tailfin aeropack trunk with x series pannier rack.
Our Forwards GR20 Gravel Bike Tailfin System
X Series Pannier Rack, X One, Full Carbon with Fast Release Dropouts, 380g
M12/1.5 x 142/148mm Thru Axle, 66g
AeroPack Trunk Top Bag 20L, 618g
AeroPack Trunk Bag Light Mount (Seat Post Mimic), 29g
Our customisation
Foam Liner, 22g
Stainless Hardware, 0g
System total weight: 1115g
Background & System Overview
The absolute number one thing that bugs me personally with bike packing luggage is the sway of seat bags. If I’m going to be in the saddle for 10 hours and my seat bag is just swaying all that time… well, I’m just not a fan. Luckily for me, a friend introduced me to Tailfin. We actually discovered the Tailfin AeroPack X first, but I didn’t want to have the rack permanently attached to the bag. For this reason we went with the Tailfin X One full carbon rack and the AeroPack Trunk Bag. We also added the Tailfin light bracket for our Exposure Blaze rear light. For our GR20 Gravel bike we’re using the M12/1.5 142/148mm thru axle.
Weights
When it comes to cycling, weight is an obsession. Not to all but definitely too many. The thing is, when you add something you’re generally going to add weight. In this instance we’re adding something to stop sway, a pannier rack. For us, we’ve chosen the lightest and we admit, the flashiest rack that you can buy. The Tailfin X One full carbon fibre rack. Below we’ve included pictures of all the weight breakdown for transparency. Our system weighs 1115 grams.
For the weight weenies and entertainment purposes we’re going to get a little into this for moment with some system comparisons.
A Pro Discover “Rugged” System (3 bags) is 793g and 18.45L or 43g per litre of capacity. This we featured in an earlier post.
Our Tailfin complete system is 1115g for 20L or 56g per litre of capacity.
A stock Forwards GR20 M12/1.5 171mm Thru axle is 43g vs the Tailfin version at 66g = 23g more. So we could take off the original axle weight to compare systems right? That’s 43g.
We could also take out the 22g foam liner as we popped in for extra protection on the bottom of the bag. More about that later.
And, we could take off the 29g for the light bracket so we’re like for like.
So, in weight weenie mode we’ve found 94g.
We’re now at 1021g for 20L or 51g per litre.
Hmm, not quite as dramatic as we’d hoped. There is that rubber anti rattle inside the bag that we could take out but we won’t.
Anyway, 43g per litre for the Pro Discover and 51g for the Tailfin. 8g per litre more or 160g total.
160g for no sway! I’ll take that, thank you very much. We’ll still pop the light bracket back on and the liner in mind.
In all seriousness you have the added bonus of the slickness of the Tailfin system as well. Fixing and removing the bag takes seconds and is a really pleasant experience vs messing about with straps on a seat bag. We now also have your bottle cages free to access without a frame bag.
The Tailfin AeroPack X solution with the built in hoop and seat clamp will almost certainly neutralise the weight difference per litre with the added bonus of no sway over a seat bag. We should probably get one on order for comparison. We can actually convert our system over to one.
Our Customisation
The bolts that came with the system were a bit of an odd ball for us as they were soft and some had poor finish on them. The rest of the system is of such a high standard it’s a shame to be let down with details like this as this is one of the first interactions customers have with the product. If just one of the pre-thread locked bolt heads slip it leaves a bad vibe on the product experience. For us, it did happen, a bolt rounded and we obviously only use the best tools as we’re a bike manufacturer so it was a little disappointing. Obviously, not the end of the world just a little disappointing.
As with all our bikes these tiny details really matter to us so we swapped the hardware over to some nice stainless steel replacements. There is no weight penalty and no slipping or worry of rounding allen key heads now. This detail finished the system off nicely.
It’s also worth noting that the build process is really simple and straight forward and Tailfin even emailed links to all the manuals as part of the purchase process.
Inside the AeroPack Trunk Bag is a metal frame which is thoughtfully covered with a rubber protector to stop rattle and damage to the frame. However, the bottom of the bag which is fabric is not protected from any sharp objects or edges of items you maybe carrying such as keys for example. We made a simple insert out of tool chest draw liner for added protection to solve this, it weighs 22 grams.
Thoughts so far?
It is obvious that some exceptional design, thought and engineering processes have taken place to deliver what now appears to be a simple solution and redesign of what is actually a very old bike accessory, a pannier rack and bag. Also, some simple but very effective touches like the direct access side zip are excellent.
We’re not going to say much more than that for now as it needs to be tested over a few hundred miles to give a really grounded review. I personally will be using it daily for my commute and also my bike packing adventures.
For now though, I’m really happy to say goodbye to the sway.