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Constructing on years of expertise crafting customized luggage and racks, Berlin-based Gramm Tourpacking teamed up with framebuilder-owned Allygn Elements to create the progressive Diamond Bag and Rack system. Impressed by basic rando luggage, it’s prepared for bikepacking. Discover a thorough examination of the state-of-the-art bag that includes pictures from six months of driving with all of it throughout Europe right here…
When choosing luggage for a tour, I’ll nearly at all times select a top-opening handlebar bag or a basket bag over the usual drybag roll up entrance. For all however essentially the most technical trails, I discover that the convenience of packing and retrieval granted by a big cavern with a easy flap can’t be beat. And as I appear to enter untimely center age in my mid-20s, I’m feeling the pull of the basic rando bag, the medium-sized, cuboid archetype that sits atop a light-weight entrance rack, offering fast entry from the saddle to all of the necessities a randonneur—or certainly any rider—would possibly want on the transfer.
But whereas high-performance artificial materials and polymers have began changing time-tested leather-based and brass on many present fashions, the boxy silhouette and maybe puzzling decaleur attachment stay principally unchanged, presenting alternatives for innovation, which the ladies behind Berlin-based bag producer Gramm Tourpacking perceive at a deep degree from their mixed a long time of driving and touring expertise. Sitting on the intersection of the native bikepacking and brevet scene, I can’t think about a greater group of individuals to shepherd the basic rando bag into the twenty first century whereas respecting its purposeful origins.
After over a 12 months of intensive improvement, Gramm rolled out the Diamond Bag with the matching Allygn Elements Diamond Rack atop the gorgeous Fern Extremely Rando at kolektif bike honest earlier this 12 months (discover my protection within the Associated Content material grid under). It instantly captured my consideration in a approach no basic rando bag ever has, and fortunately, I bought to place the pair to a long-term check this summer season and fall. I anticipated to commute between it and my different, bigger luggage, however the Diamond Bag’s superb versatility—to not point out modern, engaging strains—made it a fixture atop my all-terrain rando bike for every part from day rides to multi-week excursions.
Priced at €249, Gramm’s trendy rando bag is in-line with different high-end choices by the likes of Swift, RuthWorks, and Gilles Berthoud, though the deep integration with the Allygn Diamond Rack (bought individually) actually makes it one among a form. I’ll study all of the sides of the built-in Diamond rack-and-bag-system on this in-depth evaluate.
Gramm Diamond Bag Overview
Tapering on all sides, the 7.5-liter Diamond Bag seems modern and stealthy. It’s not simply aesthetics; there’s a purposeful reasoning behind all of the angles. By narrowing towards the entrance, there’s further clearance to the perimeters for inward-swinging highway brifters. On the rear, the slight overhang shields a cable port from rain earlier than reversing to create space across the tops of the handlebar. The Diamond Bag is nice for shorter riders who would possibly in any other case have issues getting luggage that match between slender drop bars, and with the rack assist, there’s no probability of tire rub both. The continual inner exhausting liner wraps from entrance to again, granting intrinsic rigidity to the bag. I can report that it held its form over any terrain I threw at it.
The easy origami-like closure is extraordinarily satisfying to fold and unfold. It’s sort of a hybrid that merges the waterproofness of a roll closure with the simple entry of a flat lid. Unhooking the Fidlock magnetic latches and lifting the highest reveals all of the contents at a look—very handy for reaching for an apple, a jacket, or a pair of binoculars whereas on the go. There are two open mesh pockets on the within for retaining small objects organized. I discover the new pink liner on my evaluate bag completely fabulous, however the all-black lining on the inventory bag performs nicer with different colours, although it is going to make discovering small objects inside a bit tougher at the hours of darkness.
The highest folds again down in opposition to itself alongside pre-creased edges within the tall sides, leaving no gaps for ingress, and the Fidlock latches snap again into the feminine items because of magnetic attraction. They’re rattle-free and might be operated blindly. The folding closure works finest when your stem doesn’t prolong a lot past the fork crown (wanting on the bike from the facet) so the lid has area to clear the bars.
I discover the compact 7.5-liter bag to be a super standalone dimension to hold every part I’d want on an extended day experience or brevet. The inflexible compartment swallows a instrument roll, spare tube, pump, down jacket, hi-viz vest, gloves, snacks, toothbrush, and reflective seat pad with room for a big sandwich. The distinctive kinematics of the closure don’t take properly to overstuffing, however there are a couple of methods to stretch the bag’s capability. Left open, the tall sides enable a shocking quantity of meals to be carried a brief distance to a pleasant lunch spot. Converging bungee cordage on the lid retains gentle objects affixed, though a extra standard criss-cross sample is perhaps more practical. Sooner or later, I could redo the bungee netting to decouple it from the magnetic snap latches. Some slim facet pockets can be good however may additionally make what’s already an intricate design much more difficult to supply.
The bag is constructed from the brand new X-Pac RX36 materials, which comprises 100% post-consumer recycled polyester comprised of typical PET bottles. The fabric is licensed local weather impartial, and based on producer Dimension Polyant’s information sheet, the recycled polyester face material resists abrasion at the very least in addition to the nylon on common X-Pac. That’s excellent for bikepacking luggage, the place abrasion is the first failure mode. In my very own use, I’ve discovered the polyester material to be impressively hard-wearing. Six months and 1000’s of kilometers in, my pre-production bag exhibits minimal fraying on the contact zones with the rack—a lot better than nylon would fare, in my expertise. It’s a moot level, although, as a result of the ultimate design was upgraded with a grippy and extremely powerful Hypalon panel on the underside, placing my issues concerning the bag’s longevity to relaxation. The remainder of the bag nonetheless seems and features like new.
This primary batch of inventory Diamond luggage is an enormous step for Gramm, because it’s the primary time of their seven-year historical past they’re having luggage sewed externally by a companion firm. For a small enterprise like Gramm, this transfer doesn’t truly save prices, they usually nonetheless carry all of the duty for sourcing supplies, high quality checks, packaging, and distribution. Relatively, counting on an skilled companion in Portugal alleviates the stitching bottleneck, which suggests Gramm can supply their distinctive luggage to extra clients whereas sustaining their excessive customary of high quality. I actually can’t discern any distinction in comparison with the customized luggage they proceed to make in Berlin, and founder Kristin assures me that the contract work is top-notch and performed below moral situations, or else she wouldn’t go ahead with this method.
One with the Allygn Diamond Rack
The bag is basically solely half of the story, because it types an built-in system with the matching Allygn Diamond Rack, a framebuilder-owned firm from Berlin. The distinctive small-batch racks fall into the identical class because the light-weight but sturdy Tumbleweed racks that get a lot love right here on the positioning, they usually are available at the same worth level of €195 ($176 with out VAT). The wedge-shaped Diamond Rack comes with all of the {hardware} so it may be mounted to just about any bike and options considerate guides for dynamo cable routing and a headlight mounting tab.
A standard rando bag often requires further bracing by a rack tombstone and a decaleur to maintain them from flopping round. As soon as mounted, they’re left in place. The Diamond Bag, however, attaches and detaches in seconds because of the burly Hypalon-backed velcro flaps that loop across the entrance and rear tubes of the rack. No further bracing is required as a result of bag’s intrinsic rigidity. Tensioned up, the 2 elements transfer as one, even with out the rubberized base that now comes customary. Racks apart from the Diamond Rack could also be appropriate, however solely the unique is assured to suit and work as meant. A second batch of luggage due within the first quarter of 2023 will probably be modified to suit choose light-weight entrance racks from Nitto, Rene Herse, and Velo Orange, primarily based on intensive in-house experimenting.
The velcro on the Diamond Bag is definitely the slickest attachment system I’ve used, and in contrast to all my different handlebar luggage that additionally characteristic D-rings and a strap for off-bike motion, I truly make use of this performance as a result of it’s so fast and handy. The velcro was my different longevity concern moreover the X-Pac base, however now that I’ve put the velcro via accelerated put on testing, going via tons of of cycles of eradicating and reattaching the bag whereas on tour with none obvious degradation, I consider it must be good for a few years of normal use.
For randonneuring, bikepacking, and so forth.
The 7.5-liter capability is right for carrying all I would like and extra on day rides and brevets, however I used to be lacking a grapefruit or two of packing area on our rough-stuff tour within the Dolomites this summer season. Keep in mind, there’s no overflow capability on this bag. With an abundance of Voilé straps and associates keen to hold our shared provides, I bought all of it buttoned up ultimately—barely—although we had no tents, simply bivy luggage. The lean bike regarded and rode nice, however what you don’t see is all of the stuff bursting out of my vest pockets always. If you happen to’re maxing out your typical handlebar roll and seat bag setup, the lowered quantity means you’ll want further area elsewhere or driving mates who take pity in your predicament.
As if I didn’t be taught my lesson in Italy, I repeated the wrestle on my solo experience right down to Budapest in September. It was a no brainer, although, as a result of the rando bag was a revelation for carrying oddly formed objects that don’t pack properly and made going into supermarkets and cafés with my valuables a breeze. Biking via infinite thought loops alongside the mellow Danube River, it crystallized in my thoughts: The “quintessential” bikepacking bag setup, as seen on this singletrack-heavy web site, simply isn’t for me. Rando luggage, handy and tremendous versatile, are superb for journey by bike. I would like the liberty to gather pears from the roadside with out having to fret about the place to stuff them.
So, after hitting peak ultralight this 12 months in Italy, I’m stepping into the concept of micro-panniers with a contemporary rando bag just like the Diamond Bag up entrance. It must be ideally suited for my type of all-road touring that falls someplace between singletrail bikepacking and four-pannier world-crawling, and I’m desperate to validate the concept on an prolonged tour subsequent 12 months. If something, I’d welcome an additional few centimeters in all dimensions for a little bit extra quantity, however maybe that might be one other bag matching the broader footprint of the Allygn Grill Rack.
Gramm Diamond Bag Specs
- Dimension: 270 x 170 x 200mm
- Weight: 500g
- Place of Manufacture: Portugal (inventory black) / Germany (customized colour)
- Quantity: 7.5L
- Worth: €249 (inventory black) / €289 (customized colour)
- Producer’s Particulars: Gramm-Tourpacking.com
Execs
- Compact dimension works properly on small frames and with slender drop bars
- Distinctive folding closure with magnetic latches grants fast entry to contents
- Seamless and secure integration with the Allygyn Diamond Rack
- Inflexible development holds its form over any terrain and eliminates the necessity for a decaleur
- Dependable velcro straps make the bag fast to take away and reattach
- Appears nice on many several types of bikes
Cons
- Low quantity should you’re used to a drybag roll or different sort of handlebar bag
- Pricy together with rack, however you get high-quality and worth to your cash
- Requires rack provisions on the fork
- Overflow is restricted to what you may slide beneath the bungee netting on the lid
- Black liner on inventory bag will not be ideally suited for locating darkish objects inside
Wrap Up
The Diamond Bag is a powerful collaboration by Gramm and Allygn that demonstrates the vital position small customized producers play in bringing contemporary concepts into the bikepacking area. Innovating on each side of the basic rando bag—from the form to the bag closure to the mounting and the supplies used—the crew left no stone unturned in creating a very state-of-the-art bag that appears equally at residence on a metal randonneur as on a carbon racing machine. Each rack and bag are of impeccable high quality and tremendous sturdy, and collectively they type what quantities to a extremely customized answer made out there at an inexpensive worth level given the intensive R&D and small-batch manufacturing.
Whereas not designed particularly for bikepacking, the inflexible construction, powerful X-Pac RX36 recycled material, and rack mounting means the Diamond bag holds up over any terrain. It suits practically each body dimension and drop-bar setup on the market, so long as the fork options the mandatory mounts. Uniquely accessible because of its intelligent folding lid, I anticipate the versatile Diamond Bag will stay the centerpiece of my bikes which might be geared up with the stunning Diamond Rack, particularly as I transfer towards a micro-pannier setup that may greater than compensate for the smaller dimension.
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