What Makes Us The Best

What Makes Us The Best

Here at Restrap we’re good at two things. The first is making bags and the second is talking about bags. The fact is, we’re pretty proud of our products and hopefully as a Restrap customer, you agree.

We've put together a list of things that explain why by choosing Restrap, you're getting the best bikepacking bags on the market.

restrap bikepacking how its made

We make everything by hand in the UK

It turns out you can’t take the man out of Yorkshire. Restrap founder Nathan grew up in this fine county and has no intention of leaving, so when choosing a home for his bag-making endeavours, Yorkshire it was. And we love it here. What more could you want – friendly staff, northern grit, and some of the best cycling country in the world on the doorstep to test our kit on the fly.

All our close-knit team of hard working staff work side-by-side in our Leeds factory, fueled by a veritable ocean of tea. We’ve got a great community of like-minded seamstresses, cutters and packers who help make Restrap what it is. 

When it comes to bikepacking and our kit, there’s nothing we haven’t tried ourselves. If you have a question about anything we do, or need some bikepacking tips, give us a shout, we’re always happy to help. It’s also worth checking out our Bikepacking Guide playlist on youtube, where we take you through every step from start to finish.

Our in-house production gives us the control to move fast, and update things on the fly

Quality, quality, quality. Making things by hand means we can uphold the highest standards for our bags and give each one the special care and attention it deserves.

Since we’re not sending our stuff to get made overseas, we have no minimum orders or outside restraints. This means freedom! We can experiment, try new things, update and improve our products as we go, and just have fun.

If we’ve got an idea – we make it. If it works it can become a finished product in a matter of days. Our in-house production is at the core of everything we do - it informs not only design decisions and product line up, but also our own riding and kit choices, which lets us thoroughly test everything we make before we put it to market.⁠

restrap bikepacking how its made

We test our bags in the workshop, then we test them on the road. Then we test them some more. Then when we're finishing testing, we'll decide that we want to give it another go and then test them again.⁠

We want you to know that as our loyal customers, that we're giving you the best, so you can focus on your adventure.

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We choose the best materials

Everything we use to make our bags is carefully chosen because it's the best. Our mainstay is the 1000D textured nylon that we're most well known for. It's a robust and durable fabric that has a DWR coating to ensure it's 100% waterproof. 

restrap bikepacking saddle bag

All our linings and dry bags use 6oz nylon, because it's lightweight and fully waterproof. On products like our Tech Bag, Saddle Pack, Bar Pack and Dry Bags - we tape-seal all the seams with high quality seam sealing tape to ensure your kit stays dry. 

restrap bikepacking how its made

You'll find a lot of our products use Hypalon - a wonder material derived from the marine industry that is an incredibly hard wearing and tear-proof rubberised fabric. We harness the power of Hypalon with precision laser cutting, which allows us to use it as trim and fittings in our products, and also make dedicated accessories from it, like our handy Tyre Boot Kit and Fast Straps

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Buying direct from us means you get the most up to date products

If we do tweak a product, we’ll always sell the new, improved version on our website straight away. Buying direct from restrap.com means you’ll always get the latest model, whether that’s a new and improved zip, an updated strap or an extra pocket.

restrap bikepacking how its made

Once a change is made, our staff are on it, our stock is updated and we’re good to go. A few of our recent updates showcase this. For example, our Canister Bag is now made with stiffer internals and a retention strap around the rear which makes it the perfect bag for day trips and gravel rides.

We always aim to repair before we replace, and there's not much we can't repair

Shit happens, and sometimes it happens to your kit. If anything does go wrong, we’ll aim to repair it for you before replacing it. Our dedicated sewing team know our products inside out so if something needs sorting, they’ll usually know why and how to fix it.

restrap bikepacking how its made

We’ve got a plethora of high tech precision equipment and machines in our factory and our team can make your bag as good as new.

restrap bikepacking how its made

All our products are made from UK-based, recycled materials wherever possible. By handling in-house repairs, we’re doing our bit to reduce our carbon footprint and in turn, yours too.

All our products are sold with a lifetime warranty

We know you don’t want to buy twice. Once you’ve got one of our bags, that’s it. Our lifetime warranty means that you're completely covered against any manufacturing defects. We are so confident in this, each of our machinists personally signs the warranty cards attached to the product they made for you.

restrap bikepacking how its made 

It's not often things need to come back to us, but we know how important it is for you to head out on your epic trip with the confidence that'll you'll be taken care of.

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And there you have it - bragging over, with our five reasons for Restrap. If you want a functional bag that’s been lovingly hand-made in the UK with informed design choices, quality checked to within an inch of its life, and can be repaired or replaced at any time (and why wouldn’t you?) we’re right here. 

restrap bikepacking why buy from us