We started our trip around the world in April 2022 in Montreal, Canada. After covering around 30,000 km in Canada, Alaska and the "Lower 48s" of the United States with aluminum suitcases, we decided to switch to soft luggage in November 2022. The reason for our switch to soft luggage was that we were doing more off-road trips (on our trips on the Dempster Highway, Dalton Highway and Washington BDR we were able to leave our suitcases safely stored with friends).
Below we share our experiences after around 30,000 km with the Mosko Moto Backcountry 2.1 and the Nomax tank bag.
Backcountry 2.1
Pros:
Durability: The outer shell has only a few small scratches even after a few falls and accidents.
Easy to fit: It is very easy to fit to virtually any 18mm luggage carrier.
Easy to clean: The luggage carriers are easy to clean with a little warm water and washing-up liquid. Salt, sugar syrup, dirt and other things can be easily removed.
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Cons
Heavy: The panniers are quite heavy and have the same weight as our previous aluminum cases.
When the panniers are fully packed, it is difficult to carry them with just one handle. And very often the rooms in a hostel are not right next to the parking lot, but usually a bit further away!
The screws for mounting on the pannier rack are too long for an 18 mm tubular frame and have sharp points. This can lead to problems if you want to mount another bag behind it or have to reach behind the frame and regularly injure your skin.
Difficult to use beavertail: The beavertail is a good idea in itself for quickly stowing things on the outside. In reality, however, it was often difficult to put things in the beavertail because it is sewn far too tightly at the bottom.
Limited list of accessories: There is only a limited list of accessories that can be mounted on the Backcountry. Also, the accessories have a maximum capacity of 5L. This is far too small to store Andrea's shoes or similar large items.
We lost a few screws holding the safety bar on the way. It seems that the wrong threadlocker was used here. In addition, the screw heads have already started to rust after around 2 months on the coast.
The seams on parts of the back started to disintegrate on some parts and are already disintegrated on other parts.
Nomax Tank Bag
Pros:
Durability: Most of the materials are durable. Only the elastic band on the top compartment wears out very quickly.
Water bladder: We like the water bladder in the tank bag as it eliminates the need to carry a water bladder in the backpack for short distances.
Multiple storage compartments: We like the ability to store our things in the designated compartments and keep everything organized.
Backpack straps: we regularly use the easy-to-store backpack straps, because it's very practical to be able to simply take the tank bag with you, especially when you're carrying your things from the parking lot to your room or taking a quick coffee break.
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Cons:
Unfortunately, some of the advantages of tank bags are also disadvantages.
Water bladder: The capacity of the water bladder is theoretically 2 liters, but since the storage compartment is small, we cannot pack more than 1.5 liters and it is difficult to stuff the bladder into the tank bag. In particular, the zipper is not wide enough and we have to temporarily empty the compartment above it to properly stow the almost full bladder.
Multiple storage compartments: As much as we like the ability to organize our stuff, many of the compartments are just way too small. You can't even stow children's things in these compartments.
The buckles on the handlebar straps at the front of the tank bags are difficult to adjust or regularly adjust themselves due to their position.
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Customer Service
We tried to contact customer service by mail several times as we initially had some questions about products and wanted to let them know what we thought, but we never received a response.
When we contacted the customer service department about the lost screws and the seams coming undone, they always responded quickly and had acceptable solutions ready for us as travelers. We can only say: Thank you, many other companies can take this as an example.
Conclusio
In general, we are happy with the Backcountry 35, especially when we compare them to other suppliers we have seen on the road. In the absence of a serious alternative, we would buy them again although they are far from perfect and start having issues after only 18 month of use.
The tank bag is a different story. Although we like the ideas behind it and also the ability to store the hydration bladder in the tank bag, we would opt for a version with a single large compartment that is waterproof and doesn't require an additional rain cover.