What is "bikepacking"?

General cycling advice ( NOT technical ! )
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Steve
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What is "bikepacking"?

Post by Steve »

Just noticed this word appearing here there and everywhere, but does it refer to something new or is just trendy-speak like wild-swimming etc? If I carry panniers doe that make me a bikepacker?
mercalia
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Re: What is "bikepacking"?

Post by mercalia »

do a google there are lots of refs

eg

http://www.bikepacking.net/
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gaz
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Re: What is "bikepacking"?

Post by gaz »

viewtopic.php?f=16&t=113728

Panniers, bikepacking, trailer, support van*; so long as you enjoy it take your pick.

*Maybe not support van :wink:
High on a cocktail of flossy teacakes and marmalade
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trilathon
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Re: What is "bikepacking"?

Post by trilathon »

lots of new folks on bicycles, mainly through the road scene and mtb, strapping bags to bicycles that aren't usually purpose built for the task in hand ie having the braze -ons for carrying luggage via racks. Usually it's with a mind to go a little faster, and with less kit than traditional touring and be more reliant on services eg not cooking their own food, maybe using hotels etc but basically you mold it to your preferences.
Searching for, and camping in, places of antiquity and wild beauty. Former ironman, 3PCX, Rough Stuff Fellowship, fell runner, regional time trial champion and 20 odd years of cyclo camping around Europe.
Bez
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Re: What is "bikepacking"?

Post by Bez »

trilathon wrote:lots of new folks on bicycles, mainly through the road scene and mtb, strapping bags to bicycles that aren't usually purpose built for the task in hand ie having the braze -ons for carrying luggage via racks.


Not really. It's about being able to ride more demanding off-road routes. Bikepacking luggage isn't about making do without braze-ons (though you could use it as such), it's about having keeping the weight close to the centre of gravity, keeping it static, and not having mountings that break under much rougher load cycles than luggage on a normal touring bike would see.

Which is why even when people get custom framesets built for bikepacking they still don't use racks. They're just not the best tool for the job.
Last edited by Bez on 2 Jun 2017, 2:04pm, edited 1 time in total.
thornie1543
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Re: What is "bikepacking"?

Post by thornie1543 »

Bikepacking is people who have to buy everything titanium and camp somewhere where they are still in sight of their vw t5 a team van :D ,i'm joking of course.
Vorpal
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Re: What is "bikepacking"?

Post by Vorpal »

Bikepacking = American English for cycle touring

:lol: :lol:
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gaz
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Re: What is "bikepacking"?

Post by gaz »

Bikepacking = Something undertaken by two-wheeled members of the Cyclists' Cyclepacking Club :mrgreen:
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trilathon
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Re: What is "bikepacking"?

Post by trilathon »

Obviously there are a myriad of individual niches, I've been over most of upland England rough stuff on touring bike with panniers but admittedly not riding like Steve Peat, and never broke anything ( I have have to ride home at some point and no one is going to rescue me from a mechanical or broken bone) and host of folks have done a huge amount more than that in the Rough Stuff Fellowship, and before, to the extent of taking climbing ropes and descending cliffs etc.

At the end of the day there's little new in cycling that hasn't been done before and on a bicycle you're largely restricted to paths and the terrain can't be too steep, rough or 'gnarly' before one is walking anyway, but hey ho.
Searching for, and camping in, places of antiquity and wild beauty. Former ironman, 3PCX, Rough Stuff Fellowship, fell runner, regional time trial champion and 20 odd years of cyclo camping around Europe.
nirakaro
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Re: What is "bikepacking"?

Post by nirakaro »

trilathon wrote: on a bicycle you're largely restricted to paths and the terrain can't be too steep, rough or 'gnarly' before one is walking anyway, but hey ho.

You can't have seen this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xQ_IQS3VKjA
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Mick F
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Re: What is "bikepacking"?

Post by Mick F »

I saw a unipannierist the other day.
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mercalia
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Re: What is "bikepacking"?

Post by mercalia »

the inword for cycle touring :roll: invented by those who think they have invented some thing new becuase all the cycling they ever did was to the pub or station :lol:
amediasatex
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Re: What is "bikepacking"?

Post by amediasatex »

also, see here for more discussion about difference to traditional touring and luggage differences

viewtopic.php?f=8&t=112585&start=15
iandriver
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Re: What is "bikepacking"?

Post by iandriver »

I think a lot of people think of cycle touring as something out of Carry on Camping for old farts. It's an attempt to give the adventure/ extreme sports dynamic to bike for a younger generation. Happens to be fine by me, as long as your out enjoying yourself.
Supporter of the A10 corridor cycling campaign serving Royston to Cambridge http://a10corridorcycle.com. Never knew gardening secateurs were an essential part of the on bike tool kit until I took up campaigning.....
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mjr
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Re: What is "bikepacking"?

Post by mjr »

Bez wrote:
trilathon wrote:lots of new folks on bicycles, mainly through the road scene and mtb, strapping bags to bicycles that aren't usually purpose built for the task in hand ie having the braze -ons for carrying luggage via racks.


Not really. It's about being able to ride more demanding off-road routes. Bikepacking luggage isn't about making do without braze-ons (though you could use it as such), it's about having keeping the weight close to the centre of gravity, keeping it static, and not having mountings that break under much rougher load cycles than luggage on a normal touring bike would see.

I thought it was about keeping it more aerodynamic rather than close to the centre of gravity. I know some bikepackers use frame bags, but seatpacks and bar bags seem far more common.
MJR, mostly pedalling 3-speed roadsters. KL+West Norfolk BUG incl social easy rides http://www.klwnbug.co.uk
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