SCOUT, STOCKMAN OR STRZELECKI: PICK YOUR SYSTEM

Three systems, one question that sorts it. Most riders land on our range and want to know where to start between Scout, Stockman and Strzelecki, and then which size within it. It is a fair question. Sizing luggage is the one decision you make before a trip that you feel on every kilometre of it.

Before we get into it, clear one thing off the table.

FIRST, FORGET THE SIZE OF YOUR BIKE

Every system we make fits smaller bikes and bigger bikes. All of them. The Scout is not the small bike system and the Strzelecki is not the big bike system. We have fitted Strzelecki systems to lightweight trail bikes and Scout systems to big adventure bikes, and both work exactly as they should.

That is the whole point of building it universal and rackless. Your bike is not the limit. So the question is not what you ride. The question is what you carry.

HOW MUCH ARE YOU ACTUALLY CARRYING?

That is what sorts the three, and there is one principle sitting underneath it. Bags ride best when they are packed full. A bag that is packed tight holds its shape, sits still and stays out of your way. Half-empty capacity is capacity you are carrying around for nothing.

So the job is to match the system to the gear you actually put in it. Here is how the three break down.

THE ADVENTURE SCOUT: DAY RIDES AND OVERNIGHTERS

Trails, fire roads, a big day loop with mates. Tools, a tube, a jacket, lunch, water, phone and wallet. Maybe a puncture kit and a small first aid pouch. That is a full day of hard riding and the Scout carries all of it, packed tight, with nothing spare flapping about.

The Scout runs 8L bags, two of them for the 16L system and three for the 24L. Low, narrow and close to the bike, so you keep your line in the tight stuff and the bike keeps feeling like a bike.

The 24L is the one to look at if your day rides sometimes turn into a night away. Three bags is enough for a light overnighter, and that extra bag is the best value capacity in the range.

The Scout is the pick if most of your riding is day rides with the occasional night out, and you would rather run a small kit packed full than a big kit half empty.

THE STOCKMAN: THE LIGHTWEIGHT ALL-ROUNDER

The Stockman is where you land when you want one system for weekends, pub stays and week-long trips without carrying any more bike than you need to.

Friday afternoon you load up, ride out, stay somewhere with a bed and a beer, and ride home Sunday. That is a pub stay trip and the Stockman is built for exactly that. Change of clothes, tools, camera, wet weather gear, all packed properly with nothing rattling around.

It also does genuine camping travel in the hands of riders who pack light. A lot of experienced riders run a Stockman with a swag strapped across the back of the bike and go anywhere with it. That is a lean, fast, capable setup and the riders running it usually know exactly what they need and exactly what they do not.

The 25L is the light weekender. The 50L rackless is the one we field the most questions about, because it takes a real trip's worth of gear and keeps the bike narrow.

The Stockman is the pick if you want a proper all-rounder and you are the sort of rider who packs light on purpose.

THE STRZELECKI: THE ONE MOST RIDERS CHOOSE

This is our most popular system and it is the best all-rounder in the range. It is the one riders pick when they want to do a bit of everything and never think about their luggage again.

Think a Simpson crossing. Think a full Backcountry Discovery Route. Think a serious run at the Trans Euro Trail. Those are the trips this system was drawn around, and they are the trips riders tell us they bought it for.

But it is not only a big trip system, and that is exactly why it outsells everything else we make. The same setup does the weekend away, the week up the coast and the High Country run. Camp gear, cooking, spares, water, fuel and recovery gear when you need all of it. Two-up with a passenger's gear alongside your own. One system, every trip on your list.

The 40L is the lean build. The 65L pairs the panniers with a 25L roll bag and is the most popular expedition setup we sell. The 80L pairs them with an 80L roll bag and carries everything, everywhere.

The Strzelecki is the pick if your riding covers a range of trips and you want one system that handles the biggest one on your list. Most riders end up here, and the reason is simple. Buy for your biggest trip and every smaller trip is easy.

TWO CHECKS BEFORE YOU ORDER

The first is your biggest trip in the next twelve months. If a Simpson crossing, a BDR or a TET section is anywhere on that list, size for it. Everything below it is then covered by the same system. That is why the Strzelecki is our most common choice.

The second is how you like to pack. If you are a lean packer who knows their kit, a Stockman with a swag will take you further than most people expect. If your day riding is the bulk of your year, a Scout packed full will serve you better than a bigger system carried half empty.

Either way, check your fitment. The Fittings tab sits on every product page and we have physically fitted just about every bike on that list. Not calculated, not assumed, actually fitted in the shed.

ONE SYSTEM, NOT THREE

Here is the part worth knowing before you choose. Scout, Stockman and Strzelecki are not three separate worlds. They are one modular system.

Start wherever your riding is today. Add a roll bag when you start doing weekenders. Add Strzelecki panniers when the big trip lands. Run a Scout on the same bike for day rides and swap up when you head away. Mix and match across the range, because the mounting system is common to all of it. You are not starting over each time. You are building.

That is what modular is supposed to mean, and it is why we built the range this way rather than as three unrelated products.

WHAT IS TRUE ACROSS ALL THREE

Every system in the range is welded TPU, which means zero water absorption. On day five of a wet trip, your bags weigh what they weighed on day one.

All three run rackless. No racks to buy, no extra weight bolted to the subframe, nothing extra to fit before you ride. If you already run racks, the same bags fit those too, because the range is built universal rather than bike-specific.

All three work with BASELOCK. Around 180 grams of polycarbonate core and closed-cell foam, peel and stick, locking the bags down with no sway. There is a BASELOCK fit for every system in the range.

And all three fit your bike. Big or small.

THE SHORT VERSION

Day rides and the odd night away, run the Scout. Pub stays, weekends and lean travel with a swag on the back, run the Stockman. Everything from a weekend to the Simpson, a BDR or the TET on the one system, run the Strzelecki, which is where most riders land.

Size it to your biggest trip, pack it full, confirm your fitment and go riding.

Thirty day returns and a two year warranty sit behind every system in the range.

Still weighing it up? Message us with your bike and your biggest trip this year and we will point you straight at the one that suits.