I love bikes with stories, and this may be one of the best I've come across so far. In fact, this is the first time we're spotlighting a specific bike rather than a model. I discovered and started chatting with Erik (full interview here) around the time we published our cargo bikepacking guide, and at the time, I was crushing hard on Omnium bikes.
Fast forward a year or so, and when Erik's tour came through Canada, he stayed at my place for a few days. This gave me the opportunity to get a closer look at his setup. When his bike got into my basement, I could do nothing but stare at it, blown away by the details. Every part of the bike held something new to feast my eyes on.
This type of setup and wear could only come from long, hard days in the saddle over a very long time. As I started asking Erik about certain bags and components, he had a full story for each product. This isn't just a post about a bike; it's also about a highly curated bikepacking setup. So, let's dive in.
How did you choose the Omnium?
I've been following so many cool #messlife people on Instagram for years and lusting after how goddamn cool they looked ripping around cities on cargo bikes loaded up with so many boxes they could barely see over the front. Never working as an actual messenger myself, I must've wanted to capture a bit of that vibe when setting out on my first big bike tour. Omnium was my choice over other front loader options due to it being offered in titanium, which does lower the base weight by 6 lbs or so compared to the same sized steel frame.
How much does the bike weigh? Naked? Fully loaded?
The bike unloaded with all the bags removed, but front platform and rear rack still on, clocks in around 45 lbs. At the outset of the trip it was equipped with much lighter fancier components but as things gave up to the stresses of bike touring they were replaced with heavier, stronger options. Fully loaded with all my gear, 3L of water, and a couple days of food on board the bike clocked in at 201 lbs which was 80 or so above what I had been estimating. It's been a solid year since I had it on a scale and since then many things have been removed from my loadout but also others added on so I'm likely still above 170 lbs fully loaded, +/- 10 lbs depending how much dumpster pizza I have on board.
What does the ride feel like?
It's a bit of a freight train semi truck sort of vibe. Once you get it going in a straight line it'll just keep cruising forward. The nice part of having all the weight attached to the platform means that the steering always feels natural whether loaded or not, rather than normal touring bikes having the handling get sluggish when you strap some heavy panniers or a basket on front. I've taken my Omnium on all sorts of terrain varying from paved roads in various states of decay to jeep rock crawling trails, deep sand and AZT mountain pass, with every possible type of gravel in between.
What's your favorite detail on the bike?
Oh god there's too many to choose from! People are always donating little trinkets to my setup. Keychains or dangles or patches or odd components that I'll find a use for someday. The things I love about it are all the places that it shows the wear, the hours of riding I've put into it, where the bags have polished the frame or sandals buffing the anno off the pedals or how every single bit of black fabric on my bags has faded in different ways.
What is the one thing missing from your setup?
Honestly there's nothing missing that I think I still need. It used to be missing reliable components, however after a few thousand hours everything is refined down to what can be absolutely trusted to not let me down. The one thing I don't have that I have considered adding but have zero use for is, a 15mm wrench so I can assist any single speeders that I come across on the road who need help changing a flat. There's some reaaally nice ti wrenches made by Runwell that I have been dreaming about but haven't hopped on yet.
Why do you not have more than one bag from the same maker?
It's a bit of the desire to spread the love around crossed with my never being fully satisfied with one specific setup. I'm friends with way too many skilled makers that choosing one of them to outfit the entire bike would both be a ridiculous quest for them to take on as well as kinda ruining the look of the bike, I think. Nothing on the bike stays stock for very long. Because the cargo is such a silly machine, every bag usually requires modification in some little way to make it work exactly how I want.
If you could change one thing with the bike what would it be?
Haaa I would dream of a magical bag of holding for the front, Marry Poppins style, where I could toss any size of object in there without consequence to the weight of my rig. If we're sticking in the real world though…I have dreamed about finding a Thule / Yakima / etc sort of car roof top box that would fit on the front platform. Would make the bike so much more aerodynamic and waterproof and Star Wars speeder bike vibes.
Which components have demonstrated the most and least durability?
Other than the frame, the few things that haven't succumbed to the stress that I put them through have been my shifters by Gevenalle, the lights by Sinewave, stem by Crust, and bars by Wren Sports. Just about everything else has been replaced or refreshed. I've cracked rims, snapped pedals, stripped cranks, fully destroyed bottom brackets, not to even get into what I've done to the clothing I have with me. Bike touring long term really is the ultimate test of gear and if a company doesn't have an actual response for “what's the most miles someone has put on this”, then you could take that as a bad sign or a challenge to run the test yourself. This bike started with hydraulic SRAM AXS and now has friction shifting with mechanical discs, which should be no surprise to other tourers out there. Reliability champions over all.
Have you seen the cargo bike industry change while you've been on tour?
Oh god yeah. Starting out no one I crossed paths with had ever seen a cargo bike, let alone a front loader bakfiets style one. Now they seem to be all over any larger city I ride through that has even a little bit of cycling infrastructure in place. Omnium has a US distro now which has helped get them out to more families, but also there's so many other companies in the game trying out every kind of cargo configuration and I love seeing all of it push the industry forward.
Best non-tour use of the Omnium?
Whenever I'm lucky enough to hang out in a city for a bit to ramble around and get to know the cycling scene, riding the Omnium unloaded means I can toss all sorts of other cargo on the front. I've helped friends move house, delivered 25 large pizzas, picked up and dropped off couches from buy-nothing groups, and taken home every sort of ride find you could imagine. But the best use of my Omnium so far has been to ferry around my friend Kenzie in Tampa who injured her knee and missed attending the weekly group rides in town until cargo rolled through and she could hop on the front. We had the most delightful giggly time mashing though the city catching double takes from everyone who saw us.
How does loading the cargo differ from bike packing on a traditional rig?
Packing this thing is truly a cursed blessing. You have the physical storage space and weight capacity to carry literally anything. Legs are the only limit here, I may want to bring the twenty bags of chips or 3L of fruit juice or 10 lb of bbq that I discovered in a dumpster but damn I still need to push all this down the road. There are also aspects of the traditional four pannier setup that are superior to this as well, like being able to grab just the one bag you need rather than need to unzip and dig through the huge 160L front cavern to find the thing you need.
