Afternoon all,

Apologies if this has been done, but a search of topics yielded nothing.

A trip a while back got me thinking about carrying a loaded bike for periods of hiking or obstacle crossing.

The trip in question had a number of tall metal stiles crossing deer fence with the gate across the track being locked. These required a somewhat precarious balance up and down whilst trying to hold onto fully loaded bikes.

I was wondering if anyone had experimented with tump lines or rucksack type straps to carry. The bike would have to be balanced well from to back of course.


Any experience out there?

Thanks

I haven't but I've seen a few people in the Alps doing exactly that and have wondered about it myself. I rode down past a group carrying up who all had their bikes strapped to their backs and they looked happy enough with the system.

If you're already wearing a Camelbak or similar with waist straps then I reckon it should be fairly straightforward to strap the bike to it.

The clip to rucksack option was one that came to mind, although I prefer to ride without if at all possible

Is it to carry the bike for long periods? On the Arizona Trail Race the competitors have to carry their bikes down, across and up the other side of the Grand Canyon, 26 miles in total I think. They also have to take the wheels out to comply with the restrictions on bikes in the Canyon. You could Google for what they do.

I've been struck at one of those high styles before as well, I made it over but mainly by luck by balancing the bike on the top and climbing up and then lowering it down. I nearly ended up in a heap with the bike though.

There must be a better way, or maybe I need to do some upper body strength work

Pippin wrote: ↑Sun Aug 02, 2020 3:30 pm The clip to rucksack option was one that came to mind, although I prefer to ride without if at all possible

Me too unless I'm going somewhere where there's a lot of carrying on the cards. It definitely helps to have as little weight as possible on the bike, so I won't have bar-roll or big seatpack etc and I'll have as much kit as possible stuffed in a Camelbak Mule.

Probably wouldn't be too difficult to make a pair of ruckstrack style straps that can clip on and off. The hardest part might be didcovering where to put them on the bike in order to keep it stable(ish)?

One of the outdoor manufacturers used to make what looked like a sack truck with straps for carrying awkward loads. Tatoka maybe?

Yep it was / is them

I’ve dallied with using a padded holdall strap for long carries of loaded bikes I the Lakes. One end on the stem one on the seat stay/seat tube junction.
Whilst it works ok I wouldn’t want to climb a big fence using it.

This is the thing to strap using an existing pack - you would need to be careful of the crank position to avoid a pedal/face incident when turning your head.

https://www.shop.terraventure.co.uk/products/hookabike


https://youtu.be/P59X8WVxLKM

My strategy:

The less time I expect to be able to ride sat on the saddle, the less gear I carry on the bike.

A frame bag with bivybag/tarp, lightweight airmat, spare tube and a couple of bars or small linzer torte and in addition a toptube bag with sun screen, lip balm, electrolytes, tooth brush/paste and 1 aid kit is all I want to have on my bike when I move across the Alpine. The rest is in my rucksack.



This means I can carry and push my bike up steep and often exposed mountain paths more easily up the hill, yet also have almost full bike handling capabilities for that nimble feel when things get tech and I need to apply basic trials techniques to ride down the hill.

I like to carry my bikes with the downtube (non drive side) across my shoulders, right hand on the crank/pedal, left hand on the fork lowers. When I need my hands to scramble, I can easily hold on to the crank arm/pedal alone and use the free hand to hold on to the mountain. With a bit of practise you can even carry the bike hands free.
Modern trail bikes often come with sloped/curved down tubes which has quite an impact on the carrying capacity of the bike. I never had thought of this before, but my Ibis Ripley V4 is far less comfy to carry like mentioned than my Bold Linkin Trail LT or former Kona Hei Hei DL.
Big carbon tubes are more comfy too. Carrying my Pipedream Moxie, despite it being rather light (ssp setup), is far less comfy than carrying my long travel Bold with it's huge downtube.

It's only on metal ladders when I attach my bike to my rucksack, since falling out of balance would lead death or at least very severe injury.

These are some of the things that come to mind when I carry my bikes. And I do a poor show load of carrying (in my Alpine habitat).

There are also systems to facilitate carrying like
https://peak-rider.com
http://www.pushcomponents.com

lune ranger wrote: ↑Sun Aug 02, 2020 5:18 pm I’ve dallied with using a padded holdall strap for long carries of loaded bikes I the Lakes. One end on the stem one on the seat stay/seat tube junction.
Whilst it works ok I wouldn’t want to climb a big fence using it.

Good plan that man.

I’ve dug out an old ancillaries bag strap an with a qr strap loop at each end it attaches nicely and the bike balances pretty well. Doesn’t feel at all bad. Weight wise it’s pretty minimal too.

The proof is of course in lugging it across some hag or up a Corrie...

Mine was fashioned from an Ortleib trunk bag strap with good thick padding and good strong metal clips at each end. The bits on the bike/stem were just loops of climbing tape.
I only used that method on the one trip but it worked fine. I carried over Blacksail pass from Ennerdale, over Styhead from Wasdsle and to Hellvellyn summit from Thirlmere using the system. When pushing seemed more sensible that is exactly what I did.