So how do you pack for a road trip on a regular carbon road bike? Well, pretty much the same as you would pack a gravel bike, almost. Try to use the whole bike in the best possible way. Handlebar, frame and saddle post are the best places to use to attach your bags.
I looked at all kinds of bags for the bike, and after some research I went for the Ortlieb bags. There are cheaper alternatives but they didn’t seem to have as good fit as the Ortlieb bags. So I got a handlebar roll bag, an extra bag to put on top of the roll bag, and a saddle post bag. There are different size options of the bags, I went for the biggest one. The saddle bag was perfect, for the handlebar roll bag I could have gone for a smaller size since the handlebar drops limit the size you can actually use.
These bags where more than enough for a week of traveling, but since I will bring some camera equipment I had to get a frame bag as well. I found one from Topeak which was less than half the price compared to the Ortlieb version. It actually fitted perfect on my small 52 cm Trek Emonda SLR frame. Not the same quality as the Ortlieb bags but more than good enough.
Tip 1: Put your Garmin mount on the side of the stem. Make sure to protect the stem to avoid marks.
Tip 2: See the video below for how to fold your cycling jerseys.
How to fold your jersey:
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