I first saw this combination rack and bag while bike riding in the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont.  We had stopped at a corner near Montgomery, Vermont at the same time that a group of French Canadian cyclists had arrived. They greeted us in French, which wasn’t a big help, since we don’t speak it. Lucky for us that they spoke English, as we’re always interested in the who and where of other cyclists. This group of five plans long day trips together from Quebec into the States each weekend. Paul, their “spokesman” (translation: he COULD translate what we said!), said that the size of the group varied from 5-20 people depending on who could ride that day and that they loved the roads and hills of Vermont.

Since we were planning to ride up on their side of the border, he suggested some routes for us to ride near Sutton, Quebec and while he was talking, I noticed that the rack on his racing bike attached to his seat post…interesting!  The red streamlined bag that fit nicely on the rack did not seem cumbersome at all, unlike what I’m used to seeing.

I have two bikes—a touring Trek Pilot 2 with stays for a rack and an Orbea Mitis Dama Ultegra. I love riding the Orbea the most, but on long days– when I want to carry more–I am limited. Lightweight bicycles usually do not have stays to which a rack attaches.  Paul, coincidentally, works at Arkel, the Canadian company out of Sherbrooke, Quebec where the rack and bag were designed. Hmm….time to see if they’d let me test it out, and find out if it would let me use the Orbea more!

Graciously, they sent a loaner set.  The Randonneur and TailRider bag arrived in time to use on my 3 day trip to the Eastern townships of Quebec, just as I’d hoped. The Randonneur attaches with a quick-release clamp that goes between the rails of a bike’s saddle at the back, and a strap that goes around the seatpost, creating a cantilever setup that is extremely solid. The only tool needed is a 5mm hex key. I found it easy to install on my Orbea Selle Italia saddle; the only thing that you might want to be aware of is that if you have your seat rails pushed all the way forward on your seatpost, you may not have enough space to fit the clamp between the rails and the seatpost.

There was only one problem with using it on this trip—it is limited to eleven pounds of weight. I travel light while touring but there was no way that I could do a three day trip with so little. So, I changed my plan to using my touring bike with a regular rack and adding the TailRider Bag to it as a trunk bag. This allowed me to use only one lightly packed pannier on the back and a small front handle bar bag for my tour.

There are a lot of things to like about the TailRider. The outside zippered compartments nicely fit a checkbook, cell phone and energy bar for easy access, instead of the usual digging around in a large pannier compartment.  The Cordura material is strong and resistant to stains and abrasions (although there shouldn’t be much abrasion if I don’t fall over while riding!) The ease of attachment to the rack (four Velcro strips) makes it a cinch to take wherever you go, and the covered handle makes it comfortable to carry. Tucked in a small compartment of the bag is a rain cover that can be quickly be pulled over the bag if needed; given the way showers appear out of nowhere in the East, that’s a great feature! The TailRider has inside dividers with pockets; although they could be very handy for some uses, I found that they limited what could fit into the bag. Luckily, they can be detached from their Velcro stays, so you can use them or not as suits your needs.

After the success of this ride I was anxious to try the bag  with the Randonneur rack as a commuter bag or as a long-ride day bag. If you were to fill it with a jacket, lunch, a swim suit and towel you could easily stay under the eleven pound limit and ride your lightweight bike to your heart’s content.Since I often commute the 20 miles to my events coordinator job by bike, I decided to use this as my test ride. My first impressions when attaching it to my Orbea were—“wow this rack is light” (1.1 lbs) and “I really like the solid cantilever fit.”  Into the bag went cell phone, check book, camera, light towel and wash cloth, sandals and a small make-up bag. I usually leave a change of clothes at work, so today I didn’t need to pack those although there would be room for a rolled up pair of lightweight pants and top. If you commute with a laptop, though, this bag is not suitable; the dimensions just don’t work.

I was now ready to ride. Surprisingly I didn’t notice much difference in bike handling on the ride–the bike still felt fast and light. When getting off I actually had to remind myself to swing my leg a little higher to miss hitting it. I liked how quickly I could detach the bag, grab the handle and be on my way to my desk.

Arkel says their bike bags are made by cyclists for cyclists.  Certainly, the Randonneur and TailRider bear that out. The engineering and materials of both bag and rack are state of the art, easy to use, and helped to improve my cycling experience. Arkel’s product line includes panniers, lap top bags, front bags and more; based on the quality and design of the products we tested, we’d certainly recommend giving their other products a look if you’re in the market.