There are a few inevitable frustrations in bikepacking. Head winds. Running out of snacks too early. And wrestling fork bags onto cargo cages while your buddies stand around offering extremely unhelpful advice
Old Man Mountain’s Hemlock bags and FLiP cage system pretty much eliminate that last one entirely. And honestly, after using them, it’s hard to imagine going back to anything else.
FLiP it
Okay, so to start, FLiP stands for Fast Lock in Place. It’s a system that Old Man Mountain released in 2025. Their website claims they’d been working on them since about 2019. And judging by the smart design and ease of use, that’s not surprising. A lot of thought and prototyping must have gone into this system.
The system includes cargo cages (with optional foot) and a purpose built bag. The cages need a 3-pack mount. Once mounted, you simply place the bottom hooks of your bag into the cage, rotate the lever and it’s locked in place. It takes five seconds, tops. It’s even quicker to remove them.
No more wrestling with straps
I’ve tried strapping purpose-built bags of dirty laundry and other gear on fork cargo systems before and found it super annoying. If I have to pull out my reading glasses to attach a bag to my bike, to my mind, that’s a fail.
The system works effortlessly and, so far, flawlessly. Stuff your fork bag with whatever you want, then clamp it on. Easy. Stuff it before you mount it, after you mount it, it doesn’t matter. And when you get to camp, simply rotate the lever and the bag pops right off. So simple.
There’s no tightening straps. No straps dangling ominously around your front wheel. Loads don’t sag halfway through the ride. No unpacking and repacking because something shifted weird. The system may sound gimmicky until you actually use it. Then you realize how much time and annoyance it removes from bikepacking setups.
Old Man Mountain says the system was designed to work “in the cold, in the mud, with gloves, in the sandy desert.” That feels pretty accurate.
Over multiple rides, the bags never rattled loose, shifted around or interfered with handling. They just quietly stayed put. Which is exactly what you want them to do.
Surprisingly massive capacity
The bags I used were the 7L Hemlock bags. They’re also available in a 5L version. You can fit a shocking amount of gear in these things. Sleeping layers, food, tools, stove kits, rain gear, whatever weird “I might need this” item you insist on…
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at Canadian Cycling Magazine…