The Fork-Pack from Ortlieb is a bag with a unique quick release mount, and offers just over three litres of space. It’s completely waterproof, very secure and comes with fittings for several different types of forks. Fitting to a suspension fork is a faff, however, and if your rigid fork lacks even a single mount you’re out of luck completely.
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Key to the 275g Fork-Pack is what Ortlieb call Quick Lock S (QLS), which is a bracket that fixes to the fork legs. It can fit directly if your forks have the increasingly common three-bolt fixing, and via adapters if you don’t.
The included adaptors fit various forks – including most suspension forks and rigid forks with a single pannier bolt fitting – but they won’t fit any rigid fork without a bolt fitting, regardless of material. The bolts are supplied too.
Fitting to a three-bolt mount is obviously extremely simple, though the bolts require just 1Nm of torque, which is so little it’s less than most torque wrenches can measure. So, careful installation is important (and you might consider using blue threadlock to keep them in there, too – Ortlieb, for its part, recommends regular checks on these bolts).
Once on, the mount is very easy to use – you can get the bag off one-handed – and it’s secure too. Hammering through rough tracks in the name of testing did nothing to dislodge it.
Fitting the QLS to suspension forks with the adaptor is not a simple job, by contrast, and removal/reattachment is a faff should you prefer clean looks when you’re not using the bag.
The Fork-Pack’s size and location makes it great for things like cookers, pots and water, but it’s big enough for all sorts – though there is a 3kg limit to be aware of.
The bag itself feels durable and is completely waterproof – two things of particular importance given its location. The roll-top closure is neat and works well, with the one small issue being that the watertight material is airtight too, so it’s important to squeeze out as much as you can before rolling up and buckling what’s now a balloon.
At £50 value is good – although we suspect that most riders would rather run a pair, which obviously doubles the price – and compares well with the likes of the £63 Free Parable Gorilla Clip Cage and Bag system.
Ortlieb has produced a brilliant bag that’s easy to use and creates useful space. The Fork-Pack is secure yet releases easily, is completely waterproof, and does everything – except attach to suspension forks with any kind of speed – you could seriously want.
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