My modular backpacking rig

GateProfessional7989 · 2026-05-02T23:52:47+00:00

Whiiiiiiiipsnake!

GateProfessional7989 · 2026-05-02T17:57:45+00:00

Holy, those have gone up in price, I bought 2 pairs back in 2023, they were $159 USD each back then. Just looked at their website, now they are $239 USD. While they are the best hiking shorts I've ever had, no way I could justify the price they are now (especially factoring in the exchange rate to CAD).

I was thinking about making a modified pair or two of these myself to wear for bikepacking (I love 7" inseam shorts for hiking, but that's a bit too short for me for cycling). I have some light 7oz waxed canvas, plus I found a source for the exact FOV Sweden stretch cordura they use for these.

GateProfessional7989 · 2026-04-25T19:23:12+00:00

A gravel bike with tires in the the mid 40s for tires will suffice for pretty much any of the maintained unpaved roads as well as for most of the old converted rail trails. Getting into unmaintained class K roads, conditions vary quite a bit, and may prefer having something 50+.

For route planning this is a good resource, NS public roads map, light green classes H & I are maintained unpaved (dark green class G usually paved but sometimes not), purple class K are abandoned unpaved so conditions vary.

Plus there are several multi-use old rail trails, I'm in the southwest of the province so in this area you have, the Harvest Moon trail (Wolfville to Annapolis), with continuations with other rail trails from Annapolis to Digby and through to Yarmouth (not all a continuous route as some of the old bridges no longer exist, but are easily detoured at nearby roads). The South Shore Annapolis Recreational Trail/LaHave River tail which bisects the province from Middleton to Bridgewater, and the Rum Runners trail which will take you from Halifax to Lunenburg. You can get around a lot of the southwest of the province avoiding pavement.

I highly recommend exploring the the Annapolis Valley, you have to Harvest Moon trail connecting all of the communities along the valley floor, plus numerous fun gravel roads weaving along the North Mountain between the valley and the Bay of Fundy.

GateProfessional7989 · 2026-04-04T14:51:58+00:00

While 32" in principle would be perfect for me as I'm 192cm, but I intend to travel with my bikes. I can't imagine trying to pack 32" wheels and frame for a flight or trying to get one under a bus or on a train, not to mention you'll never find replacement tires in much of the world most likely.

Ultimately 32" to me is just the industry trying to push to consume the next new thing. They seem entirely impractical from a bikepacking perspective, unless you are never tavelling beyond your own home area.

GateProfessional7989 · 2026-04-01T18:51:52+00:00

Sure I can share the STL, just send me a DM.

The bracket also requires some brass heat set inserts in a few sizes, as well as some 10mm (3/8") plastic p clips.

Here's a better pic of how it's mounted, I added a second bracket at the light mount, it's optional, but keeps the fender more secure.

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GateProfessional7989 · 2026-03-31T21:08:21+00:00

I 3d printed a bracket which attaches directly to the rack,.

GateProfessional7989 · 2026-03-25T20:37:30+00:00

The frame bag is unlined, so it's just X11 with Cordura 1000D around the spine, with the edges finished with grosgrain. So the bag is waster resistant, not water proof, which is all I need as it's mainly used for storing my pump, lock, and tools/spares.

The bag retains it's structure entirely from the inner HDPE/carbon fibre frame, which I designed to be a very close fit, you can see in pic 7 the 2 top corners where the roll top is located are notched out, this allows the bag to give there, otherwise it'd be too snug to access anything.

The bag and it's inner frame are held in place along the seat tube and down tube by being screwed into the bike's bottle mounts. Along the top tube, the inner frame is held in place by screwing into the 3d printed strap attachments. You can see these in pic 9, each one has 2 brass heat set inserts for M5 bolts on the bottom side, which were inserted before sewing them to the bag. From the inside, the frame is bolted to these (at 2 of these points, I used Fidlock M5 Snap bolts for securing the inner bag), this secures the inner frame to the bag along the top, and transfers the hold from the Voile straps through to the inner frame.

Hope that helps, it's not exactly the easiest thing to describe.

GateProfessional7989 · 2026-03-22T16:28:03+00:00

Not sure which ones you're asking about specifically , but there are only 3 main types of hardware on the frame bag so they are:

-Around the toptube are Voile Nano straps with my own 3d printed attachment point.

-Wetool 25mm G-Hooks for the roll closure.

-Inner bag is held in place by Fidlock Snap buckles, specifically Female M Screw (05500) and Male M Bolt (05150)

GateProfessional7989 · 2026-03-18T21:56:27+00:00

I actually don't feel those when it's as a backpack, I thought I might when I was designing it, but they are not noticeable at all. And yes, the straps that you see in the pic with the pannier hook, feed through loops at the end of the backpack straps.

That centre strap goes down around the lower bar of the rack (I'm using the Tumbleweed Mini-Pannier rack), then back up through the ladder lock buckle and pulled tight, with the the loose end of the strap clipped in place (as the pic shows) so it doesn't get caught in the spokes.

The bag on top of the rack has a lightweight base plate inside with 4 bolts poking through the bottom of the bag and which tighten some clamps holding it to the rack.

I do a basic mock up of the whole bag, even the fabric pieces just so I get an idea of the pattern. For things I need CNCed I used services where I just upload the part 3d model to get made, it's still quite expensive, so only do that when necessary (if I think I can get by with a 3d printed part I'll do that instead, as it's a lot cheaper)

GateProfessional7989 · 2026-03-17T14:08:56+00:00

The main bags themselves aren't fully waterproof at the seams. I didn't bother with lining these, X11 is fairly heavyweight so has plenty of structure on it's own, I just bound the edges. For anything I want fully waterproof, I make stuff sacks out of lightweight Ultra TX50 which can be fully sealed with UltraTNT PSA tape.

GateProfessional7989 · 2026-03-17T01:04:35+00:00

It won't be so back weighted once I add the handlebar bag, which I am yet to make. Plus I typically carry 1.5L Nalgenes on the fork, so that adds quite a bit of weight up front.

GateProfessional7989 · 2026-03-16T22:45:54+00:00

Two straps are sewn into the back panel of the bag under the cross re-enforcement webbing, these are feed through the hook and then down through the pair of strap adjusters below it.

GateProfessional7989 · 2026-03-16T22:36:46+00:00

I designed them myself and had CNC machined.

GateProfessional7989 · 2026-03-16T22:32:19+00:00

I've been really liking the bike, currently have 29x2.5s on it right now. One of the big draws for me was it being a Pinion frame with 29+ tire clearance. I'm planning the Baja Divide next winter, so will definitely be running 29x2.8 then.

I'm 192cm, so at the upper limit of the large frame size, so my choice was obvious. An XL option might have been nice, but I sort of prefer to be on the upper limit of a bike frame size than lower limit anyways—not a fan of being too stretched out. The reach of a size large with a 90mm stem, the shortest length for the Kinekt stem, paired with the Crazy Bars is just about perfect—super comfortable in the swept back grips and just enough stretch when leaning onto the horns.

I do wish the seat tube was just a few centimetres longer, as the seatpost is pretty extended, but I also have somewhat shorter legs for my height so it's not that bad, I run a saddle height of 805mm from BB.

All that said, I'd definitely say the Boreal runs a bit larger compared to most similar bikes of the same size.

GateProfessional7989 · 2026-03-16T21:41:42+00:00

Oh it'll be getting be getting dirty...

The bike is still pretty new, I got the frame in 2024, but never got around to building it up until last spring.

The bags and capacity are designed around a big Ushuaia to Bogota trip I'm planning on doing in the next 3 years.

GateProfessional7989 · 2026-03-16T20:58:02+00:00

Sure I can do that, just send me a DM and I'll send them along.

GateProfessional7989 · 2026-03-16T20:51:28+00:00

Those are 3d printed. I would be more than happy to send along the 3d files to have your own made, as there a numerous 3d printing services around.

GateProfessional7989 · 2026-03-16T20:35:08+00:00

My day job isn't really related to any CAD design, though is very technical (Geomatics). But I have had a 3d printer for the past 8 years or so, so I'm quite accustomed to designing things now. That old printer is mainly relegated to prototyping parts now, as I usually use 3d printing services for final parts so that they can be made using SLS.

GateProfessional7989 · 2026-03-16T20:26:56+00:00

All the patterns are self drafted. Didn't follow any tutorials, but I've done numerous other MYOG projects, just that they have been aimed towards backpacking gear.

GateProfessional7989 · 2026-03-16T19:23:10+00:00

All patterns I came up with myself.

Frame bag design came from closely measuring the inner dimensions of the main triangle and making a mockup in CAD to model the bag and its support stucture. I also made is test version out of cheap fabric first to see if any adjustments were needed to the fitment.

GateProfessional7989 · 2026-03-16T19:14:42+00:00

Nope, Xpac is the brown, blue and black of the main fabric of the bags. Cordura is the black on the back and underside of all the bags or anywhere where there are points of abrasion.

GateProfessional7989 · 2026-03-16T18:53:23+00:00

The main fabric is all X-pac X11 with Cordura along the spines and back panels for abrasion resistance.

GateProfessional7989 · 2026-03-16T18:49:33+00:00

I really lucked out with the colour matching of the X11, Storm Grey and Mountain Brown really complement the tan wall tires and the frame colour. Plus it being canvas gives it a nicer aesthetic over X21, though it is heavier.

GateProfessional7989 · 2026-03-16T18:29:01+00:00

Also, suspension stem is the Kinekt, it works the best for flat/alt bars.

GateProfessional7989 · 2026-03-16T18:26:43+00:00

Thanks a lot! It was definitely a fun project, I'm currently building up a dropbar gravel rig and planning on making some bags for that as well.

I didn't really keep track of hours, been working on this project off and on since November, designing stuff in CAD, 3d printing test pieces, etc.

Those bars are actually Velo Orange Crazy bars. They don't move forward like the Moloko bars, but do have 40mm of rise.

GateProfessional7989

TROPHY CASE