what is a bikepacking bike?

[Dave Barter]

My Salsa Cutthroat is my bikepacking bike. Equally happy on and off road, large frame triangle. Light yet robust. Works well with drops which I like. Urds of mounts. I’d try ripping that off

[jameso]

While on a late lunchtime ride I was thinking about 3 attributes that would make a bikepacking bike and all I could settle on was 'big tyres'. After that it doesn't really matter, we're just into points that apply to loaded or unloaded bikes or subjective stuff. But loaded bikes really benefit from tyre air volume. Plenty of clearance, wider rims + tyres than you think is about right for unloaded riding, and ideally a geometry suited to that wheel spec. (that's 3)

[thenorthwind]

I was going to conscientiously object from another navel-gazing ( ) thread on the basis that I don't believe in bikes specifically for bikepacking. But I have to be honest and admit that's mainly what I had in mind when I bought my Genesis Longitude, though it doesn't mean I haven't used my other (full-sus, gravel, even pub) bikes for bikepacking.

But I am going to neatly sidestep the discussion about what type of bars and what wheel size by thinking more about what it needs to be, which I'd say is
1) comfortable
2) robust
3) able to handle different terrain

Everyone's got to fin their own balance of those, before you consider cost, weight, etc. which is why everyone has a slightly different answer, and why if you turn up at a race/event/bivvy meet, everyone will be on a different bike*. Vive le difference!

*except the Americans who seem to think a Cutthroat is the only bike you can ride the Tour Divide on

[jameso]

a bikepacking bike is a bike that you want to ride so far that you can't fit it into one day and a bike that can carry enough gear to spend a night/s out in such a way as to retain the enjoyment of that riding - regardless of the cycling discipline.

^ this may not get you an attributes list or a product manager's worksheet but it is as good a definition as I'll ever read.

[thenorthwind]

a bikepacking bike is a bike that you want to ride so far that you can't fit it into one day and a bike that can carry enough gear to spend a night/s out in such a way as to retain the enjoyment of that riding - regardless of the cycling discipline.

^ this may not get you an attributes list or a product manager's worksheet but it is as good a definition as I'll ever read.

Yeah, I'd second that.

[Keith74]

For me the first question has to be do they want a bike packing bike to actually use or is it just because they see their social media full of hipsters on bikepacking bikes have ‘rad’ times that they want the pub credit of being a bikepacker.

For me my bike packing bikes range from a surly ogre 29er with no suspension to a cotic rocket full sun with 160mm of travel both ends. The common things with all my bikes are the easy of looking after and the bulletproof build.

[woodsmith]

My Salsa Cutthroat is my bikepacking bike. Equally happy on and off road, large frame triangle. Light yet robust. Works well with drops which I like. Urds of mounts. I’d try ripping that off

Don't try ripping off the ECR though as Brother Cycles have already done it with the Big Bro.

[fatbikephil]

My Jones, obviously
I'll get me coat...

[Tomwoodbury]

A rigid 29er with loads of barnacles and ability to run flats or drops

[Bearbonesnorm]

A rigid 29er with loads of barnacles and ability to run flats or drops

I agree and it appears many others would too ... although, I'm inclined to think that from a sales / marketing stand, you would have to fit drops. The ability to retrofit flat bars could be included in the small print for future reference.

[Hamish]

However I try to avoid it… most of my bikes seem to coalesce around some kind of heavy duty rigid mountain bike thing… I have a Longitude, an ECR and a Pugsley; I think they are all bikepacking bikes. I also have a Tour de Fer which I think is a touring bike and not a bikepacking bike.

In other words, for me, a bikepacking bike should be able to go anywhere, be comfortable, simple and robust. Others will disagree.

Unread post by woodsmith » Tue Nov 08, 2022 8:05 pm
Dave Barter wrote: ↑Tue Nov 08, 2022 6:28 pm
My Salsa Cutthroat is my bikepacking bike. Equally happy on and off road, large frame triangle. Light yet robust. Works well with drops which I like. Urds of mounts. I’d try ripping that off
Don't try ripping off the ECR though as Brother Cycles have already done it with the Big Bro.

Kind of… but the ECR is still an outlier with its low BB and non sus corrected geometry. I think it’s a good bike and was built specifically for bikepacking. If I was ordering a bikepacking bike from you I may well ask for a lighter ECR type bike with a slightly higher BB now that 29+ (Unfortunately) seems to be going out of fashion.

[Polisherman]

Having followed Liz and Pete around the Cairngorm300 and the northern version of the Jennride I'd go for a short travel full sus with a dropper.
Pete seems to find his 160mm travel full bounce perfect for the BB300 and a sub 24 hour Calder Divide.

[Ben98]

a bikepacking bike is a bike that you want to ride so far that you can't fit it into one day and a bike that can carry enough gear to spend a night/s out in such a way as to retain the enjoyment of that riding - regardless of the cycling discipline.

^ this may not get you an attributes list or a product manager's worksheet but it is as good a definition as I'll ever read.

Well that's just made my day, thanks James

[woodsmith]

Kind of… but the ECR is still an outlier with its low BB and non sus corrected geometry. I think it’s a good bike and was built specifically for bikepacking. If I was ordering a bikepacking bike from you I may well ask for a lighter ECR type bike with a slightly higher BB now that 29+ (Unfortunately) seems to be going out of fashion.

1 degree on the HTA, 10mm on the chainstay and the same BB drop is close enough to count as a rip-off in my book. https://bikeinsights.com/compare?geomet ... 0004789d79,

The Tumbleweed Prospector only has a few mm less BB drop so the ECR isnt that much of an outlier.

[jameso]

It made me smile too Ben!

[jameso]

1 degree on the HTA, 10mm on the chainstay and the same BB drop is close enough to count as a rip-off in my book.

You'd be chasing a lot of companies if you became a Geometry Intellectual Property lawyer on those terms : )

[woodsmith]

1 degree on the HTA, 10mm on the chainstay and the same BB drop is close enough to count as a rip-off in my book.

You'd be chasing a lot of companies if you became a Geometry Intellectual Property lawyer on those terms : )

Very true.

[benp1]

Ask most on this forum and they'll say any bike you own. Still need to do some bikepacking on my brompton though, have bikepacked on all the others. I think most will default to a rigid 29er but hardtails making up most of the remainder

Ask anyone vaguely interested in this area and they'll say an adventure/gravel bike. Although singletrack and MBUK often now have bikepacking articles and they're on MTBs

[Cheeky Monkey]

What does a bikepacking bike look like to you?

A bike that can conveniently carry bivi gear off road. Anything can be pressed into it but the riding conditions, trip length, desire for comfort can all have an effect on choice, if you're lucky enough to have it. I still subscribe to a view that it's not about the bike but that doesn't help commercially.

If you had to pick 3 things that defined a bikepacking bike to you, what would it be?

29er
Luggage compatible (be that a workable / reasonably sized triangle or some extra nubbins)
Comfy / not a rigid anchor

I guess these aren't what "defines" it but they are what I would like the "ideal" one to be (for average pootling about in the UK as a punter - no TDR etc).

I wonder whether gravelbikes are just a way for folks to make touring a bit more acceptable / cooler / being currently marketed as the choice du jour? I don't think they're the right tool for "proper" off road trips. Then again, it's amazing what some people can ride on terrain that'd make the average rider baulk.

[FLV]

I generally think of the term 'bikepacking bike' as bit of a catch all similar to 'mountain bike' or whatever other term. I personally dont think a bike should be designed to take both drop bars and flat/riser bars. But, I have not ridden any that claim to do so. I may well be proven wrong one day.

To try to focus on the Q, what makes a bikepacking bike to me.

1. Tyre Clearance
Whether a drop bar or a Riser bar bike, big tyres.

2. Bag Space
More 'traditional' double diamond frame shapes make for an easier time fitting bags in. Jones fan's, look away now

3. Appropriate Geometry
Harder to define, but not low stack head down arse up race geo. Equally, not the new generation of Long Low Slack frames. Something still fun as your every day bike (in your chosen style, Gravel / Trail etc etc) but doesn't make it steer weird pottering through a village in wales looking for a chippy etc. Include in this, short travel fork compatible so folk who are prone to sus or rigid can choose. So, still modern, not at the far ends tho.

Thats what I looked for fairly recently looking for a new hardtail frame.

[PaulB2]

If I was to take my gravel bike, which I've used for light touring a couple of times, and turn it into a bikepacking bike, I'd want lower gearing for off-road riding, a slightly more upright position for all-day comfort and wider tyres/suspension for rougher terrain. So basically a 29er hardtail without the current trend of LLS geometry.

Well... also basically a LLS geometry. Long low slack has absolutely nothing to do with eg how upright your sitting. You can be sat very upright at 500 mm reach with 62° HTA a low stack and a 1300 mm wheelbase without being beyond 180 cm tall. There's more to fit then some numbers from a frame.
Eg a low stack can also mean you get more options with bar heights

I was more just meaning what tweaking my gravel bike for bikepacking would result in rather than a critique on LLS.

[RIP]

One that's least likely to have a mechanical when I'm out there.

[RIP]

I reckon I've seen numerous wildly-varying types of bike during BBB events, every colour, geometry, size, construction material, gearing, ground contact, blah.

Same for the actual riders funnily enough .

They all went out, did some riding, went up, went down, went round corners, had fun, came back.

I'm fairly sure I've seen a unicycle, so that just leaves a trike. Oh, not even that - seen a recumbent trike.

Everyone said they'd been bikepacking. They were all bikepacking bikes.

Doubt this answers the question but it's an answer to the title.

[voodoo_simon]

I always liked the look of this, especially the front rack holder thing as I’ve always struggled with space between the bars and front wheel

[RIP]

Bizarre bit of tyre 'clearance' there unless I'm missing something!