luggage buyer’s guide

There’s some cracking bits of kit on the market that’ll make lugging around your gear a doddle. To help you work out what’ll be best, we’ve knocked up a buyers’ guide and brought together some tests of our best-loved kit from the past 12 months.

Where should I start?

Let’s start small and build up. If you’re just doing small and/or local stuff, you can’t beat a rucksack. Easy to slip on, no attaching to the bike and with a range of sizes. Proper motorcycle ones are water-resistant, some have harnesses to redistribute weight. They’re not ideal for long rides as they put pressure on the shoulders. 

Roll bags are probably the ideal compromise. Lots of different capacities, waterproof and with their own straps. Downsides? You can’t lock them. If you’re stopping for a break, hope for the best or take with you… with a 100-litre bag it’s not something you may want to do too often.

Bit of a variation on a theme… tail packs. They fix to the bike using straps (some use a base that fixes to the bike making them easy to fit and remove). A number of them are expandable; very useful as it broadens their range of use. Like roll bags, they’re not lockable so you’re taking them with you.

What if I carry more stuff, maybe every day, and need to keep it safe?

Time to start looking at top boxes. You’ll have to attach a mounting plate to the tail of your bike, but once it’s on, it’ll store bundles of kit (depending on size you can put your helmet, gloves and so on in there). They’re lockable, keeping things like laptops safe and sound. The negative is they affect weight distribution and can have an impact on aerodynamics.

What if I want to do some serious touring?

If you’re looking at serious miles, carrying your worldly goods, you’re going to want hard luggage. This may be panniers, may be a full set with top box. The most robust are aluminium (the strongest, safest, most durable kit out there); you can get ones made of hard plastic. Lockable, you will need to mount on a frame.  Drawback is weight; they’re heavy, it’s going to affect the bike’s handling. And width, your bike will be much wider, filtering is tricky.

If you’re thinking of off-roading or have a smaller/lighter bike, then consider soft panniers. Some attach via a rack but there are throwover sets that, as the name suggests, you throw over and tie down. Drawbacks against hard luggage is they’re not lockable and it’s a lot more work getting them on and off the bike.

Any other ideas?

Waist packs are a quick and easy way to store small stuff like wallets, mobile phones and so on. The best ones work like a roll bag, keeping everything dry.

Tank bags are useful for storing things that you may need to get to easily; a lot have windows to secure maps, satnavs, that sort of thing. They’re narrow so don’t muck up your aerodynamics as they sit in front of you; depending on your bike that might not be a good idea.

If you’re just looking to hold down things (make sure you’ve got luggage points to secure them), bungee hooks, ROK straps and cargo nets are all handy. Throw them in your rucksack (or under your saddle if it has storage space).