The Topeak backloader 10L is the saddlebag that is still currently in use, and it has been on my bike for about a year now, about 7000 miles. As of Feb 2024. Its been mostly plain sailing with this bag, and its not the most expensive bag on the market by a long shot. It’s currently around the £60 mark but when i bought this it was under just under £40 an absolute bargain if you ask me.

The bag has been mostly faultless up until recently where I did have to do a little repair, the Velcro strap came apart from the bag meaning I could no longer attach it to the seat post, I couldn’t re sew it as that area has some reinforcements, and I’m just no good at that stuff, so I ended up glueing it back down with some really strong glue, that type of glue you have to mix together (cant remember the name sorry) and that seems to have fixed the issue. Well, it’s held it for the last couple of trips. The other issue that I have started to notice is that the stitching that hold the seat post strap to the seat post is starting to come apart, so I’m not sure how long this bag has left, but one thing is for sure we will find out sooner or later.

The thing that is really great about this bag is the dry bag, it’s got a valve so you can get all the air out and can squish it down really small, You can also replace this for about £10 if you damage it or just want a new one I think its a pretty solid dry bag its a little thin but has held up to everything I have thrown at it so far. And the fact it is a two piece design, i just much prefer this style, it means you can pack away all your kit before leaving the tent, you know how nice that is when it's raining. Not having to try to stuff it into a bag that is attached to the bike as fast as possible to make sure it doesn’t get wet. Toe peak new version of this bag is similar in that it’s still two pieces, but they haven’t fully enclosed the dry bag this time, now this version I have here is fully enclosed but its not waterproof, but it does keep it clean, personally I think they should have kept the fully enclosed design but made the outer fully waterproof, so if this breaks I am unlikely to buy the new version.

This bag does come in a 14L version, but I think saddlebags over 10l without a stabiliser is probably a bit too much the 10l for me, i find to be the right size, I can fit a bunch of socks and down jacket 2 bib shorts 2 long sleeve t shirts and my alpkit pipedream 400 sleeping bags. And that’s the most I ever want to carry.

I don’t find the sway too much on this bag, especially if you fasten it down properly, and once you get the hang of it you can really clamp this down with the long straps they put on this thing.