Eurobike is the world’s biggest bicycle trade show. And it’s truly monstrous with literally thousands of stands.
I walked past every single stand so that you can see the latest products in the touring and bikepacking space! My iPhone says I did 15,000 steps per day (for five days) between the different halls. That’s a lot of walking… and a lot of talking too.
I got the opportunity to talk to the engineers and product managers behind the brands and got test-ride more than 30 unique bikes too. This information will all drip out over the next year or so.
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My touring/bikepacking tech galleries from Eurobike 2023:
- 11 Quirky But Functional Bikepacking Products (Part One)
- 11 Exciting New Bikepacking and Touring Products (Part Two)
- The Most Interesting Bikepacking Tech (Part Three)
- The Best Touring and Bikepacking Bikes (Part Four)
- 11 Notable Bikepacking Bag Finds (Part Five)
In-Depth Reporting From Eurobike 2023
Acepac
Acepac had their usual big lineup at Eurobike as well as a tent on display.
Nothing stood out in particular, but the construction and materials looked great on all of the bags.
Some of the Acepac bags were set up on a bike with the Redshift Kitchen Sink handlebar. This handlebar has many handholds with many that offer large ergonomic platforms to distribute the load across your palms. The setup looks super comfy.
Aeroe
With its unique seat stay mount, the Spider rack will fit onto any frame. This rack was previously designed with a cradle to house a dry bag, now there is a new model that fits panniers.
It’s not ideal to fit heavy bags on the rear triangle of a full suspension bike, as it affects the suspension performance. But panniers are convenient, and the best bike is the one you have right now.
Brooks
The Brooks Scape waterproof bikepacking bags were released recently, and look very smart (I expected nothing less from Brooks). In the range are a handlebar pack, along with seat, frame, stem, and top tube packs. There are also small panniers and a few handlebar bag designs.
The bikepacking handlebar pack uses a harness design while the rear seat pack is a holster – both with separate dry bags.
Camelback
Camelbak just entered the bikepacking space with a complete lineup of bags. They’re all waterproof and there’s even a framepack-specific two-litre water bladder designed to neatly nest inside. The framepack actually won an award at Eurobike too!
Cyclite
Cyclite is making a name for itself by making very sharp-looking, ultralight bikepacking bags that are also aerodynamic. Check out the size of that top tube pack – it’s 2.2 litres!
I particularly liked the 5-litre Handlebar Aero Bag as it can connect directly to aero bars, handlebars (as shown below), or the front of the handlebar pack (as shown above). There is an additional Aero Mount available that will fit a front dynamo light or any other accessory (this frees up some space).
The bags are these days available in black too, which is probably a smart choice if you’re expecting any rain or mud.
EVOC
A year ago, EVOC revamped its BOA-dial bikepacking lineup to offer more variety and bag volume. The bags look to use nice abrasion-resistant materials and very solid attachment points.
The front bag is still rather small at 5 litres in its biggest size, but the rear bag is available for up to 16 litres – similar to other seatpacks on the market.
Jack Wolfskin
German outdoor company Jack Wolfskin is now in the pannier and bikepacking space. These guys are known for producing decent outdoor clothing, so perhaps it’ll appeal to existing customers.
The Morobbia bags have Fidlock magnetic fasteners to cinch them down (see picture above). They’re are all waterproof, bluesign certified, PFC-free, and are made almost entirely from recycled materials. The bag volumes are completely reasonable too (eg. the handlebar pack is 15-litres, and the fork packs are 7-litres each).
The new panniers don’t look half bad either…
Ortlieb
Ortlieb had some new bikepacking bag colours available. The dark sand colour looked really nice, as it’s rather subtle.
There is a limited edition mustard colour for the bikepacking range too.
Ortlieb is doing some pretty nifty custom designs these days. A departure from the primary bag colours of the past…
They also have a new-ish rear rack (Quick Rack) that is removable from the bike in seconds. This will be handy for those who only need a rack when going on bike trips – for all other rides, you can leave the rack at home.
It attaches to small nodes at the dropouts. These can attach to mounts on your frame, or in the absence of dedicated rack mounts (on many carbon frames, for example), Ortlieb supplies seat stay mounts that provide the nodes.
The upper mount then attaches to your seat tube or seat post. It’s a rather neat system.
OSTRICH
OSTRICH was established in 1968 and makes its whole range of bicycle bags in Tokyo (Japan).
I was impressed with the Front Bag Support Carrier that makes taking the 12.5-litre randonneur bag off a breeze. It also helps to keep the bag stable while you ride.
Vaude
The latest Vaude colours are looking very sharp this year. Unfortunately, recent reviews on the Vaude touring products are showing bag separation where they are glued together. Hopefully, Vaude gets on top of this soon (if they haven’t already).
Zefal
Zefal had their bags set up on a bike as well as mounted on a wall. There is nothing particularly special to note about these bags, but Zefal is distributed across a very large dealer network, which means that these bikepacking bags are highly accessible to consumers. The price is affordable too.
My touring/bikepacking tech galleries from Eurobike 2023:
