Custom Bikepack Solutions

Rockgeist traces its roots to 2014 when it began designing gear for multi-day endurance races, and their racing roots continue to guide their mission to maximize people’s experiences in the backcountry. Their bikepacking gear is custom made, durable and functional. It is also 100% made in Asheville, North Carolina, and feels at home on dirt and pavement alike. This means it’s good to go on any ride you have in mind, from the Colorado Trail to a day ride across town.

Rockgeist [rock-guy-st] specializes in custom bikepacking gear designed to tame unruly singletrack and to fly on smooth tarmac. Built to meet your specific needs, exact bike, and bikepacking style. – Rockgeist

A quick breakdown of Rockgeist gear from the front of the bike to the back is easily seen in the graphic below (Source: Rockgeist.com).

As you can see, they make custom bags for every possible location a bag can be attached to your bike, from your handlebars to the saddle and everything between.

Asheville and the Rockgeist Team

Rockgeist makes all (100%) of its custom gear in Asheville right in the heart of the Blue Ridge Mountains. They also source most of their materials in the U.S. too. They source almost all their fabric from the east coast and their aluminum components are manufactured by a local machine shop – awesome!

So why Asheville?

Rockgeist is in Asheville for a few reasons. In their own words:

  • Asheville has some of the best bikepacking and mountain biking in the US.
  • The mountains here have helped grow an amazing bike community and the city has a long history of textiles, design, and sewing.

This region of the country is home to a lot of companies making outdoor gear locally. Check out THIS POST about the beneficial economic impact of North Carolina-made gear and the Outdoor Gear Builders of Western North Carolina, of which Rockgeist is a member, for information about this collaborative organization working to grow the region’s outdoor industry.

Pricing, Pricing, Pricing

Like the real estate mantra of “location, location, location,” outdoor gear makers manufacturing or assembling in the United States face stiff price competition from those manufacturing overseas. Rockgeist is not immune.

Our biggest challenge is competing with pricing of gear that is not custom and mass-produced overseas. – Rockgeist

And as most consumers are still primarily focused on price, folks like Rockgeist making outdoor gear in the USA are at a disadvantage. Without going too far down a rabbit hole in this post, it’s important to point out that one reason for this blog is to provide a go-to platform to educate consumers on the benefits of buying locally. Benefits are wide ranging and include jobs, tax revenue, community building, minimizing environmental impacts associated with transportation and loose regulation in other countries, etc. American Outdoor Gear Hub will keep working on educational posts and spreading the word about all of the benefits of buying gear made locally.

Another challenge that Rockgeist has and will continue to face is how to scale the business and keep making gear in Asheville. They told American Outdoor Gear Hub that the more they grow, the more deliberate they must be with their manufacturing decisions to keep everything made in North Carolina.

Thus far their deliberations have paid off. They remain in Asheville with a handful of employees. And the team they’ve put together is also one that is unlikely to be found overseas. For one, the gear is custom made by bikepackers. And not only are these folks passionate about bikepacking, they are also skilled in design, textiles, and sewing. How cool is it that when you buy from Rockgeist, your gear is being made by fellow bikepackers that personally use the gear and know it inside and out.

And as a relatively small company, they contribute to and benefit the region’s economy in a few other ways too.

  • Rockgeist supports bikepacking in the southeast by providing gear rentals for people visiting the Asheville area.
  • Rockgeist has also started a project dedicated to publishing shorter bikepacking routes on the east coast with the goal of leveraging smaller mountain towns for re-supply locations and thus helping to increase visitation to these rural areas.

Much More Than a Price Tag

When asked about people’s experience with their products, Rockgeist provided the following.

My favorite part of my job is seeing all the bikepacking experiences from our customers. Our gear is enabling some wonderful adventures all over the world. While biking the Colorado Trail, I randomly ran into a father and son biking the trail as a last big experience together before the son was moving across the country for his freshman year of college. It was really great to see how we had a small part in their shared experience together. – Rockgeist

This story highlights the fact that the actual value of outdoor gear goes far beyond its price tag. It facilitates individual and shared experiences on all corners of the globe (Side Note: how the globe has corners I’ll never know). Certainly in the world of bikepacking there will be sweat, blood, and most likely a few tears, but biking adventures with custom-made outdoor gear in tow are, shall we dare to say, “priceless.”

A big thanks to Rockgeist for being a part of AmericanOutdoorGearHub.com!

Click It

  1. If you have a bike, visit Rockgeist HERE and get some custom bags for your next trip across the country or across the street.
  2. And don’t forget to visit AmericanOutdoorGearHub.com’s The Goods every time you’re looking for new outdoor gear and support local gear makers with your wallet.
  3. Follow American Outdoor Gear Hub on Facebook and Instagram @americanoutdoorgearhub and tell your friends and family.