Fabrics

The fabrics that are selected to build a bicycle bag, work cooperatively with the bag’s design and its methods of being built to create the bags structure, feel, look and ability to stand up against the rigors of bikepacking and bicycle touring. These days there are a wide and growing array of high performance outdoor fabrics available to bike bag makers. In this guide we’ve examined the full range of fabrics that are commonly deployed.

We go into depth breaking down 9 key properties of fabrics and examining the subsequent advantages and disadvantages of each fabric when utilized on all the different types of bike bags that are out there. If you want to go deep with understanding the world of bicycle bags, learning about their fabrics is a great place to start!

Campfire’s Bicycle Bag Fabric Guides

Fabric Concepts and Terminology

  • Coatings
    • DWR
    • FCF Flourarbon Free Coating
  • Laminates
    • PET Film
    • PE Film
  • Thread
    • Thread Count
    • Denier
    • Weight
  • Water Resistance
    • Wet Out
  • Weaving
    • Basket
    • Ripstop
  • Other
    • Calendaring

Bicycle Bag Fabric Comparison Chart

Impact: Bicycle bags need to stand up to a whole variety of rigorous conditions. The fabrics utilized in their design is optimally selected to handle the expected conditions of rain (water resistance), road and trail spray (water resistance), abrasion from crashes or snags (durability), frame rub (durability), gear rub (durability), uv dirt (environmental resistance) and other grime (environmental resistance).

Bicycle Bag Fabric Properties

The plethora of high performance outdoor fabric options leads to a complex decision matrix for bicycle bag designers. Bag designers must do their best to balance the most important fabric properties for achieving the highest performance for their bag’s design objective. Durability, structure, water resistance and environmental impact factors are the baseline properties that any fabrics considered must perform at a sufficient level. The state of the art fabrics, are chosen for there ability to perform sufficiently while reducing weight and generally come at a higher cost. The appearance and feel of the fabric can certainly play a big role in the bag designers choice in fabrics as well.

These following 9 properties of fabrics summarize the key comparison elements that we use to compare how a fabric performs for a bicycle bag’s design. We’ve ordered this list with our estimate of the most important to least important properties to the majority of cyclists with cost as the wildcard in terms of the widest ranging importance. We’ve also left out properties that while relevant to other outdoor applications don’t have much bearing on a bicycle bags performance. Properties like wind resistance, down-proofness, flame resistance and pilling resistance have little bearing for most use-cases of bicycle bags so we’ve left them out.

  1. Durability: The ability for a fabric to remain intact while withstanding a variety of destructive forces such as poking, twisting, slicing, scraping and abrasion defines its level of durability. Bikepacking and bicycle touring test the durability of a bicycle bag’s fabric at every turn.
    • The durability of your bike bag’s fabric’s will be put to the test in a variety of ways:
      • Crashing: There is of course the dramatic type of event with the most potential to rip a bike bags fabric to shreds. Crashing also includes rubbing your bike bags into rocks, shrubs and branches as you meander down the trail. You may not experience a crash, but your bike bag does.
      • External Bike Rub: Whether your bag is mounted to your bicycle frame, handlebars or a rack, a bike bag’s fabric bouncing and jostling against metal surfaces will test the fabric’s abrasion resistance. Of course the bag’s mounting setup, the roughness of the terrain being ridden through and the weight and positioning of the bag’s load are all important factors in the power of the abrasive force the fabric must endure.
      • Internal Gear Rub: Related to external bike rub, though typically much less of an issue, this is when what you’ve packed in your bike bag is eating away at the inside of the fabric. The weight, positioning and sharp edges of the gear you’ve packed in your bag all factor into its abrasive force.
      • Handling: This encompasses everything that happens to your bike bags when you are not riding your bike. Packing and accessing your gear generates destructive forces from tugging at the straps and fabric, manipulating the closing fixtures and roll-closures and jamming gear into the bag. Mounting the bags involves the forces of strapping the bags down and utilizing the mounting hardware. Travel, storage, parking your bike and camping with your bike bags can lead to a wide variety of potentially damaging forces against the fabrics.
    • For a more scientific breakdown of durability we’re looking at the various
  2. Structure: The way the fabric drapes, the form it holds, its flexibility and its stretch, collectively contribute to its structure. This is highlighted by the shape that a bicycle bag maintains while loaded as well as unloaded. The fabric works together with the following factors to help determine how the bike bag maintain its structure:
    • The position of the bag on the bike.
    • How the bag attaches to the bike.
    • Additional support materials built into the bag.
    • The bumpiness of the riding the bags is designed for.
    • For non-waterproof fabrics, the effect on its structure when the fabric is wet.
  3. Weight: Fabrics that are lightweight while maintaining the above properties are sought after especially amongst the ultra-endurance bikepacking racing crowd.
  4. Water Resistance: This includes waterproofness. Essential for protecting gear from rain, splashes, and damp environments. Some fabrics are inherently water-resistant, while others are treated with coatings or laminates to enhance their ability to repel water.
  5. Appearance: the look of the fabric contributes substantially to the bag’s design aesthetics. Stand out elements of fabric appearance are its color, how it holds light, the look of its texture and how its appearance changes when wet or dirty, is it easy to wash and how does the fabrics look change with long-term UV exposure and use?
    • Color: Type of Color, Bold, Color Options, Blended Color Weaves
    • Light: Shiny, reflective, dull,
    • Textured Look: Patterned to Smooth
    • Wet and Dirty:
    • Washability: Quick rinse, stains,
    • Long Term Wear: UV, abrasions, fraying
  6. Hand Feel: the resistance of the fabric and its texture combine to define its hand feel.
    • Resistance has to do with the weight, stretch and flexibility of the fabric as you push your hand against it while you carry it, mount it to your bike, stuff gear inside it and handle roll-top closures, zippers and compression straps.
    • The texture is simply how the fabric feels when rubbing your hand over it. To what degree is it rough, soft, slick, wrinkly, etc.?
  7. Environmental Impacts: Resistance to environmental factors like UV, dust, chemicals, mold and mildew is a key property in the performance of outdoor fabrics.
  8. Maintenance: The ability to easily clean and maintain the fabric is important for long-term use and hygiene, especially for use in rugged outdoor adventuring.
  9. Cost: Various performance factors among fabrics, most notable extra lightweight materials have significant costs that come with them, adding to the overall cost of the bag.