What is "bikepacking"?

[reohn2]

Whatever anyone says its primarily off road cycle touring with ultralight weight equipment, usually done on MTB'S though not exclusively sometimes on faux Cyclocross machines or Fatbikes.
In it's broadest sense it's rough stuff touring

[freiston]

I saw a unipannierist the other day.

Probably seeking enlightenment, using cycling as a meditation tool for realising the sound of the one pannier flapping. I do the same thing .

[mattsccm]

Trendy word to describe something done for ages, using special expensive kit.
The term was originally used to describe what most of us call touring. Robin Adshead wrote a book called Bikepacking in 1978.
I make a point of reminding anyone using the term in its modern way of that. I suppose its meant to refer to touring off road really in the current version. I wonder what I am doing if I use panniers on the back and a fancy stuff sack on my bars?

[PhilD28]

These things often bring some items that are useful to cycle tourists.

When mountain biking started over here in the 80's many of us knocked it (me included) as I had been riding roughstuff on a 700c touring bike for years. But I soon commissioned a custom a drop bar touring bike frame with 135 drop outs and sized for 559mm wheels and fitted an MTB chainset and mechs. Built a set of strong wheels and and added low gears that improved the touring experience. By the late 80's i was riding a 26" wheeled 21 geared touring bike with 1.5" semi slick tyres for long haul tours, still am.

There's always a load of [rude word removed] spoken by the must have the latest stuff brigade, as if they have just invented something which has been happening ever since the bicycle was invented, but I tend to cut through that crap and see if anything useful trickles down and ignore the rest of the hype.There's always someone you meet on the road that has all the latest kit and proceeds to tell you that you're doing it all wrong and you should spend a couple of thousand to buy this or that to do it right - I'm normally travelling a lot further and for a longer duration than they are while spending my money on the journey not the kit.

Still , good that we are all different.

[jgurney]

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?

Yes, it seemed to me to have suddenly sprung out of nowhere. ISTR it appeared several times in the most recent issue of 'Cycle'.

As far as I can make out it is an off-tarmac version of touring, using MTB's and using bags placed higher up and further away from the wheels than traditional touring panniers, presumably to accommodate having no mudguards, having suspension, having lots of mud on the tyres, and perhaps crossing deeper fords.

Nothing wrong with it as far as it goes, but I do have a faint alarm-bell altering me this seems to be another move towards the idea that bicycles belong away from roads.

[iandriver]

See the recent Gravel bike thread also. viewtopic.php?f=1&t=110141&hilit=Gravel+bike
Same thing pretty much. I think it stems from so many people using MTBs and CX bikes etc. as general purpose do it all machines that they weren't originally designed for. Hence the manufacturers found it easy to try and market it with only minor or no changes to an existing grouping of components. To some it's teaching your grandmother to suck eggs, to others it's something new in the magazines that they've never heard of because they don't live in a cycle dominated peer group. As ever, spend as little or as much as you wish.

[Gattonero]

I am seeing some sort of snobby/mocking attitude here, which surely does not help anyone.

Whatever you want to call it, it's people that would enjoy a day or two or twenty-five outdoors or beating the tarmac.
How expensive is their equipment, how much carbon-fiber is in their bikes, how faster can they actually go with all those "hi-tech gadgets", it's all their business and I find very sad to read things like

Trendy word to describe something done for ages, using special expensive kit.

.
In reality, you will find very open-minded people that would not sneer anyone that shows up with a rack and panniers. Having done the SDW and other routes, all the people you bump into there's no one that will check how much titanium you have in your cooking kit, or if you have grandpa's rack&panniers bolted on the rear of your bike. Indeed I have always met cheerful people riding bikes of any price range, though everyone seems to get the best bike he/she can afford, and in most cases this means to cut other expenses in your life, which in turn tells me this people are very passionate.

Truth is, people should look further and see the big picture.
Whatever big manufacturers want to call it, if this means to offer some touring bags that can be fitted to any existing bike, at lower price, then it's very welcome isn't it?

[reohn2]

I am seeing some sort of snobby/mocking attitude here, which surely does not help anyone.

Whatever you want to call it, it's people that would enjoy a day or two or twenty-five outdoors or beating the tarmac.
How expensive is their equipment, how much carbon-fiber is in their bikes, how faster can they actually go with all those "hi-tech gadgets", it's all their business and I find very sad to read things like

Trendy word to describe something done for ages, using special expensive kit.

.
In reality, you will find very open-minded people that would not sneer anyone that shows up with a rack and panniers. Having done the SDW and other routes, all the people you bump into there's no one that will check how much titanium you have in your cooking kit, or if you have grandpa's rack&panniers bolted on the rear of your bike. Indeed I have always met cheerful people riding bikes of any price range, though everyone seems to get the best bike he/she can afford, and in most cases this means to cut other expenses in your life, which in turn tells me this people are very passionate.

Truth is, people should look further and see the big picture.
Whatever big manufacturers want to call it, if this means to offer some touring bags that can be fitted to any existing bike, at lower price, then it's very welcome isn't it?

Spot on, fun and enjoyment is the primary purpose whatever kit is used or bike ridden.

[Gattonero]

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?

My take of the word is that you adapt and pack your kit along the bike you fancy best for the trip, even if the bike was not designed for the purpose of carrying loads. This, of course, does apply to bikes for common use, so it does exclude extreme designs like TT/DH/BMX/etc bikes that are very specific to a task (mainly racing).

I would dare to say that the core principles are nothing new, but summed up make for a different approach:
-you tend to be self-sufficient as much as possible
-carrying only what needs for the trip and no more (no camping chairs, no extended-porch tents, etc.)
-mainly off the beaten path, though not only off-road there's plenty of trips on tarmac that require you to be self-sufficent (though UK does not have abundance of remote, open land like in US)

There's plenty of similarity to Audax riders and traditional cylo-touring, though "bikepacking" is probably easier to refer a mix of the two done off-road.
After all, almost everything has already been done, though you can always mix&match the best things of one category, if you really want to stick with one.

[Gattonero]

...
Whatever you want to call it, it's people that would enjoy a day or two or twenty-five outdoors or beating the tarmac.
How expensive is their equipment, how much carbon-fiber is in their bikes, how faster can they actually go with all those "hi-tech gadgets", it's all their business ...

Spot on, fun and enjoyment is the pi are purpose whatever kit is used or bike ridden.

I still remember on the SDW a guy that had pretty good handling skills and would go trough mud with a touring bike with what seemed to be 35-40mm Marathons and nor him nor all the chaps with Mtb's was looking with haste, indeed we managed to chat a few times whenever we could catch him

[Gattonero]

See the recent Gravel bike thread also. viewtopic.php?f=1&t=110141&hilit=Gravel+bike
Same thing pretty much. I think it stems from so many people using MTBs and CX bikes etc. as general purpose do it all machines that they weren't originally designed for. Hence the manufacturers found it easy to try and market it with only minor or no changes to an existing grouping of components. To some it's teaching your grandmother to suck eggs, to others it's something new in the magazines that they've never heard of because they don't live in a cycle dominated peer group. As ever, spend as little or as much as you wish.

I will put it in a more simple way:

-I want to go outdoors
-I have an Mtb
-I will encounter mud/rocks that require me to use wide tyres as I'm not a Pro rider with supreme handling skills, or simply put I just want to take it easy
-I want to spend a full day or a week outdoors, sleeping in a field (or a forest) and cooking my food
-hence, I need to carry my equipment
-my bike has front and/or rear suspension
-I do not want to mess around too much with nuts&bolts and mods, and especially I want to keep the bike I like to ride.

On the road, it's easy to put a Carradice and off you go.
Off-road, ain't that easy. So you have "special" bags that would simply strap on your existing bike with minimal fuss. Job done.

Btw, those "bikepacking" bags can often double the use for commuting, expanding the range of your "road only" or "mtb only" bike. Why not?

[foxyrider]

I thought it was what I do to take my bike on a plane

[iandriver]

See the recent Gravel bike thread also. viewtopic.php?f=1&t=110141&hilit=Gravel+bike
Same thing pretty much. I think it stems from so many people using MTBs and CX bikes etc. as general purpose do it all machines that they weren't originally designed for. Hence the manufacturers found it easy to try and market it with only minor or no changes to an existing grouping of components. To some it's teaching your grandmother to suck eggs, to others it's something new in the magazines that they've never heard of because they don't live in a cycle dominated peer group. As ever, spend as little or as much as you wish.

I will put it in a more simple way:

-I want to go outdoors
-I have an Mtb
-I will encounter mud/rocks that require me to use wide tyres as I'm not a Pro rider with supreme handling skills, or simply put I just want to take it easy
-I want to spend a full day or a week outdoors, sleeping in a field (or a forest) and cooking my food
-hence, I need to carry my equipment
-my bike has front and/or rear suspension
-I do not want to mess around too much with nuts&bolts and mods, and especially I want to keep the bike I like to ride.

On the road, it's easy to put a Carradice and off you go.
Off-road, ain't that easy. So you have "special" bags that would simply strap on your existing bike with minimal fuss. Job done.

Btw, those "bikepacking" bags can often double the use for commuting, expanding the range of your "road only" or "mtb only" bike. Why not?

Exactly what it did with my supposed CX bike. It's great. Some people will tell my I'm wrong for using a CX frame. Who thought being wrong could be such a blast for so many thousands of miles

[PH]

Touring is something you do.
Bikepacking is one way of doing it.
You can go touring without luggage, or need to carry luggage on non touring rides.
Having more options is good for me, having people tell you how you should use them less good, though away from the www it very rarely happens.

[Gattonero]

...
Having more options is good for me, having people tell you how you should use them less good, though away from the www it very rarely happens.

Yes, there is a big difference between "tell you how you should use them" and "tell you how you would use them". The latter, should be the real essence of WWW and forums, to promote the exchange of ideas and useful opinions