Description
The Wildcat Tiger Drover model is our largest padded harness to protect and secure your dry bag behind the saddle. Our unique retention system eliminates swaying when loaded and resists working loose over rough terrain. The Tiger Drover is the larger of our two Tiger models, making it perfect for extended rides and longer tours. With minimal interference to your riding and so maintaining predictable handling, its a solid and reliable storage solution . Further storage capacity can be added with our existing frame bag and handlebar system products.
Wildcat Tiger Drover Features
- Unique retention system eliminates swaying when loaded
- Padded VX21 and ballistic nylon fabric construction protects your dry bag
- Scaleable storage: use your own dry bags sized for your trip
- The Drover version is sized for 5 to 10 litre dry bags
- Lightweight: Only 195g
Compatibility
- The Wildcat Tiger Drover is designed to fit most available saddles. It will fit a conventional twin-rail saddle, and either inline or layback seat posts.
- A minimum of 17.5 cm of seat post is required
- At least 20.5 cm of clearance between saddle and tyre is recommended.
- The shape of the harness is designed to accommodate different manufacturers’ dry bags in a range of sizes. To optimise the insertion of the dry bag, we recommending packing soft items to ensure the tapered shape of the harness is filled properly.
- There is no limit on the weight that the Tiger can hold, but very heavy loads will have a greater impact on the handling of the bike due to the position relative to the centre of gravity.
Reviews
Singletrack World: singletrackworld.com/reviews/…wildcat-gear-tiger-seatpack…/
Bike Radar: www.bikeradar.com/mtb/…review-wildcat-gear-tiger-saddle-harness…/
Bear Bones Bikepacking: bearbonesbikepacking.blogspot.co.uk/…wildcat-gear-tiger
Bikepackers Magazine: bikepackersmagazine.com/video…wildcat-gear-tiger/
Bikepackers Magazine: bikepackersmagazine.com/wildcat-gear-tiger/
Questions
Which colours is the Tiger available in?
The standard colour is black we hold in stock is black. Colour options are available with a custom frame bag order, allowing you to have coordinated luggage across the whole bike.
Does the Tiger come with a dry bag?
The Tiger is priced excluding a dry bag. However, we now stock Exped dry bags in a range of sizes and colours that can be purchased at the same time at additional cost. We also have a dedicated tapered dry bag in development available soon.
What size dry bag would recommend?
The Tiger Drover will take a dry bag between approx 5 – 10 litres in size.
The Tiger Wayfarer will take a dry bag between 3 – 10 litres in size.
Is the Tiger available in a larger size than 10 litres?
With some dry bags, including one we have in development, will provide a capacity of 10 litres. We feel this is the maximum volume that can be sensibly carried in this area of the bike, to avoid adverse handling effects when riding.
What is the minimum length of seat post needed to mount a Tiger?
The Tiger Wayfarer (3-6L) size requires a minimum of 15 cm of seat post extending from the frame.
The Tiger Drover (5-10L) size requires a minimum of 17.5 cm of seat post extending from the frame
Note: see also new FAQ for limits for tyre clearance below
How much clearance do I need between the tyre and the saddle?
The Tiger Wayfarer (3-6L) is approximately 15 cm diameter when filled with a 5 litre dry bag. We recommend you have an additional 3 cm to clear the tyre.
The Tiger Drover (5-10L) is approximately 17.5 cm diameter when filled with an 8 litre dry bag. We recommend you have an additional 3 cm to clear the tyre.
What seat post diameter will the Tiger accommodate?
The Tiger seat post strap is designed to fit diameters between 27 mm and 32 mm. Larger sizes and aero-posts can be accommodated with a custom modification. Please contact us for more details.
Will the straps mark my seat post?
As with most accessories attached directly to the bike, we recommend using some protective tape to preserve you anodised/ painted/ carbon finish. We stock genuine transparent 3M Helicopter Tape, available separately.
Is the Tiger compatible with mono-rail or I-beam saddles?
Sadly, no. The Tiger requires two conventional rails to attach the main straps.
Is the Tiger compatible with a “dropper” seat post?
We don’t recommend fitting a Tiger to a dropper seat post.
Cycling Press
Singletrack World: singletrackworld.com/reviews/…wildcat-gear-tiger-seatpack…/
Bike Radar: www.bikeradar.com/mtb/…review-wildcat-gear-tiger-saddle-harness…/
Bear Bones Bikepacking: bearbonesbikepacking.blogspot.co.uk/…wildcat-gear-tiger
Bikepackers Magazine: bikepackersmagazine.com/video…wildcat-gear-tiger/
James O –
This is a great bit of kit. My previous seat pack was based on the design that most bikepacking seat bags are made to. It’s OK, did the job but wasn’t as stable as I wanted as it swayed in use a little, as seems to be normal for that style of bag. The Tiger is different, much more stable and secure once fitted. The strapping system is brilliant, it’s simply a better way to do it and that’s why the bag is so stable. It shows the intent to improve upon what’s available elsewhere and the thought that’s gone into it.
Using dry bags is a better way to pack, having used both systems. Arrive at a stopping place and just unclip the dry bag, no rummaging in a bag while it’s attached to the bike, no packing items in while trying to balance a loaded bike. The only drawback I found on first use was that it took a moment longer to access gear than the old bag. Kit is more reliably waterproofed in a dry bag though so it’s no slower than a trad bag with a drybag inside. I now take 2 drybags for the Tiger, one to store wet or wet-weather gear that can be left more accessibly mounted or open and another for the kit that has to stay dry.
Overall, impressed and highly recommended. Has traveled with me over the length of the USA and Israel now as well as many weekends away on and off-road.
Jürgen M. –
Great stuff!!! As James mentioned in the review before, the system using a drybag is much better than others. I use it on weekend trips offroad and it will be with me crossing the French Alpes end of summer.
Alasdair McLean –
I really like this harness. It is bombproof and easily attached. A tapered dry bag and careful packing keeps it nice and stable – mine currently holds my sleeping bag, full length Thermarest and bivi bag and keeps it secure when mountain biking. The only concern I’ve had is that the straps can rub the dry bag, which while no fault of the harness is a concern if you use any form of ultralight dry bag – the more robust ones suffer no rubbing. Similarly, the wrap around the seatpost can rub, but again this is down to durability of your seatpost so some heli tape can come in useful.
Attachment is easy once you get the hang of it (i.e. read the instructions) and it stays secure once tightened up.
Given the choice of one bag for an ultralight bivi, I’d take this instead of a bar harness as I like to keep the front end lighter, but once you have the extra weight on the bike you don’t really notice it in use. Speaking of weight, the harness itself weighs nothing. It’s been through many, many trips, but has experienced no ill effects other than a slightly muddy look that I’m too lazy to clean off.
Lars Henning (verified owner) –
I was skint when I needed a seat harness a few years ago and I decided to make one myself. It turned out okay, but it wasn’t very secure and it fell apart after my first Welsh bikepacking trip.
I learnt my lesson and bought a Tiger and I was not disappointed. Having tried to copy the Wildcat design on my DIY job, I was able to appreciate the elegance of the design, robust build quality and the stability when I get out of the saddle.
I’ve since used the Tiger on a number of bikepacking trips in England, Wales and Spain as well as some endurance MTB events. It’s never let me down and still shows no sign of wear and tear.
Highly recommended!
Fraser Waters –
When I entered the TCR number 3 my riding partner Introduced me to the Wildcat range of gear.
Initially I wasn’t sure if I wanted soft luggage or a traditional rack and pannier setup.
One ride from Edinburgh to Bristol was enough to convince me that soft luggage was the way forward.
I got my hands on a Tiger for the rear of the bike, a Ocelot frame bag and a Lion for the front.
The Tiger is an awesome piece of kit, it took an 8l tapered dry bag no problem and held it rock solid, no swaying about, nothing.
Beth did show me how to fit it ‘properly’ – i was doing it wrong – at the Bristol bike show but when riding I couldn’t tell the difference it was still rock solid, so even if user error is evident the product was more than capable despite my ham fisted-ness.
It really is a fit and forget system, load it in the morning and you will not notice it’s there until you stop for the night. Brilliant.
For the TCR itself I added a rear light onto the straps at the back and slung an extra drybag underneath to hold stinky socks, cheese etc..
The Tiger still looks like new despite it having done about 2500km on tarmac and gravel in pouring rain and blistering heat and it is about to get used a lot more off road on the back of the Fat bike where I’m sure it will be more than happy and faultless.
Mine was the slightly older version without the stubby nose of the new ones, the story behind the reshaping was told to me over a beer and it involves Haribo, ask Beth or Ian for the full story.
Thanks Wildcat for such Excellent, Purposeful, British, World class, gear.
Bob Wightman (verified owner) –
I looked at several seat packs/harnesses that were available (including those from US manufacturers) before settling on the larger of the two Tigers which is good for 5 to 8 litre bags. The initial choice was between harness only and integrated harness and dry bag. I went for harness only as it’s a more flexible system: you aren’t limited to one size of dry bag (though there is a limit to the range of size of bag you can use) but perhaps more importantly, if the bag becomes damaged then you don’t have to replace the whole system. Finally being able to remove just the bag means that it’s easier to pack off-bike and you don’t have to keep going back to the bike for kit.
Fitting the harness to the seat post and saddle rails is a little fiddly at first, I found it easiest to fit the velcro strap around the seat post first to give some support while attaching to the saddle. It’s not just a case of looping the straps over the rails, you thread the strap inwards over the rail to a D-loop then back outwards over the rail and the first part of the strap creating a doubling back which I assume uses the friction of the strap material against itself to reduce the strain at the buckles. Having done it once or twice you soon get the hang of it. Once attached the harness is really quite sturdy even without a bag loaded.
Originally I used an Exped dry bag but these are cylindrical when packed so don’t fit in to the tapered nose of the Tiger particularly well. The solution is to either pack the bag in such a way that the bottom of the bag is itself tapered or use a tapered dry bag, I eventually went for the latter. If you remove items from the bag you do have to make sure that you adjust the retention straps otherwise the bag won’t be firmly held and will move around – I found it easier to make the adjustments whilst the strap was unclipped and not under strain. Although the harness is marked as being for bags up to 8 litres, I’ve used a 13L bag without problem – but it was a squeeze! This larger bag was filled with clothes so not that heavy.
In use and assuming that the bag is packed and loaded in to the harness correctly with the whole bundle adjusted/tightened to the bike then the Tiger is essentially “fit and forget”. One point to note is that there is a minimum distance between seat and rear tyre for the Tiger to work but this is common to all such systems. One feature that I would like to see is some form of loop at the rear for attaching a light for those times when on the road.
Overall a good, well thought out piece of kit. Recommended.
david –
I’ve not used my Tiger yet but thought I’d post a review on my first impressions . I have a normal seat post bag but I wanted to be able to pack/unpack a drybag under cover of a tent or tarp which is a positive feature of this type of system and by all accounts it’s more stable on the bike too but that I have yet to test but from first impressions can see already that it’s a more secure attaching system than my normal style seat post bag. The holster is extremely well made and the material used for the multicam looks really hard wearing as does the webbing in the straps and is a really neat & tidy execution of the holster style system. All in all another quality product from wildcatgear and I can’t wait to use it in action . Wildcatgear products are the “cat whiskers” .Thanks Beth for the great service and great products.
Malcolm Smith –
I have one of the original Tigers from when Beth first started out. Considering it has had 3+ years of wear and tear it is still going remarkably strong. This is especially
impressive considering, I don’t have much clearance between saddle and tyres due to having short legs and 29″ tyres. I also run a Ti seat post and on rough terrain the post flexes enough for the tyre to rub the underside of the Tiger. However, there is still absolutely no sign of wear. The stitching is also remarkably strong; I have over stuffed it many times and rammed an overfull drybag in without causing any visible distress to the seams.
The design of the Tiger really showed when I briefly switched to a Revalate Pika in an effort to increase clearance between seatpack and tyre. I found the Pika to swing all over the place and be a little unnerving on rough terrain, in comparison the Tiger is absolutely rock solid. The fact that I had to completely unmount the Pika to unpack it was also a pain, come morning and and having to fiddle around threading straps with cold hands or in the rain (or usually both) is just not fun. The system the Tiger uses allows you to pack the drybag in the shelter of your tarp and then it is a relatively straightforward job to insert it into the Tiger and cinch the side straps.
There are other systems out there now that offer a similar system to the Tiger (Porcalin Rocket Albert/Mr Fusion and Revilate Terrapin), however these are considerably more expensive and are not made in the UK. Beths customer service is also second to none and I have no doubt that should I have any problems she would quickly sort them out. Returns and customer service are little harder when a products been shipped from the USA. Overall; I highly recommend the Tiger to anyone wanting a large capacity seatpack.
Craig McGhee (verified owner) –
I got this harness in early 2014, initially using it on my small frame 26 full suss bike with no dramas. I much prefer having a harness plus bag, rather than an integrated system as it makes it much easier to manage my kit, unpacking and repacking under my bivi (or in a bothy), rather than faffing around with a bag that is still attached to the bike, especially in poor weather.
However I was soon convinced of the need to run a 29er for longer trips, and that was a problem; even on a hardtail, my saddle is so close to the wheels that they where occasionally rubbing against the bottom of the harness, resulting in some damage after a week on the trail (which was patched up with some gaffer tape). At least it was only the harness that was damaged and the dry bag was not compromised; had I been using an integrated bag it would have resulted in my kit getting wet and dirty, possibly even damaged, and the bag would have needed proper repairing.
I still use this harness on my new 650b+ bike, which has a bit more clearance, and it is ideal for winter, when a bit more kit is required.
Fortunately the compact Tiger Wayfarer was released, which is designed for small frames or where clearance is minimal due to rear suspension, so my third Wildcat product was soon ordered…
There are other similar products out there now (the US manufacturers are finally catching up with this superior design), but with the exchange rate as bad as it is now, the Wildcat is better value, and as well made as any of the copy-cats that I have seen.
Chris Allison (verified owner) –
Excellent quality. Rock solid on-road and off. Makes repeated packing/unpacking very easy.