The MTX Trunkbag is a weather resistant trunk bag with side panels that unzip to reveal full panniers.
The MTX Trunkbag works with Topeaks innovative MTX QuickTrack racks which essentially give you a quick release system for your panniers.
The trunkbag itself has a similar capacity to a bar bag which is enough for a day's gear, but the real party trick is the magically expanding side panels. Unzip them and out drop a couple of panniers, increasing your capacity to easily a weekend's worth of kit.
The side panniers aren't made from as thick a material as you might expect so aren't as durable as proper adventure ready load lugging panniers but this means that they fold into their hidey holes easily and don't impact on the packing space inside the trunkbag itself. The pannier zips also seem like a weak point, this would make us a little nervous about taking the panniers on long tours into the wilderness where reliability is key but in most other situations the MTX TrunkBag DXP has proven to be a real contender.
There's a separator inside the main compartment for better organisation of gear and a small mesh pocket on top of the trunkbag for stashing smaller items. The main compartment can be expanded, much like you would with a suitcase, by unzipping and popping up the material.
The drinks holder is a little unnecessary given the usual array of spots to attach water bottle to bike but on the other hand it does give you the opportunity to fill the space inside the frame with frame bags.
If you're thinking of buying this bag you should be aware that it works best with a QuickTrack rack, and if, like us you're using the BeamRack and intend to use the panniers you'll also need to invest in a pair of side frames. That little lot will cost you an extra £40ish, the bag itself is available for around £60 making a total of £100 which still stacks up well against the competition.
Overall, this is a wonderfully versatile bag and although we have some questions about the durability of the panniers we can see why they've been built that way, and it hasn't put us off using it, we just wouldn't take it with us on a month-long tour of Africa.
